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Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands: A Young Politician's Quest for Recovery in the American West
Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands chronicles the turbulent years Roosevelt spent as a rancher in the Badlands of Dakota Territory, following the sudden deaths on February 14, 1884, of his wife, two days after giving birth, and of his mother. Grief-stricken-and driven by doubts about his career after failed attempts as a reformer fighting political corruption-the young, Harvard-educated New York politician left his infant daughter in his sister's care and went to live on a Badlands ranch he had bought a year earlier. Drawing on Roosevelt's own accounts and on diverse archives, Roger Di Silvestro tells the exciting story of how the character and commitment of the future president and conservationist were forged during roundups, bronco busting, fist fights, grizzly bear hunts, and encounters with horse thieves as the Old West drew to its end. In the dramatic life story of Theodore Roosevelt, few adventures exceed those that he found in the Badlands.
368 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
July 4, 2013
I rarely write reviews, but for this one I had to.
This is absolutely my favorite book about Theodore Roosevelt - and I've read a few. While others chronicle his childhood illness, political career, and the personal tragedy of losing his wife and mother on the same day in the same house, they barely touch on his adventures in the west and the Amazon. This book focuses on his time Out West as a rancher, a cowboy, a conservationist, and - first and foremost - as a hunter. I've read a lot about his strong character and commitment to doing the right thing and standing by his values, but "Badlands" highlights more complex aspects of his character. He is in turns arrogant and humble, tough and soft, dominating and incapable, the grandfather of conservation and the slaughterer of countless animals - many just for trophy or hide. In short, he is human. It would be easy to simply label him as a hypocrite who fought to protect Yellowstone Park, then shot and killed a nearly extinct bison just outside its borders, undoubtedly part of the population he was supposedly trying to conserve. However, I thought that just highlighted the complexity of the issue and his conflicting ideals. Real men hunt and kill things, and the right thing to do is to protect and conserve. The author calls him oblivious, but I think he's fully aware of the conflict - it's just that the hunter in him wins out most of the time.
This is absolutely my favorite book about Theodore Roosevelt - and I've read a few. While others chronicle his childhood illness, political career, and the personal tragedy of losing his wife and mother on the same day in the same house, they barely touch on his adventures in the west and the Amazon. This book focuses on his time Out West as a rancher, a cowboy, a conservationist, and - first and foremost - as a hunter. I've read a lot about his strong character and commitment to doing the right thing and standing by his values, but "Badlands" highlights more complex aspects of his character. He is in turns arrogant and humble, tough and soft, dominating and incapable, the grandfather of conservation and the slaughterer of countless animals - many just for trophy or hide. In short, he is human. It would be easy to simply label him as a hypocrite who fought to protect Yellowstone Park, then shot and killed a nearly extinct bison just outside its borders, undoubtedly part of the population he was supposedly trying to conserve. However, I thought that just highlighted the complexity of the issue and his conflicting ideals. Real men hunt and kill things, and the right thing to do is to protect and conserve. The author calls him oblivious, but I think he's fully aware of the conflict - it's just that the hunter in him wins out most of the time.
August 26, 2022
A dry collection of facts and citations about one of our most interesting presidents.
One thing that captures my curiosity about him is how contradictory he was. He was adamant about wildlife conservation, while also whooping for joy when he killed what he thought was the last elk in the Badlands. He criticized others for their wanton slaughter of animals, while during a month-long hunting expedition, he killed 125 animals himself, not to mention the animals killed by his hunting companions. We have the teddy bear because he spared the life of an innocent bear, but the bear in question was spared while TR was on a bear hunting trip. He had long given up a future in "public life", but then served two terms as President of the United States. There was and is no other like Theodore Roosevelt.
One thing that captures my curiosity about him is how contradictory he was. He was adamant about wildlife conservation, while also whooping for joy when he killed what he thought was the last elk in the Badlands. He criticized others for their wanton slaughter of animals, while during a month-long hunting expedition, he killed 125 animals himself, not to mention the animals killed by his hunting companions. We have the teddy bear because he spared the life of an innocent bear, but the bear in question was spared while TR was on a bear hunting trip. He had long given up a future in "public life", but then served two terms as President of the United States. There was and is no other like Theodore Roosevelt.
