Our Rough Rider

The portraits of forty-nine people hang in the Roughrider Hall of Fame in the state capitol building at Bismarck.  They honor North Dakotans who have achieved national recognition in their fields of endeavor. It is probably no surprise that the renowned band leader Lawrence Welk became the first inductee on August 28, 1961. The list extends through July 30, 2024 when the portrait of James Buchli, a NASA astronaut, found its place on the wall. We presume more will be added.

In these parts the hall’s “Rough Rider” namesake can mean only one person, Teddy Roosevelt. He has become an advertising icon for the state. Many tales praising this rugged individualist have been told and retold to maintain, even inflate his memory as a tourist attraction. One author has written, “Medora supports itself by feeding off the carcass of Teddy.”

Next time you visit town just look around and find many references to the man. Of course, there is the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Rough Rider Hotel, Bully Pulpit Golf Course, Medora Musical where he’s featured, articles of clothing for sale, an impersonator who pops up around town, hamburgers named for him,  Maltese Cross Cabin, and who knows what else I’ve missed. The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library will open on July 4, 2026. The town with its attractions keeps growing, as will the use of his persona. 

You can’t blame Teddy for the hype about him in Medora, or can you? We learned from history how he led the charge on San Juan Hill in Cuba. Apparently his troops did fight well, but the whole affair gained a little puffery along the way. The country had to rely on the reporting of correspondents that were present. He made sure to name the reporters who would accompany him. Richard Harding Davis, the writer, and Fredric Remington, the artist, portrayed TR and the Roughriders in the most glowing terms. TR treated Davis very well, Davis reciprocated, thereby helping to create the popular legend. His stories carried bold, eye-catching headlines coupled with Remington’s artwork which caught the readers’ attention and sold newspapers. Thus a hero was born.  

None of the foregoing is meant as a criticism of the man. In fact he was popular then as now. He’s the president who one of my grandfathers said was the only one he ever liked. In fact, I kind of like the man, too. He never lived to see his Medal of Honor for his gallantry in action of San Juan Hill because it wasn’t presented until 2001. Neither did he see his face carved on Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota, but it’s a pretty sure thing he would have liked both.

As for accomplishments, several can be attributed to him. He broke up monopolies, pushed to establish the Pure Food and Drug Act, asserted the U.S. leadership position in the Western Hemisphere, and promoted the construction of the Panama Canal. He was a conservationist and created 150 national forests, 51 federal bird preserves, 4 national game preserves, 5 national parks, and 18 national monuments. All told he placed 230 million acres under federal protection, portions of which greedy developers today would love to get their hands on.

He read widely and authored many books. A speech he called The Man in the Arena is still frequently quoted: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” 

 

To condense his quote in a few words, we might use a reference from the baseball world that tells us you can’t get a hit if you’re not swinging. A past leader of India, Mahatma Gandhi, put it this way, “You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing, there will be no result.” We can go to the world of country music and find one more reference from Lee Ann Womack, “And when you get the chance to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.”