Theodore Roosevelt Administrative History

1. "Cultural Resources Management Plan, Theodore Roosevelt National Park (draft)," unpublished MS, 1983 (THRO-A), 1 (hereafter cited as "CRM Plan").

2. Not so with ethnographic work. In his "Eagle Trapping Along the Little Missouri River" (North Dakota History: Journal of the Northern Plains 50:1, Winter 1983, 4-22), Walter E. Allen gives a number of citations.

3. "CRM Plan," 3-4.

4. Apart from the information gleaned from circumscribed pre-construction surveys. Ibid., 3; James E. Sperry, "A Preliminary Archeological Survey of Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park," unpublished MS, 1981 (THRO-S). See also Sperry to John J. Reynolds (Chief, Division of Planning, OSC), 29 July 1974, attached to Final Environmental Assessment for Squaw Creek Campground, Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park (Denver: DSC, 1976), 104; and "Draft Environmental Statement, Proposed Master Plan, Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park, North Dakota," unpublished MS, ca. 1975 (THRO-A), 17. For a partial list of pre-construction surveys, see "CRM Plan," 23-25.

5. No archeological sites in the park are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. "CRM Plan," 45, 51-52.

6. Ibid., 53-55.

7. Ibid., 3.

8. Allen, 4-5, 7-8.

9. Ibid., 4-8.

10. Ibid., 12.

11. See Osmer, appendix; and "CRM Plan," 4. In the mid-1960s George M. Johnson reported the remains of wooden lodges in the Achenbach Hills. See his "The Badlands and Teddy's Park," Living Wilderness 31:96-97 (1967), 24.

12. Allen, 12 ff.

13. "CRM Plan," 4.

14. Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, 24.

15. See for example the "Interpretive Prospectus, Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park, North Dakota," unpublished MS, ca. 1973 (THRO-L), 8.

16. For an account, read Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, 111-129, or Hermann Hagedorn, Roosevelt in the Bad Lands (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1921), 365-386.

17. Merrill J. Mattes, "Historic Resource Survey, North Unit, Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park," 19 June 1974, attached to Final Environmental Assessment for Squaw Creek Campground, 96-97. Mattes thought its supposed route up the Squaw Creek drainage to be "rooted in a vague oral tradition."

18. Ibid.

19. For a bibliography of these studies, see "CRM Plan," 72-74. See also Dee C. Taylor, "Archeological Investigations of the Elkhorn Ranch Site," unpublished MS, 1959 (THRO-L), 10, 13-14; and Russell Reid (Supt., SHSND) to WL, 6 April 1948 (WL Papers).

20. Petty, "Draft History," 79; Taylor, 14, 18, 70.

21. Taylor, 3.

22. He did find a path that likely led to the privy, but couldn't find its exact location even after diligent searching, "much to the delight of local cowboys who thought the whole thing was ridiculous." Ibid., 69.

23. Ibid., 70.

24. Louis Torres, Historic Structure Report, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota (Denver; NPS, 1980), 56, 60.

25. Petty, "Draft History," 81.

26. See n19 above.

27. John O. Lancaster (Supt., THRO) to Rodd Wheaton (Historic Preservation Officer, RMRO), memorandum, 24 June 1978 (THRO-A); "1978 Superintendent's Annual Report," 14.

28. Sally Johnson, "Furnishing Plan for the Maltese Cross Cabin," unpublished MS. 1959 (THRO-A).

29. Lenard E. Brown, Furnishing Plan for a Badlands Ranch House (Washington, DC: NPS, 1969).

30. Cultural Resources Management Guidelines: NPS-2, (Washington, DC: NPS, 1981), 6-1, 6-4 (quotation from p. 6-4).

31. See "CRM Plan," 9.

32. James B. Thompson (Acting Reg. Dir., RMRO) to James Sperry (Supt., SHSND, and State Historic Preservation Officer) 1 July 1982 (THRO-A); Bruce MacDougal (Chief of Registration National Register Programs, NPS) to Federal Preservation Officer (NPS), memorandum, 29 October 1982 (THRO-A); "CRM Plan," 2-3, 10; "1976 Superintendent's Annual Report," 8.

33. "CRM Plan," 16-18; Richard A. Strait (Associate Reg. Dir., RMRO) to Superintendents of the Rocky Mountain Region, open memorandum, 12 May 1983 (THRO-A); Torres, passim.

34. "CRM Plan," 17. "Routine" maintenance is done seasonally during any one year; "cyclic" maintenance takes place only occasionally.

35. Ibid., 39, 47, 21.

36. "NRM Plan," 51. The desirability of having feral horses in the park was also questioned before Theodore Roosevelt was officially categorized as a historical area in 1964: see text at n49 below.

37. 1963 Master Plan, unpaginated.

38. Jackson E. Price (Asst. Director, NPS) to Reg. Dir. (MWRO), memorandum, 14 October 1964 (THRO-S); A. Clark Stratton (Asst. Director, Design and Construction, MWRO) to Reg. Dir. (MWRO), memorandum, 7 October 1968 (THRO-S); "Staff Meeting Minutes," 19 September 1966.

39. "Staff Meeting Minutes," 19 September 1966, 2.

40. "Staff Meeting Minutes," 8 March 1967; "Basic Operations Declaration," unpaginated.

