By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent

More residents of Otter Tail County than usual are visiting Medora in western North Dakota this fall. That’s in light of the opening of the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. 

Roosevelt, who was raised in New York state, lived and ranched near Medora from 1883 to 1886, prior to becoming president of the United States.

He said that his years in Dakota Territory helped shape, more than anything, his preparedness for the presidency. Roosevelt served as vice president and became president in 1901 after President William McKinley was assassinated.

One exhibit at the presidential library and museum near Medora describes Teddy Roosevelt’s ranch activities in Dakota Territory:

“TR loved roundups where ranchers gathered thousands of cattle from the buttes, basins and gorges throughout the Badlands for branding and selection for sale. A roundup could last several weeks and involve dozens of cowboys and hundreds of horses.” 

Words of wisdom from Theodore Roosevelt are positioned on the walls of this fabulous new presidential library. Among them are the words, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.”

Theodore Roosevelt was a prolific writer, authoring more than fifty books, hundreds of articles and more than 150,000 letters during his lifetime. Much of his writing was done alongside lanterns in his humble cabins near Medora during the 1880s.

The new library and museum is located just west of where the annual Medora musicals are held each summer. The tribute to Roosevelt will be open all 12 months of the year. New lodging facilities are being built in anticipation of visitors coming from all over the United States and foreign countries to visit the new facility.

As president, Roosevelt protected 230 million acres of land which was more than all of his predecessors combined. The Grand Canyon National Park, in its present form, would not exist today had it not been for the preservation efforts of Roosevelt. 

“Leave it as it is,” said Roosevelt at the Grand Canyon in 1903. “The ages have been at work on it. You cannot improve on it and man can only mar it.”

Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora, where thousands of people each year tour the Badlands, was established in 1947.