Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands of Dakota Territory

October 27

Theodore Roosevelt born in Manhattan, New York

Graduates from Harvard College; Marries Alice Hathaway Lee

September 7 – 25

First trip to the Dakota Badlands; Roosevelt hunts bison and invests in the Maltese Cross/Chimney Butte Ranch

February 14

Wife Alice and mother Mittie die on the same day in the same house in Manhattan

June 9

Return to the Badlands; establishment of a new, more remote home ranch, the Elkhorn Ranch

August – September

Hunting excursion to the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming

December 19

Roosevelt leads the organization of the Little Missouri Stockmen’s Association, the first of its kind in the region

April

Roosevelt punches out a drunken gunslinger at a saloon in Mingusville, Montana (now Wibaux).

(Information is sparse, and this is just one of several possible dates of this episode.)

September

Feud with fellow cattle businessman the Marquis de Morès comes to a head; some see the possibility of a duel, but the two aristocrats talk each other down

March – April

While preparing to hunt mountain lions, a trio of thieves steal Roosevelt’s boat on the Little Missouri River; Roosevelt and his ranch hands Bill Sewall and Will Dow track the men down; Roosevelt will end up marching them forty miles overland from the mouth of Cherry Creek to Dickinson to be jailed

July 5

At the encouragement of Dr. Victor Hugo Stickney, who treated Roosevelt’s feet following the boat thieves adventure, Roosevelt delivers an Independence Day oration in Dickinson. It is his first major public address. It has come to be known as the “I Like Big Things” speech after its most famous passage.

December 2

Marries Edith Kermit Carow in London, England

April

Following the Winter of Blue Snows and the Great-Die Up, Roosevelt arrives in the Badlands to survey his cattle losses; they were indeed devastating; he will begin slowly but surely divesting himself from the ranching business

Brief hunting visit

Brief hunting visit

September 2 – 8

Roosevelt will bring his wife, Edith, his sisters, Bamie and Corinne, and a few others to visit the Elkhorn Ranch

Brief hunting visit

Inspection tour of Indian Reservations in capacity as U.S. Civil Service Commissioner; hunting and visit to the Elkhorn

Brief hunting visit

Brief hunting visit

Brief hunting visit

Sells the majority of his remaining cattle interests to his longtime business partner Sylvane Ferris, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Douglas Robinson

July 1

The Rough Riders, under the leadership of Colonel Roosevelt, assault Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill outside of Santiago, Cuba

September 17

Campaigning for Vice President, Roosevelt makes a whistle stop in Medora. Speaking from horseback atop Town Butte, he tells the crowd that “in this country of hills and plateaus the romance of my life began.”

September 14

Roosevelt becomes the 26th President of the United States

April

Sells the very last vestige of his cattle business – his three brands and any cattle that still bear them – to Sylvane Ferris

April 7

Brief stop in Medora on the Great Loop Tour. Roosevelt speaks at the Town Hall and reminisces with old friends from the ranching days

Roosevelt retires from the presidency, travels in Africa and Europe

September 5

At a speech laying the cornerstone of Fargo College, Roosevelt declares he “never would have been president if it had not been for my experience in North Dakota.”

April 13

Whistle stops in southwestern North Dakota as he travels from California back to New York; a few minutes each in Beach, Medora, Belfield, and Dickinson

September 12

Passes through Medora without stopping during his Progressive Party campaign

The ill-fated Roosevelt-Rondon expedition charting the River of Doubt in the Amazon basin nearly takes Roosevelt’s life

October 7

En route from Billings, Montana, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, Roosevelt passes through Medora without stopping.

January 6

Theodore Roosevelt dies in his sleep at the age of 60 at his Long Island home