Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands A Young Politician's Quest for Recovery in the American West

by Di Silvestro, Roger L.

• ISBN13: 9780802778444
• ISBN10: 0802778445
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-09-04
• Publisher: Walker Books

Summary

Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands chronicles the turbulent years Roosevelt spent as a rancher in the Badlands of Dakota Territory, following the sudden deaths on February 14, 1884, of his wife, two days after giving birth, and of his mother. Grief-strickenand driven by doubts about his career after failed attempts as a reformer fighting political corruptionthe young, Harvard-educated New York politician left his infant daughter in his sister's care and went to live on a Badlands ranch he had bought a year earlier. Drawing on Roosevelt's own accounts and on diverse archives, Roger Di Silvestro tells the exciting story of how the character and commitment of the future president and conservationist were forged during roundups, bronco busting, fist fights, grizzly bear hunts, and encounters with horse thieves as the Old West drew to its end. In the dramatic life story of Theodore Roosevelt, few adventures exceed those that he found in the Badlands.

Author Biography

Roger L. Di Silvestro is a senior editor at National Wildlife magazine and the author of In the Shadow of Wounded Knee and several nature books. He lives in Virginia, near Washington, D.C.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Prologue	p. 1
The Badlands Rancher as a Young Man	p. 5
The Lure of the West	p. 26
The Bison Hunt	p. 35
Love and Loss	p. 59
Under Western Skies	p. 70
The Ranchman	p. 82
The Politician	p. 100
A Time of Preparation	p. 109
Grizzly Hunt	p. 121
Gunfighters and Blaine	p. 139
Winter, 1884-85	p. 146
Roundup	p. 161
At Home in East and West	p. 177
On the Trail of Outlaws	p. 198
Love, Guilt, and City Politics	p. 218
The Blizzards of 1886-87	p. 235
Badlands Legacy: From the West to the White House	p. 243
Epilogue	p. 257
Acknowledgments	p. 265
Notes	p. 267
Index	p. 341
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