Elder 6

ecame known by the cattle brand, an eight-pointed Maltese
Cross. For a while, he split his time between his home in New
York and the Dakotas.
On Valentine’s Day 1884, Roosevelt tragically lost both his
young wife, Alice, and his mother. Heartbroken, he sought solace
in the Dakota wilderness. He even considered making ranching
his sole career. Roosevelt bought a second, larger ranch, which
he named Elkhorn, and added a thousand head of cattle.
Eventually, politics beckoned. He sold the ranch in 1890 to his
managers and returned to New York and public life.
While in the Dakotas, Roosevelt wrote three books about
his adventures in the West. They became his treatise on
conservation. Though an avid hunter, Roosevelt bemoaned the
loss of habitat and wildlife he witnessed. He predicted a collapse
of the cattle industry because of ranchers’ unsustainable
practices, particularly overgrazing.
In the Dakotas, he helped form the Boone and Crockett
Club, one of the first fair-hunting organizations, and established
a stockmen's association to help preserve the region’s natural
resources. As Governor of New York and President of the United
States, Roosevelt made conservation a key policy. During his
presidency, he protected nearly 230 million acres of land as
national forests, parks, monuments, and reserves. Small wonder
this national park bears his name.
A 36-mile loop drive through the park, with plenty of pull-offs
for wildlife and scenery photo-ops, brought me closer to nature.
The bison traffic jam occurred about two-thirds of the way
through my journey. Along most of the drive, I passed small
bands of bison grazing safely in the distance. At one dramatic
junction, a large herd grazed high on a mountain ridge with a
magnificent overlord bull standing on the peak. I foolishly thought
this glorious moment would be my bison highlight!
Small wildlife colonies abounded as well. Rabbits hid in
shadows and hopped across the plains as my car approached. I