Product Description

Written during his days as a ranchman in the Dakota Bad Lands, these two wilderness tales by Theodore Roosevelt endure today as part of the classic folklore of the West. The narratives provide vivid portraits of the land as well as the people and animals that inhabited it, underscoring Roosevelt's abiding concerns as a naturalist.

Originally published in 1885, Hunting Trips of a Ranchman chronicles Roosevelt's adventures tracking a twelve-hundred-pound grizzly bear in the pine forests of the Bighorn Mountains.  Yet some of the best sections are those in which Roosevelt muses on the beauty of the Bad Lands and the simple pleasures of ranch life.  The British Spectator said the book "could claim an honorable place on the same shelf as Walton's Compleat Angler."  The Wilderness Hunter, which came out in 1893, remains perhaps the most detailed account of the grizzly bear ever recorded.   Introduction by Stephen E. Ambrose.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #318010 in Books
• Published on: 1998-05-12
• Released on: 1998-05-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 832 pages

From Amazon.com
It's no secret that America's most bully president was also its most bully outdoorsman and conservationist; what's often forgotten was how beautifully and authoritatively he wrote about the wilderness and his considerable experiences there. These two pre-White House narratives--Ranchman was originally published in 1885, Wilderness Hunter eight years later--are rich and vivid. The former chronicles Roosevelt's sojourns in the Dakota Badlands; the latter is an extended love letter to the pleasures and challenges of outdoor life. So what if some of his 19th-century ideas seem politically incorrect by the standards of the next century--magnificent prose is still magnificent prose. "Nowhere, not even at sea," writes the future First Hunter in one haunting passage, "does a man feel more lonely than when riding over the far-reaching seemingly never-ending plains ... [but] after a man has lived a little while on or near them, their very vastness and loneliness and their melancholy monotony have a strong fascination for him." By comparison, the isolation and weight of the Oval Office must have seemed like an afternoon stroll in the park.

Ingram
In 1884, beset by personal tragedy, young Theodore Roosevelt left his fledgling political career in New York to live on a farm in the Dakota Badlands. These two books are a result of his sojourn in the West. Each book is full of observations of the region, and the future president's irrepressible nature shines through.

From the Back Cover
"Roosevelt's sojourns in the Dakotas, Montana, and Wyoming had a powerful influence on his outlook and politics. Most of all, his time in the West brought him great joy, a joy that is apparent in every page of Hunting Trips of a Ranchman and The Wilderness Hunter." --Stephen E. Ambrose

Customer Reviews

Wonderful Collection of Short Stories
This collection of Roosevelt's hunting trips and adventures puts you right out there with him, on the wild plains. The clarity of his descriptions and the easy way he takes you through his experiences has made this one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. If you enjoy the wilderness, stories about the old west or just relaxing with a good book, this is a great choice.

Essays on animals and hunting trips by the future President
Roosevelt purchased two cattle ranches in present-day western North Dakota, and many times went out to hunt for sport or for "meat for the pot."

Hunting Trips of a Ranchman in effect provides essays on the description, behavior, habitat, and survival of several species known to the prairies and the distant forests and mountain ranges. He talks of wildfowl (grouse, etc), elk, buffalo, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, black-tailed or mule deer, and finishes with Old Ephraim, the grizzly bear. All of these books are good for armchair readers who have never been to the western wildernesses or prairies, where these animals can be viewed with perseverance and patience.

Roosevelt speaks of elk as the most noble of the deer family and perhaps the most majestic of all animals (which I tend to agree). He speaks of the incredible speed but also remarkable (and sometimes fatal) curiosity of the pronghorn, who are able to outrun any foes and keep in the open to see them at long distance with their excellent vision. However, they run in a straight line to provide a fairly consistent target for a good marksmen. He speaks of the enjoyable hunting of both kinds of deer, the difficulty of approaching the haunts of the bighorn, and his big finale, one of the best accounts of hunting grizzlies that I have ever read. Roosevelt's respect for the bear's ferocity is manifest, almost amounting to an admitted dread, which shows his good sense.

If you are interested in the American wild, are curious about the habits and habitats of these large species, and are drawn to the hunting and outdoor mentality of the President who helped strengthen the national park system, this will be an entertaining read for you.

Interesting look at key point & place in US history
I enjoyed these books very much. They give an excellent overview not only of the flora and fauna of the north plains in the late 1800s, but also an interesting perspective on the people of the place and TR. The only drawback was the writing was a bit dated, and the two books were a bit overlapping in subject. Nonetheless, highly recommended to anyone interested in the outdoors, US history, and/or TR.