May 5, 2018
This is a highly enjoyable and easily readable book, focusing almost exclusively on Theodore Roosevelt's time out West, specifically in the North Dakota (at that time, Dakota Territory) Bad Lands in the mid-1880s. Roger Di Silvestro provides a good mix of exciting narrative with measured and fair analysis of Roosevelt's actions and words. He sets the stage well by briefly examining Roosevelt's childhood and his fragile health. This, coupled with one of the worst days that anyone could possibly eve imagine having for themselves – Roosevelt's mother and wife dying on the same day in the same house – propelled Roosevelt to seek some solace in a far away place, and set to work on improving both his mental and physical health. In this Roosevelt succeeds mightily, managing to overcome (or perhaps just permanently suppress) his grief while simultaneously transforming his body from a lean, sickly young man into a muscular, supremely fit cowboy.
While the focus of the book is Roosevelt's time in the West, Di Silvestro does not fail to incorporate Roosevelt's other activities into the narrative. While spending a great deal of time out West, Roosevelt was often only there for a few weeks or a month at a time. He typically returned to New York for political reasons of some sort or another, and later for other reasons as he began seeing Edith Carow, the woman who would become his second wife. Roosevelt, however, was so adept at marketing himself, that he managed to create the perception that he was a Westerner spending time in the East, when in reality he was the opposite. While it is true that he took much more than a passing interest in the Bad Lands and in ranching, and he did endure hardships, his wealth made it a much different situation for him than it did for almost everyone else that he encountered out there. Roosevelt could, at any time, turn around and go back home. He did not spend a full winter there. He did not depend on his ranching income for livelihood. Although, he did lose a lot of money in his attempt to establish a cattle operation on his ranch. In fact, he significantly damaged his financial position with the amount of money that he poured into the ranch and the cattle, only to be undone by a combination of changing economic conditions and a brutal winter in 1886-1887.
Granted, as with any Roosevelt biographer, Di Silvestro has much to work with. Roosevelt's life was never dull; the man always seemed to be doing three things at once. Still, putting together a coherent look at a specific period if his life is not a simple task. Di Silvestro properly gives Roosevelt credit for not just pretending to be a cowboy but really trying to learn the ropes – literally – and immerse himself into the lifestyle. He did not shirk responsibility nor shrink from danger. In fact, he actually displayed a reckless disregard of his own life and frequently seemed to go out of his way looking for trouble. Roosevelt was influential in helping to organize a Stock Men's Association in Medora, the local town, and took part actively in the community whenever he was there.
However, Roosevelt was a very complex and often contradictory man. While espousing the necessity of wildlife and nature conservation, and criticizing market hunters, Roosevelt himself continually displayed a blood-lust for big game animals. He seemed to have no qualms about contributing to the destruction and near-extinction of the bison,of being greedy in going after bull elk even though they were rapidly disappearing, and trying to kill antelope and grizzly bears. While preaching responsibility, Roosevelt himself was an irresponsible hunter, obsessed with stocking his New York home with stuffed heads of game animals. Di Silvestro rightly criticizes him for this glaring contradiction, while also acknowledging that Roosevelt was not the only wealthy man to behave in this manner.
There were only two (minor) issues that I had with this book, neither of which really detracted frm the overall enjoyment of reading it. First, while Di Silvestro does provide a map of the overall Bad Lands area at the very beginning of the book, just after the Table of Contents, it would have been helpful to have had some maps periodically sprinkled throughout the text. During such episodes as when Roosevelt chased and captured the thieves that stole his boat, a map showing the entire land traversed by Roosevelt, where the capture took place, where he had to take them so as to hand them over the law enforcement, and then his return to his ranch, would have helped to augment the narrative. The second thing is that sometimes Di Silvestro would quote from someone without saying who it was. To be clear, there were always endnotes and you can turn to the back to find out; it's just that I find it easier, while reading, to know who was saying or writing something. And more times than not, he did note who he was referencing in the book, but sometimes you would be reading and suddenly he would be quoting from somewhere without specifically mentioning the source. Nonetheless, the quality of this book is excellent and Di Silvestro succeeds in bringing to life the closing of the American frontier in the 1880s. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in Roosevelt's life or in this time period.
