Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail

New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985. Reprint of title first published in 1896. Hardcover. Very good. Frederic Remington. [10], 186, [6] pages. Illustrations. Footnotes. Cover has minor wear and soiling. Includes a pasted in slip stating :with the compliments of THE ROOSEVELT WILD LIFE FOREST EXPERIMENT STATION, Syracuse, New York. From the publisher: This is a facsimile reprint of the original. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work. No American president has been closer to the working life of the West than Theodore Roosevelt. From 1884 to 1886 he built up his ranch on the Little Missouri in Dakota Territory, accepting the inevitable toil and hardships. He met the unique characters of the Bad Lands—mountain men, degenerate buffalo hunters, Indians, and cowboys—and observed their changes as the West became more populated. Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail describes Roosevelt's routine labor and extraordinary adventures, including a stint as a deputy sheriff pursuing three horse thieves through the cold of winter. Recounting stories of cowboy fights or describing his hunting of elk, antelope, and bear, the book expresses his lifelong delight in physical hardihood and tests of nerve. Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for Progressive Era policies in the U. S. in the early 20th century. He integrated his exuberant personality, vast range of interests, and world-famous achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity. After the death of his first wife, Roosevelt set off to the frontier, eventually settling his own ranch in the Dakota Territory. Roosevelt records, with obvious joy, his experiences on the ranch, from the people (and animals) that he meets, his adventures on the hunt, the excitement of the round up, to the everyday life on the ranch. "If I had not spent my year in North Dakota, I would never have become President of the United States," declared Theodore Roosevelt. The future statesman took his first steps toward the highest office in the land in the Dakota Badlands of the 1880s, where he began his transformation from aristocrat to democrat. Roosevelt left his home in the East as Theodore, but he returned as "Teddy," a rugged outdoorsman and soon-to-be hero of the Rough Riders. Recounted with infectious enthusiasm, Roosevelt's tales range from ranching on the open plains to hunting in the mountains. His reminiscences conjure up the vanished world of the frontier, with thrilling accounts of chasing bighorn sheep and horse thieves, encountering Indians, branding cattle, and bronco busting. Roosevelt's recollections helped elevate the cowboy's image from that of an ordinary farm laborer into a figure of nobility and courage. The works of Frederic Remington, another great mythmaker of the Old West, illustrate these memoirs. Sixty-five black-and-white images by this renowned American artist complement Roosevelt's stories of freedom and self-reliance.