United States--Dakota Territory

Description of the Dakota Territory.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Creation Date

1885

Reports regarding military activity in Dakota Territory and along the Yellowstone River.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Creation Date

1872-1873

Description of the disappearance of the American bison population of the Dakota Territory in the early 1880s.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Creation Date

Unknown

Theodore Roosevelt expresses to Governor Vessey his wish that he could come to Yankton in June to attend the celebrations marking the Fiftieth Anniversary of the opening of the Dakota Territory, but it is not possible for him to do so. Roosevelt regrets being unable to come and visit his friends there.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-03

President Roosevelt does not want Round to publish the letter he wrote 18 years ago regarding Native Americans and the frontier. “Extraordinary changes” have made the content of the letter “wholly inapplicable.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-07-25

Governor of South Dakota Vessey invites Theodore Roosevelt to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Dakota Territory from June 11 to 17 in Yankton, South Dakota.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-22

President of Yankton College Warren discusses plans to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of organized government in the Territory of Dakota in June. He asks Lyman Abbott to persuade Theodore Roosevelt to attend the celebrations and offer an address.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-18

Frank P. Searle, a self-identified “‘Dakotah’ pioneer,” asks to shake Theodore Roosevelt’s hand while in Seattle, Washington.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-06

Copy of the 1885 census report for Billings County, Dakota Territory.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Creation Date

1885

Frank L. Van Tassel and Joseph M. Hanson, on behalf of the Pioneer Settlers of the Territory of Dakota, announce a week-long jubilee celebration commemorating the fiftieth year since the territory’s settlement, and invite the recipient to attend and participate in the event. Yankton College will feature prominently in the activities of the week.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-03-25

President Roosevelt rides on a train that is full of items: “grizzly cub,” “petrified pumpkin from Dakota,” “redwood log from California,” and a barrel “from Colorado Springs.” The box of “ostrich eggs” falls off as they head “to Pittsburgh 10 miles.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Cartoonist Walter R. Bradford, at this point in his career, was almost exclusively a humor cartoonist; even his political cartoons like “Homeward Bound” were sillier than they were partisan. At the time he also drew gag cartoons for Life magazine, and a Sunday comic page ridiculing revolutionaries, Fitzboomski the Anarchist. Ironically, Bradford would evolve into a cartoonist for radical causes in radical journals like Appeal To Reason and the International Syndicate of Baltimore.

William Wingate Sewall has 100 cattle to practice on during winter. He does not believe cattle are too hard to care for and the work has not been difficult. The country is “queer” and dirty but the soil looks healthy and the water is good. Sewall guesses there is a chance to make money with cattle and Theodore Roosevelt is optimistic. If he can make a profit, Sewall wants to get back to the “clear water and trees” soon. Overall, he thinks that Dakota Territory should have been left to the animals.

Collection

State Historical Society of North Dakota

Creation Date

1884-08-17

Howard Eaton broke his leg a month ago and has been in St. Luke’s Hospital in New York City. The cattle business is doing well and Eaton has heard that the hunting has been good. Theodore Roosevelt sold 500 cattle and intends to bring in Texas steers this year. Eaton concludes with updates on many people from the Medora, Dakota Territory, area.

Collection

State Historical Society of North Dakota

Creation Date

1889-01-09

Howard Eaton provides updates on the location and activities of many people that William Wingate Sewall knew from the Medora, Dakota Territory, area.

Collection

State Historical Society of North Dakota

Creation Date

1888-03-22

The weather has been fair recently but previous “sharp weather” killed many cattle and “everybody is blue as a whetstone.” At least the losses should stop the big herds from Texas. Medora, Dakota Territory, is “very dead.” A. T. Packard lost everything in a fire and moved back east. The saloon also burnt down and Joseph A. Ferris’s store had a close call. Howard Eaton is glad that William Wingate Sewall is well and he wishes he could join Sewall for some “hunting, fishing, eating apples and drinking cider.”

Collection

State Historical Society of North Dakota

Creation Date

1887-02-26

William Wingate Sewall is doing well in Dakota Territory but all they have for fruit is chokecherries and there has not been rain since June. The hot, dry weather has mostly ruined the garden. The cattle are doing well and only a few have been lost. In a postscript, Sewall estimates they have 1,200 cattle and announces that Theodore Roosevelt will be returning to the ranch soon.

Collection

State Historical Society of North Dakota

Creation Date

1886-08-01

William Wingate Sewall has been “holding the fort” at the ranch while the other ranch hands are on the roundup. The weather has been nice and he has been spending time tending the garden. Sewall does not think Dakota Territory is very good for farming, but the cattle are doing well. He hopes that Theodore Roosevelt will not lose money on the cattle but doubts he can ever make much profit. Sewall accompanied Roosevelt on a recent hunt and Roosevelt killed a large elk. He hopes to go on his own hunt with Wilmot Dow when the weather is cooler. Sewall is now into his last two years in Dakota Territory and it will be a “joyful day” when he returns home to Maine.

Collection

State Historical Society of North Dakota

Creation Date

1886-06-27

The weather has been very changeable but there have been some warm days and William Wingate Sewall believes that only a few cows will be lost over the winter. Sewall is unsure if the area is suitable for cattle due to the cold, and with all the cattle being brought in, he fears the grass will run out. He suggests Theodore Roosevelt was misled about the profitability of cattle ranching in Dakota Territory. Sewall has not met anyone that is making a profit. Roosevelt will be visiting the ranch soon and Sewall will be happy to see him.

Collection

State Historical Society of North Dakota

Creation Date

1886-02-28

William Wingate Sewall participated in a cattle roundup that lasted seventeen days and covered 500 miles. He describes the route they took and the country they traveled through. Sewall had a good time and enjoyed the trip but he would not spend his life in Dakota Territory even if he could own the whole territory. The “poor settlers” in Dakota live very roughly and he thinks that when they can vote they will “cook” the cattle men until the territory is left to the “small fellows.”

Collection

State Historical Society of North Dakota

Creation Date

1885-08-16

The weather is cold and the snow is over a foot deep. William Wingate Sewall is not sure how the cattle can survive in such an environment. He accompanied a group, including James Watts, a “genuine specimen of a frontier man,” to a Native American village. Watts was with General Custer the day before the Battle of the Little Bighorn and claims to have been shot seven times and hit with arrows five times. They bought several moccasins, buckskins, and a buffalo robe. Sewall’s long hair seemed to interest the Native Americans and they even braided his hair. There are opportunities in Dakota Territory but he still believes that Maine has better living conditions and hopes to return soon.

Collection

State Historical Society of North Dakota

Creation Date

1885-02-18