Grade: A
While the focus of the book is Roosevelt's time in the West, Di Silvestro does not fail to incorporate Roosevelt's other activities into the narrative. While spending a great deal of time out West, Roosevelt was often only there for a few weeks or a month at a time. He typically returned to New York for political reasons of some sort or another, and later for other reasons as he began seeing Edith Carow, the woman who would become his second wife. Roosevelt, however, was so adept at marketing himself, that he managed to create the perception that he was a Westerner spending time in the East, when in reality he was the opposite. While it is true that he took much more than a passing interest in the Bad Lands and in ranching, and he did endure hardships, his wealth made it a much different situation for him than it did for almost everyone else that he encountered out there. Roosevelt could, at any time, turn around and go back home. He did not spend a full winter there. He did not depend on his ranching income for livelihood. Although, he did lose a lot of money in his attempt to establish a cattle operation on his ranch. In fact, he significantly damaged his financial position with the amount of money that he poured into the ranch and the cattle, only to be undone by a combination of changing economic conditions and a brutal winter in 1886-1887.
Granted, as with any Roosevelt biographer, Di Silvestro has much to work with. Roosevelt's life was never dull; the man always seemed to be doing three things at once. Still, putting together a coherent look at a specific period if his life is not a simple task. Di Silvestro properly gives Roosevelt credit for not just pretending to be a cowboy but really trying to learn the ropes – literally – and immerse himself into the lifestyle. He did not shirk responsibility nor shrink from danger. In fact, he actually displayed a reckless disregard of his own life and frequently seemed to go out of his way looking for trouble. Roosevelt was influential in helping to organize a Stock Men's Association in Medora, the local town, and took part actively in the community whenever he was there.
However, Roosevelt was a very complex and often contradictory man. While espousing the necessity of wildlife and nature conservation, and criticizing market hunters, Roosevelt himself continually displayed a blood-lust for big game animals. He seemed to have no qualms about contributing to the destruction and near-extinction of the bison,of being greedy in going after bull elk even though they were rapidly disappearing, and trying to kill antelope and grizzly bears. While preaching responsibility, Roosevelt himself was an irresponsible hunter, obsessed with stocking his New York home with stuffed heads of game animals. Di Silvestro rightly criticizes him for this glaring contradiction, while also acknowledging that Roosevelt was not the only wealthy man to behave in this manner.
There were only two (minor) issues that I had with this book, neither of which really detracted frm the overall enjoyment of reading it. First, while Di Silvestro does provide a map of the overall Bad Lands area at the very beginning of the book, just after the Table of Contents, it would have been helpful to have had some maps periodically sprinkled throughout the text. During such episodes as when Roosevelt chased and captured the thieves that stole his boat, a map showing the entire land traversed by Roosevelt, where the capture took place, where he had to take them so as to hand them over the law enforcement, and then his return to his ranch, would have helped to augment the narrative. The second thing is that sometimes Di Silvestro would quote from someone without saying who it was. To be clear, there were always endnotes and you can turn to the back to find out; it's just that I find it easier, while reading, to know who was saying or writing something. And more times than not, he did note who he was referencing in the book, but sometimes you would be reading and suddenly he would be quoting from somewhere without specifically mentioning the source. Nonetheless, the quality of this book is excellent and Di Silvestro succeeds in bringing to life the closing of the American frontier in the 1880s. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in Roosevelt's life or in this time period.
