Teddy Roosevelt in California:: The Whistle Stop Tour That Changed America

by Chris Epting

During his whirlwind 1903 tour of the western states, President Theodore Roosevelt paid his first visit to California. In between the appearances and pageantry, he embarked on three days of epic adventure in the wilderness of Yosemite with the famous and influential naturalist John Muir. A lover of the rugged outdoors, Roosevelt was humbled and impressed by the camping trip, which proved to be one of the most important sojourns in presidential history. Through firsthand accounts, speeches and rare photographs, author Chris Epting tells the story of a great and profound journey that had a lasting effect on conservation history and the National Park System.

Genres: History, American History, Presidents, Biography

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 9, 2015

About the author

A pop culture (and baseball) history aficionado, Chris has a lifelong penchant for documenting the exact sites where things both great and small occurred. As an author, Epting has found that unearthing and chronicling ‘hidden’ locations offers him a challenge. What began as an inquisitive hobby soon developed into the writing and photographing of 14 books based on his discoveries, including James Dean Died Here…The Locations of America’s Pop Culture Landmarks, Elvis Presley Passed Here, Even More Locations of America’s Pop Culture Landmarks, Images of America – the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Roadside Baseball, The Ruby Slippers, Madonna's Bra, and Einstein's Brain: The Locations of America's Pop Culture Artifacts and Led Zeppelin Crashed Here.

As an extension of his efforts to chronicle the unique, Epting joins Hampton Hotels for a fourth exciting year as national spokesperson and consultant for the Hidden Landmarks program in support of the brand’s national “Explore the Highway with Hampton Save-A-Landmark™” campaign (the program recently won the President’s award). He was also recently national spokesman for the launch of Microsoft Windows Live Local travel web site and is the current spokesman for EMusic.com, an online music download company.

Chris is a frequent featured guest on numerous radio and television programs such as National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” “The Savvy Traveler,” “Access Hollywood” and FOX TV’s the “Best Damn Sports Show Period,” plus international programs in Australia, Japan and the U.K.

He has contributed articles for such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Westways, Travel + Leisure and Preservation magazine, and was the Travel Editor for Chicken Soup for the Soul Magazine. He also writes and voices a series for Major League Baseball Radio, and writes a weekly column for the Huntington Beach Independent newspaper and a monthly feature in Orange Coast magazine. Chris hosts The Pop Culture Road Trip radio show on webtalkradio.net and his 14th book, “The Birthplace Book,” comes out in Spring ‘09.

Chris lives in Huntington Beach, CA with his wife and their two children.

Reviews

[Marie Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book excels in its use of primary sources, offering first-hand accounts that transport the reader to the early 20th century and vividly depict Roosevelt's interactions with the people and landscapes of California.

However, the book falls somewhat short in emphasizing the profound influence that John Muir had on Roosevelt regarding conservation. While it touches upon their meeting in Yosemite and the subsequent impact on Roosevelt’s environmental policies, the narrative could benefit from a deeper exploration of Muir's philosophy and how it shaped Roosevelt’s conservation efforts. This aspect is crucial, as it highlights a pivotal moment in the development of America’s national parks and environmental movement.

[Dewayne Stark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapter 2 "The Trip Begins" page 19, "On April 1, 2003, Theodore Roosevelt's train departed Washington,..." whoops! Only a hundred years off, How did the editor miss that one?

Interesting that Roosevelt was a birder where John Muir could care less.

In the Visit to Yellowstone the superintendent remarks that cougars are mere varmints and should all be killed to protect the elks.

Much of the book is the same news story told by different newspapers.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

It earned 2 stars because it's an interesting collection of primary source excerpts for a history nerd that enjoys old newspapers and political speeches. But honestly, the format made me think I could write history books: Write a sentence or two, then block-quote multiple pages from a publicly available primary source (e.g. a series of letters or newspaper articles from the early 20th century). I'd comfortably venture that the author's own words account for less than 5% of the book's total.

The worst part is that the "big" moment historically -- the meeting of minds of Roosevelt and Muir and the days they spent, relatively isolated together, in Yosemite's wilderness -- is *almost* entirely passed over after enormous buildup. We get a glimpse of what they did leading up to their days, even a stop-by-stop, often mundane and trite account of Roosevelt's days leading up to it... But the reader is left with a giant gap about the their actual time together. I felt like a chapter (or three!) of the book must have fallen out in the printing. What the heck?

[MKF · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you want a long, slow, and boring book on Teddy Roosevelt, then read this. There is no creativity and no cohesive accounts of this trip and it's a bit frustrating. These are the stories lifted from different books, letters, and newspaper which means each one was just a bit different. Along with that the author chose to add almost every speech from the different stops throughout California. A lot of these speeches followed the same focus so it was like reading the same speech over and over. It does make me curious enough to learn more about this historical event.

[Linzee G · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish there was more written about Roosevelt’s impact on natural history to present day, but overall this was a fun read, and definitely provided more insight / new knowledge on Roosevelt’s travels. I loved how his speeches are included in this book, and rarely paraphrased. They become more meaningful that way and prove to be still impactful for those who read them today. The mindset preached by Roosevelt still needs to be influenced and reminded of, for a better future

[Alyson Mutch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a real kick out of this book. Great for us Californians to read and of course anyone who enjoys the era and this president. I am going to check out some of the other books published by History Press.

[Will Clemmons]

Strange book. Not sure what it was going for. A good resource for primary sources though.

[Robert Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very good account of TR’s 1903 trip west to California with emphasis on his conservation of natural resources. I enjoyed the highlighted description of the three day and two night Yosemite camping trip with naturalist John Muir. It is absolutely astonishing in terms of our present day perception of presidential protocol how a president could devote his time to such a physically taxing experience. Then again Theodore Roosevelt was an exceptional personality. John Burroughs’ account of nights in camp around a big fire listening to the president talk gives the reader a glimpse of TR’s incredible wealth of knowledge, experiences and recall capacity:

“What a stream of it (engaging talk) he poured forth! And what a varied and picturesque stream!—anecdote, history, science, politics, adventure, literature; bits of his experience as a ranchman, hunter, Rough Rider, legislator, civil service commissioner, police commissioner, governor, president—the frankest confessions, the most telling criticisms, happy characterizations of prominent political leaders, of foreign rulers, or members of his own Cabinet; always surprising by his candor, astonishing by his memory, and diverting by his humor. His reading has been very wide, and he has that rare type of memory which retains details as well as mass and generalities. One night something started him off on ancient history, and one would have thought he was just fresh from his college course in history, the dates and names and events came so readily. Another time he discussed paleontology, and rapidly gave the outlines of the science, and the main facts, as if he had been reading up on the subject that very day. He sees things as wholes. And hence the relation of the parts comes easy to him.”

Eping’s short book with first-hand account narratives and an abundance of wonderful photos of the tour/adventure made it worthwhile. It is interesting that perhaps due to people like Roosevelt and Muir that photos of Yosemite look much the same today as they did in 1903 as shown in this book. Sure photography has changed, but the landscape has not.

[Mel Raschke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of attending a book talk by the author Chris Epting. He told the story so eloquently I couldn't wait to start this book. The story about Glacier Point in Yosemite is very interesting with Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir.

[Erik Olsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I was expecting a lot more from this book. Half of it is just speech snippets and created articles from other publications. Teddy Roosevelt is by far my favorite president, and I was really hoping to learn a lot from this book, but I can’t say that I did.

[Eileen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Author mostly has long quotes from other sources rather than original research. Photos are ok altho repetitive. Overall, too much history for me!