41. At the time (1967) the route of the Long X Trail, over which longhorns were driven, was considered to be a certainty. The work of Mattes and other historical archeologists (referred to above) had not yet occurred, so it was thought a fact that the Long X followed the Squaw Creek drainage through the North Unit. This, not politics, might have been the justification for placing longhorns in the North Unit.

42. "NRM Plan," 51; "Basic Operations Declaration," unpaginated.

43. "NRM Plan," 52. The herd is regarded as having an insignificantly small impact on the park's natural environment.

44. Robert D. Powell, "Draft Resource Management Plan for Wildlife-Feral Horses," unpublished MS, 16 August 1977 (THRO-A), 1 (revision of 1976 original). The explanation is repeated in "NRM Plan," 42.

45. Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, 33.

46. The "historic significance of horses to [the] cattle industry" has also been cited as a reason: "Basic Operations Declaration," unpaginated.

47. The horses are not "free-roaming" under the terms of the law and so are not available under the "Adopt-a-Horse" program. Harvey D. Wickware (Supt., THRO) to Leonard S. Boser (Pierz, MN), 27 October 1981 (THRO-A); Powell, "Draft Resource Management Plan for Wildlife-Feral Horses," 13.

48. McKenzie County Farmer, 6 May 1954; "Superintendent's Monthly Narrative Report," 9 July 1965.

49. The New York Times, 3 May 1954, 27; Petty, "Draft History," 71-72; 1963 Master Plan, unpaginated.

50. Sullivan to Fred C. Fagergren (Reg. Dir., MWRO), memorandum, 31 May 1966 (THRO-S).

51. "Staff Meeting Minutes," 15 June 1965; Dickinson Press, 29 May, 11 June, and 9 July 1965; Powell, "Draft Resource Management Plan for Wildlife-Feral Horses," 2; "Basic Operations Declaration," unpaginated.

52. Sullivan to Fagergren, 31 May 1966; Fagergren to Sullivan, memorandum, 5 July 1966 (THRO-S).

53. "State Coordinator's Monthly Report," 27 December 1972, 4 October 1973; "Basic Operations Declaration," unpaginated; "Chief Ranger's Monthly Narrative Report," 10 May and 9 July 1974 (the last Tescher claim was forfeited in June 1974); John O. Lancaster (Supt., THRO) to Governor Arthur Link (ND), 2 July 1974 (THRO-A).

54. "Chief Ranger's Monthly Narrative Report," 5 October 1973.

55. Powell, "Draft Resource Management Plan for Wildlife-Feral Horses," 1-2; "Environmental Assessment: Proposed Feral Horse Reduction, Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park," unpublished MS, 19 April 1978 (THRO-A), 1.

56. Powell, "Draft Resource Management Plan for Wildlife-Feral Horses," 1.

57. "It has also been determined"—how is not told—"that with a herd of not less than 35-40 head, representative sexes and age classes can be displayed." Ibid., 3.

58. Ibid., 2-3.

59. Milton N. Frei, "Wild Horse Herd Evaluation for Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park," unpublished MS, April 1977 (THRO-A), passim.

60. For a short time the staff thought about using "direct reduction"—shooting, in other words—as that seemed "the most economical [method] and the least disruptive to other park resources." Wrote Superintendent Lancaster: "We are well aware of public sentiment regarding this method of reduction but consider Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park to be a special case since the animals are captive and under closer management than other wild horses in the western United States." Lancaster to Assoc. Reg. Dir. (RMRO), memorandum, 11 August 1976 (THRO-A). He might also have championed shooting in the name of historical authenticity, since that was the preferred method of "reduction" in Roosevelt's day. See text at n45 above.

61. The 1978 round-up was preceded by an environmental assessment and a month-long public comment period, during which the plan drew no disapproval "Environmental Assessment: Proposed Feral Horse Reduction," passim; "Chief Ranger's Monthly Narrative Report," 8 September 1977; Lancaster to Reg. Dir. (RMRO), memorandum, 5 July 1978 (THRO-A).

62. Jay V. Brevold (Medora, ND) to Powell, 6 October 1981 (THRO-A).

63. "Basic Operations Declaration," unpaginated.

64. Hellickson to author, 8 October 1985. Sources do not agree on the exact number of horses captured in the two NPS-sponsored round-ups of 1978 and 1981. Cf. "Chief Ranger's Monthly Narrative Report," 14 November 1978; Powell to Lancaster, memorandum, 13 September 1978; and "Basic Operations Declaration," for the 1978 round-up. Cf. "Chief Ranger's Monthly Narrative Report," 9 November 1981; "1981 Superintendent's Annual Report," 14; and "Basic Operations Declaration" for the 1981 round-up.

65. Restoration of Medora: Warren D. Hotchkiss, "Information and Interpretive Services Report for 1965," memorandum, 26 January 1966 (THRO-S). Clearing of homesteads: "Chief Ranger's Monthly Narrative Report," 10 December 1975; "1981 Superintendent's Annual Report," 13 (Paddock Cabin); Petty, "Draft History," 72, 89.

A Forest Service management plan for the Little Missouri National Grasslands, published in 1975, mentions the desirability of preserving the "traditional way of life" of the region—a clear reference to balancing the needs of energy development with those of ranching. Final Environmental Statement: Management Plan, Rolling Prairie Planning Unit, Little Missouri National Grasslands (Billings, MT: Custer National Forest, USFS, 1975), 34.