Grade: A
August 10, 2012
From my review originally posted in AND Magazine
One of the things that I'm frequently asked by people who aren't fans of history or non-fiction is, "How can you read ten books about the same person or the same event?". They can't understand it because, after all, I know what's going to happen -- the story doesn't change. That's true. For the most part, the facts don't change, but the storyteller is different and that makes the difference. Depending on the author, the characters are introduced and events are stressed in different ways. What really keeps me interested, however, is that, for example, not every Theodore Roosevelt book I read is about Theodore Roosevelt's entire life. There is such a thing as "focused history", which focuses on a specific event or era and illuminates that aspect of the historical figure's life. Roger L. Di Silvestro's Theodore Roosevelt In The Badlands: A Young Politician's Quest for Recovery in the American West (2011, Walker & Company) is focused history at its best.
Before Theodore Roosevelt became the famous Rough Rider, or Governor of New York, or Vice President, or President of the United States, he was a young member of the New York State Assembly whose wife and mother died on the same day, in the same house, two days after the birth of his first child. Stunned and reeling from the dual tragedies which occurred on Valentine's Day in 1884, Roosevelt handed his baby daughter, Alice, over to his sister and went to a ranch he had purchased in the Badlands of present-day North Dakota.
In Theodore Roosevelt In The Badlands , Di Silverstro explains how Roosevelt used life in the Badlands and the Dakota Territory as part-therapy, part-proving ground. Roosevelt lived the Western life that he had loved reading about as a child and teenager. He ranched, he hunted, he explored, and while experiencing life in the West, he also proved himself to the people of the West, showing them that, despite his appearance and background, he fit right in with their culture.
For three years, Roosevelt spent most of his time on his Dakota ranches or hunting in what is now the Dakotas, Montana, and Wyoming. Through that time, as Theodore Roosevelt In The Badlands shows, Roosevelt furthered his appreciation for nature, found the value in conservation, and prepared himself for a return to an active, political life -- one which would go down in history as one of the most remarkable careers of any of our Presidents.
Roosevelt identified with the West, and the West was a natural fit for Roosevelt. In the time that he was there, however, the West was changing. As the West changed, Roosevelt changed, too. When he returned to the East Coast and continued his political career, he was able to take the lessons he had learned in the Badlands and apply them to his life as a national leader. Theodore Roosevelt In The Badlands is a story about a monumental time in the life of one of our most epic leaders -- a life that led to him literally becoming part of a monument in those very same Badlands.
Theodore Roosevelt In The Badlands: A Young Politician's Quest for Recovery in the American West by Roger L. Di Silvestro is available now. You can order the book now on Amazon, or download it immediately for your Kindle. Roger L. Di Silvestro's website is rogerwrites.com and the companion site for his book is www.theodorerooseveltinthebadlands.com.
One of the things that I'm frequently asked by people who aren't fans of history or non-fiction is, "How can you read ten books about the same person or the same event?". They can't understand it because, after all, I know what's going to happen -- the story doesn't change. That's true. For the most part, the facts don't change, but the storyteller is different and that makes the difference. Depending on the author, the characters are introduced and events are stressed in different ways. What really keeps me interested, however, is that, for example, not every Theodore Roosevelt book I read is about Theodore Roosevelt's entire life. There is such a thing as "focused history", which focuses on a specific event or era and illuminates that aspect of the historical figure's life. Roger L. Di Silvestro's Theodore Roosevelt In The Badlands: A Young Politician's Quest for Recovery in the American West (2011, Walker & Company) is focused history at its best.
Before Theodore Roosevelt became the famous Rough Rider, or Governor of New York, or Vice President, or President of the United States, he was a young member of the New York State Assembly whose wife and mother died on the same day, in the same house, two days after the birth of his first child. Stunned and reeling from the dual tragedies which occurred on Valentine's Day in 1884, Roosevelt handed his baby daughter, Alice, over to his sister and went to a ranch he had purchased in the Badlands of present-day North Dakota.
