Theodore Roosevelt, called “the conservation president,” was
a driving force behind the conservation of public lands in the early
1900’s. It’s unlikely the park system would be what it is today without
him. The national park named for him is one that was developed as a memorial to
him in the area of his Elkhorn Ranch which he started in the 1880’s.
By the time TR started coming to North Dakota to hunt
buffalo in 1883 they were nearly gone. An estimated sixty million had
been reduced to six hundred in just a couple of decades of profit-driven mass
slaughter. (An additional motive was weakening and marginalizing the
Indian tribes). Thanks to the efforts of those who were determined to
save them from extinction, beginning with the American Bison Society which was
started by Teddy Roosevelt, Andrew Carnegie, and other New York philanthropists
and zoologists, their numbers are now in the range of between 250,000 and 500,000
depending on one’s source of information. Around 25,000 are on public
land and the rest are in private herds. Ted Turner owns around 55,000 which he
uses to supply his 45 Ted’s Montana Grill restaurants whose menus include every
conceivable way of serving bison meat. It’s been an amazing recovery for an
animal which was a hair’s breadth from extinction. In May President Obama
signed legislation naming the bison America’s first national mammal.
The park has three separate sections…..the South Unit
starting at Medora (population 129), the North Unit which is a 68 mile drive
north of Medora, and the Elkhorn Ranch section in the middle which was the site
of TR’s ranch. A trail connects all the units. The ranch buildings are
long gone at the Elkhorn Ranch section but the foundation of the house is there
for anyone who wants to see the actual location. A 20-mile gravel road
leads to it so that part of the park probably gets very few visitors. We
certainly won’t be among them.
We explored the South Unit today which has a 35 mile driving
loop and several hiking trails. The visitor center has very nice displays
and a beautiful video of the park and its history.
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| Wooden statue of Theodore Roosevelt and horse. |
One of the most interesting things in the visitor center is
this statue of TR on horseback with the figure dressed in TR’s original
clothes. The life-size statue itself is fascinating because the entire
thing is made of small pieces of wood. There’s no explanation of how it
was made. It’s extremely well done.
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| I-94 running through Theodore Roosevelt National Park. |
There are numerous overlooks and pull-offs along the loop so
drivers as well as passengers can see the views better. This view has
I-94 running through the middle of it. It’s odd to have an interstate
running through a national park but it doesn’t seem to be a problem. It
can’t be seen from most of the park and its noise isn’t intrusive. The
gray-green plants in the foreground are sagebrush and are all over the
place. The leaves have a wonderful smell when crushed. It’s not the
same thing as culinary sage…...it’s related to wormwood (Artemisia).
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| Pre-hoodoo formations. |
These badlands formations are on their way to becoming
hoodoos like the ones at Bryce Canyon National Park. The shelf-looking
areas are limestone which doesn’t erode as fast as the softer rock
underneath. Limestone becomes “hats” (caprocks) for hoodoos as the soft rock wears
away. Formations with shelves or caprocks on top end up as columns until they
eventually erode away to nothing.
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| Storm over the badlands.
Storm coming across the park from the west…..a beautiful
sight if you’re not being pummeled by it. We were lucky that it passed
over us with only a slight sprinkle and some thunder. Fortunately, it happened while
we were sitting in the truck eating lunch, not while we were hiking.
Being lightning rods wasn’t on our agenda today.
View of the Little Missouri River which cuts a wide swath
through the badlands. It’s responsible for the wide valley of grassland
on either side of the river.
Buffalo enjoying the beautiful Little Missouri
grassland. This herd was about a mile away from us. Our camera has
a super-zoom lens but at that distance the pictures aren’t sharp so the
close-ups of the animals didn’t turn out well enough to post.
This big bull was the only buffalo we saw near the road
today. He was here when we went in and still here when we left.
He’s on top of a prairie dog town (there are many huge ones in the park).
He periodically lay down and swished dirt over his backside with his
tail. There were several insect-picking birds which stayed in the shade
under his head. Clever birds…..it was the only shade around. The prairie
dog towns here are covered with plants and flowers…..much less dusty than the
ones at Custer State Park.
We went back to the park after dinner and drove around the
whole loop again hoping to see more animals. We did see a small herd of
feral horses (descendants of ranchers’ horses which either escaped or were
turned loose), several deer, a multitude of prairie dogs and one lone buffalo
bull lying on the side of a hill. No herds anywhere within sight of the
road. At least I did get a nice picture of the landscape in good light
for a change.
We just learned from a news report that the Crow Peak fire
in the Black Hills is still burning out of control. Firefighters from
Alaska and Wisconsin have arrived to help fight the fire.
A comment generated by yesterday’s email…….the yellow crop
we passed was rapeseed from which canola oil is made…..and ND is the country’s
biggest producer of it. This information is brought to you by eagle-eyed
and much-traveled friends who knew immediately what it was.
Tomorrow we’ll do the North Unit and keep our fingers
crossed for better luck in finding buffalo.
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