In Theodore Roosevelt In The Badlands , Di Silverstro explains how Roosevelt used life in the Badlands and the Dakota Territory as part-therapy, part-proving ground. Roosevelt lived the Western life that he had loved reading about as a child and teenager. He ranched, he hunted, he explored, and while experiencing life in the West, he also proved himself to the people of the West, showing them that, despite his appearance and background, he fit right in with their culture.
For three years, Roosevelt spent most of his time on his Dakota ranches or hunting in what is now the Dakotas, Montana, and Wyoming. Through that time, as Theodore Roosevelt In The Badlands shows, Roosevelt furthered his appreciation for nature, found the value in conservation, and prepared himself for a return to an active, political life -- one which would go down in history as one of the most remarkable careers of any of our Presidents.
Roosevelt identified with the West, and the West was a natural fit for Roosevelt. In the time that he was there, however, the West was changing. As the West changed, Roosevelt changed, too. When he returned to the East Coast and continued his political career, he was able to take the lessons he had learned in the Badlands and apply them to his life as a national leader. Theodore Roosevelt In The Badlands is a story about a monumental time in the life of one of our most epic leaders -- a life that led to him literally becoming part of a monument in those very same Badlands.
Theodore Roosevelt In The Badlands: A Young Politician's Quest for Recovery in the American West by Roger L. Di Silvestro is available now. You can order the book now on Amazon, or download it immediately for your Kindle. Roger L. Di Silvestro's website is rogerwrites.com and the companion site for his book is www.theodorerooseveltinthebadlands.com.
October 26, 2014
Even though it is nowhere near the level that Edmund Morris achieves in his trilogy, this is nonetheless engaging and thoroughly researched. Fans of tales of Roosevelt's formative years will recognize many of the anecdotes and characters, but DiSilvestro weaves those stories nicely into the broader weft of TR's rise to prominence in the years after the death of his first wife Alice, an event that left him aimless and sickly. Always an advocate of 'the strenuous life', TR took on every challenge that the Badlands had to offer and made himself into a true western ranchman.
March 31, 2025
Harvard, high society clubs, secret clubs, debutante balls, world travels..... Teddy Roosevelt was truly part of New York's elite, an actual Knickerbocker too. He had family in the city's Democratic party, one of his closest friends was an Astor, in same circles of the Vanderbilts.... With all his connections and moral courage, Roosevelt went on to represent the new generation of the Republican party. He won the majority vote and became part of the New York State Assembly. Roosevelt also wrote a book that went on to be a text book, a required reading on the Navy. He finally married his sweetheart Alice... ALL of this was done by the time he turned 22 years old!!!!
The book gives a great overview of his life from New York to the ranches and land of The Badlands, and then eventually back in New York as he moved into his political life. The life he had experienced in the west was intertwined with his political life as he was a big advocate for hunting restrictions and land conservation. A few books I've read this year would talk about the extreme wanton of hunting and fur trade; it's really too bad the amount of species that were made extinct.
The book gives a great overview of his life from New York to the ranches and land of The Badlands, and then eventually back in New York as he moved into his political life. The life he had experienced in the west was intertwined with his political life as he was a big advocate for hunting restrictions and land conservation. A few books I've read this year would talk about the extreme wanton of hunting and fur trade; it's really too bad the amount of species that were made extinct.
April 8, 2022
Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands
I must admit I did not learn a great deal I was not aware of in this book…but then like many others, I have read extensively about President Roosevelt.
However, the author did an excellent job of focusing on the western aspect of TR’s life, and how the west rejuvenated a man who had all but given up due to several tragedies.
As the president himself said, if it had not been for the experience he gained in the Dakotas, he likely would never have been a Rough Rider, Governor, or President.
This book is well worth your time. The author is honest, presenting TR’s failings along with his accomplishments.
I must admit I did not learn a great deal I was not aware of in this book…but then like many others, I have read extensively about President Roosevelt.
However, the author did an excellent job of focusing on the western aspect of TR’s life, and how the west rejuvenated a man who had all but given up due to several tragedies.
As the president himself said, if it had not been for the experience he gained in the Dakotas, he likely would never have been a Rough Rider, Governor, or President.
This book is well worth your time. The author is honest, presenting TR’s failings along with his accomplishments.
July 28, 2020
I think hunters and outdoorsmen would enjoy this biography more than I did.
My husband and I listened to this on our drive out and back from Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the North Dakota Badlands and it gave us a good background for TR's time out there.
However, a great deal of time is devoted to the minute deals of various hunts/excursions like how many bullets it took from him to shoot how many animals and the events/conditions of multiple days on the trail. None of that was very interesting to me and some of it was downright unpleasant.
The book kind of felt like a summary of diary entries and newspaper clippings with lots of filler that I just didn't care about (or that seemed out of place). It felt a bit strung together for me.
I still learned a lot about Roosevelt and appreciated getting a taste of the West during his time out there, but I think this book has a more specific audience than others about the president and it was just ok.
My husband and I listened to this on our drive out and back from Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the North Dakota Badlands and it gave us a good background for TR's time out there.
However, a great deal of time is devoted to the minute deals of various hunts/excursions like how many bullets it took from him to shoot how many animals and the events/conditions of multiple days on the trail. None of that was very interesting to me and some of it was downright unpleasant.
The book kind of felt like a summary of diary entries and newspaper clippings with lots of filler that I just didn't care about (or that seemed out of place). It felt a bit strung together for me.
I still learned a lot about Roosevelt and appreciated getting a taste of the West during his time out there, but I think this book has a more specific audience than others about the president and it was just ok.
January 25, 2013
A straight-forward account of the two years Roosevelt spent in the Dakota territory after the deaths of his wife and mother. Seemed primarily to rely on Roosevelt's own writing. This book needed a more critical perspective on the hypocrisies of the future president, who was preaching about preserving the natural wildlife while simultaneously shooting the last few bison left. The author acknowledges the discrepancy but offers little explanation. I personally think Roosevelt was just an elitist schmuck who wanted to "preserve" the badlands for the enjoyment of himself and his posterity. He also thought that once he put down his cattle, land usage at that moment reached its reasonable limit. I also found Roosevelt highly unlikeable in another book I read about him (River of Doubt), so this may have clouded my judgement of this book.
June 5, 2016
Teddy Roosevelt was not your typical president, or son of an aristocratic family. His love of the Badlands and the story Roger Di Silvestro tells shows this clearly. My, or I should say our - my wife also read it - enjoyment comes because we had visited this area and hiked to the area he lived. We also spend time in Maine and know about his long friendship with Bill Sewall, a Maine hunting guide who became Roosevelt's ranch foreman in the Badlands. For us, this book brings life to this remarkable landscape.
January 14, 2016
I really enjoyed this look into Teddy's time in the Badlands. The book provided sufficient starting information for those who are unfamiliar with Teddy's childhood and had a good wrap up in the end about how his time in the badlands influenced his political career, as well as a quick what happened to all the major people. I thought the author did a good job of providing all the information in a non-judgmental manner, allowing the reader to make their own conclusions.
November 19, 2019
A fun, quick read about Teddy Roosevelt's time and love of the Badlands and the West. I did not feel like there was very much new here that I did not know from pervious TR books, but I did enjoy the writing style and the fair way that the author treated Roosevelt. It is difficult to blend TR's love of nature and conservation work with his seeming bloodlust for hunting, but the author presented both sides and included comments when appropriate. A good read for fans of Teddy.
August 12, 2011
Good, solid, highly readable history. I am not a hunter so it is hard for me to reconcile Roosevelt's passion and enthusiasm for trophy hunting with his obvious appreciation of wildlife and the natural environment. But I really enjoyed the book and reading more about this period of Roosevelt's life.
May 27, 2025
On Valentine's Day of 1884, Theodore Roosevelt's mother and wife both died within about six hours of each other. Overwhelmed with grief, TR's friends and family were concerned that he might literally lose his grip on sanity.
Compelled to escape a life that now seemed hollow, the young Roosevelt abandoned his burgeoning career in New York politics and retreated to the Badlands of North Dakota, where he learned the life of cattle ranching and big game hunting. Upon arrival, Dakota cattlemen ridiculed Roosevelt as a wannabe tourist, but he quickly earned their respect by demonstrating a willingness to face the most difficult challenges of ranch life. When TR was working a cattle roundup and a particularly abrasive horse repeatedly attempted to buck him, an experienced cowboy offered to trade horses with him. Roosevelt replied: "I know you can ride him, l've see you ride. But I wanna find out if I can ride him."
On the frontier, Roosevelt found personal recovery and an appreciation for beauty and brutality of nature, which he carried throughout his personal life and political career and made him the greatest conservationist who's ever occupied the White House.
This book paints a poignant picture of why I believe Theodore Roosevelt is the most American man who ever lived. He effortlessly built friendships across all strata of society, from Western cowboys and ranchers to Eastern labor laborers and lawyers. I believe he did this by respecting strength of character above concerns of class or career.
Compelled to escape a life that now seemed hollow, the young Roosevelt abandoned his burgeoning career in New York politics and retreated to the Badlands of North Dakota, where he learned the life of cattle ranching and big game hunting. Upon arrival, Dakota cattlemen ridiculed Roosevelt as a wannabe tourist, but he quickly earned their respect by demonstrating a willingness to face the most difficult challenges of ranch life. When TR was working a cattle roundup and a particularly abrasive horse repeatedly attempted to buck him, an experienced cowboy offered to trade horses with him. Roosevelt replied: "I know you can ride him, l've see you ride. But I wanna find out if I can ride him."
On the frontier, Roosevelt found personal recovery and an appreciation for beauty and brutality of nature, which he carried throughout his personal life and political career and made him the greatest conservationist who's ever occupied the White House.
This book paints a poignant picture of why I believe Theodore Roosevelt is the most American man who ever lived. He effortlessly built friendships across all strata of society, from Western cowboys and ranchers to Eastern labor laborers and lawyers. I believe he did this by respecting strength of character above concerns of class or career.
February 1, 2020
My husband and I listened to this while driving around eastern North Dakota—the very Badlands to which Roosevelt fled after the deaths of his mother and then his wife on the same day in February 1884. It was fun to be in the actual spots discussed in the book and to imagine the young Roosevelt hunting buffalo, elk, and, and bear. Sometimes I got a little bogged down in all the people and details, and it isn’t as good as McCullough’s Mornings on Horseback, but it covers only Roosevelt’s childhood through his second marriage, then briefly summarizes the rest of his life, which was absolutely perfect for our trip.
June 5, 2023
What a bully read! Roosevelt is quite the character. At one point, he extolls the virtues of conservation, even admonishing someone for over-hunting. The next, he is shooting a grizzly momma and her cubs. Jeese! Speaking of grizzly hunt, chapter 9 is not for the faint of heart or animal lover. It is a virtual blood orgy hunting excess. It was almost difficult to read. If there is any criticism, the author seemed to bog down in minute details Roosevelt's days that sometimes got a little tedious. I felt this was a good primer to my upcoming visit to the Badlands.
July 10, 2017
A rather narrowly focused biography of Teddy Roosevelt's time in the Badlands, though the author does try to link these formative experiences with his later presidency and conservation efforts. Unfortunately, I found it rather dry at times. Still, quite informative on its narrow topic.
May 22, 2022
"Bison meat was popular in eastern restaurants that also offered deer, pronghorn, and other game. It sold for only two or three cents a pound when the animals were abundant." (30-1)
"'A kid is more dangerous than a man because he's so sensitive about his personal courage. He's just itching to shoot somebody in order to prove himself.'" (quoting Teddy Blue Abbott, 76)
"'A kid is more dangerous than a man because he's so sensitive about his personal courage. He's just itching to shoot somebody in order to prove himself.'" (quoting Teddy Blue Abbott, 76)
July 1, 2023
Great narration on TR’a time in the Dakotas. It provided just enough context of his life outside the Dakotas so readers not familiar with TR will still know his story and how integral the Badlands were in his life.
December 26, 2019
Nice microbiology of a certain time and place in Teddy’s life.
April 27, 2020
4.5 stars...both entertaining and compelling, a must read for TR fans and for those fascinated with life on the frontier.
December 30, 2024
I enjoyed learning about this important time in Roosevelt's life, but it was a bit boring. It could have been better if it was told a bit more like a novel than the recitation of facts.
December 26, 2025
In June 1884, a 24-year old Theodore Roosevelt arrived in the Badlands a broken man. Both his wife and his mother had died just four months previously (on the same day) and the slight, anemic, and urban-dwelling Roosevelt came to the Badlands seeking escape, recovery, reinvention and, it must be said, business opportunities. In a relatively short three-year tenure in the Badlands, Roosevelt achieved all of these things. He embarked on exciting hunts for bison and grizzly, nearly dueled a sometime friend and sometime adversary (fellow rancher, the Marquis de Mores) over a grazing rights dispute, engaged in fisticuffs in a barroom brawl, hunted down a group of thieving ne'er-do-wells during a raging winter storm, gradually earned the respect of both rough-and-ready cowboys and reticent townsfolk, and built a ranch and bought a herd of cattle before realizing ranching's bleak prospects and selling out. Roosevelt returned from this experience a changed man and it stuck with him throughout the remainder of his life. His experience in the Badlands provided a personal example of what it meant to live an adventurous and active life while also reinforcing his appreciation for wild American landscapes and serving as the impetus for some of his later groundbreaking policies on conservation. This was a fascinating and formative period in Roosevelt's life and it is one that the author recounts in an engaging and readable way. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Highly recommended.
October 9, 2015
This biography was shorter than I anticipated which bummed me out.
While I wish the author had put forth more of a thesis on Roosevelt's seemingly hypocritical qualities (pertaining to hunting especially) like other reviewers, it's not the role of the biographer to judge and even a seemingly impartial narrative is imbued w its authors subjectivity... as the reader I must formulate my own opinions based off what Di Silvestro chose or chose not to include. Still haven't entirely made up my mind on Teddy but for sure would rock the outfit he wears on the cover.
While I wish the author had put forth more of a thesis on Roosevelt's seemingly hypocritical qualities (pertaining to hunting especially) like other reviewers, it's not the role of the biographer to judge and even a seemingly impartial narrative is imbued w its authors subjectivity... as the reader I must formulate my own opinions based off what Di Silvestro chose or chose not to include. Still haven't entirely made up my mind on Teddy but for sure would rock the outfit he wears on the cover.
September 5, 2011
This is another piece in the puzzle that was Theodore Roosevelt. I am fascinated by the man because of his wide-ranging interests and personality. He sounds like the kind of guy who would be interesting to know, but difficult to live with.
This book deals primarily with his relationship to his ranches in South Dakota, which he retreated to following the deaths of his first wife and mother, and the effects that the frontier experiences had on his later life.
This book deals primarily with his relationship to his ranches in South Dakota, which he retreated to following the deaths of his first wife and mother, and the effects that the frontier experiences had on his later life.
May 30, 2019
Quick and easy read. Probably 3 3/4 stars. Would have liked more details of why certain things happened and TRs reaction (selling of cattle without TR’s input). Also disappointed there was no mentioning of TR meeting Seth Bullock. All in a all a nice, quick recap of TR’s time in the west. Nothing groundbreaking here but worth the few days it takes to read.
February 9, 2013
Deeeelightful!! You could put TR anywhere and it would be exciting, but his time in the Badlands is absolutely the best!
October 27, 2013
really well written, and fascinating look at the life of a national hero before he was anybody.
August 30, 2016
It was interesting, but it seemed to ramble. Goodish read though.
December 1, 2016
Fun to read, to better understand Roosevelts life before he became the president.
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