A little boy lived in the greatest city of the United States. He
looked out from the windows of his home and saw tall buildings rising,
story upon story, until they seemed to meet the sky. He saw narrow
streets that twisted and turned in the queerest manner. Through these
streets crowds of people were forever hurrying.
There was no chance for this boy to run races, to play ball, to ride a
horse, to row, or swim. He could not have a garden because the city
lot on which his home stood was, like all the lots around it, just
large enough for the house, so he had no yard.
Where could he play and exercise? He was not strong, and his loving
parents wanted him to grow into a healthy, hearty boy. Can you guess
what they did for him? They turned their back porch into a gymnasium.
Here he could have great sport and some hard work too. Hard, because
at first he was so delicate he could not do what other boys did. He
tried to climb the long pole that hung from the ceiling, but would
slip back and have to begin all over again. However, he did not give
up, but kept on trying until one day he reached the top. How proud he
was! He grew so daring that the neighbors were frightened, but his
mother only said, "If the Lord hadn't taken care of Theodore Roosevelt
he would have been killed long ago."
Fortunately not all his life was to be spent in the crowded city, for
his parents bought a country home on Long Island overlooking Oyster
Bay. Theodore went there in the summer and had a chance to live out of
doors. He tramped the woods, knew all the birds, hunted coon, gathered
walnuts, and fished in pools for minnows. But even with all these
outdoor pastimes he was far from well. Often he had choking spells of
asthma at night. Then his father would hitch a team of horses, wrap
his little invalid boy up warmly, and, taking him in his arms, drive
fifteen or twenty miles in the darkness. This was the only way he
could get his breath.
Twice his father and mother took him to Europe in the hope of
improving his health. A playmate remembers him as "a tall, thin lad
with bright eyes, and legs like pipe-stems." He was not able to go to
school regularly, so missed the fun of being with other boys. Most of
his studying was done at home under private teachers, and in this way
he prepared for college.
Theodore Roosevelt spent four years at Harvard University and was
graduated in 1880. It had been his aim to develop good health and a
strong body, as well as to succeed in his studies. This was a
struggle, but he won the fight, and, in speaking of himself at the
time of his leaving college, he says: "I determined to be strong and
well and did everything to make myself so. By the time I entered
Harvard, I was able to take part in whatever sports I liked. I
wrestled and sparred, and I ran a great deal, and, although I never
came in first, I got more out of the exercise than those who did,
because I immensely enjoyed it and never injured myself."
Some time after leaving college, the frontier life of the Wild West
called him. The lonely and pathless plains thrilled him, and he became
a ranchman. His new home was a log house called Elkhorn Ranch in North
Dakota. Here he raised his own chickens, grew his own vegetables, and
got fresh meat with his gun. He bought cattle until he had thousands
of head, all bearing the brand of a Maltese Cross. No fences confined
these cattle, and sometimes they would wander for hundreds of miles.
Twice a year it was the custom to round up all the Maltese herds for
the purpose of branding the calves and "cutting out" the cattle which
were fat enough to be shipped to market.
On these round-ups, Theodore Roosevelt did his share of the work.
Often this meant he rode fifty miles in the morning before finding the
cattle. By noon he and his cowboys would have driven many herds into
one big herd moving towards a wagon that had come out from the ranch.
This wagon brought food for the men, and Mr. Roosevelt has remarked,
"No meals ever tasted better than those eaten out on the prairie."
Dinner over, the work of branding and selecting could be done.
Sometimes Mr. Roosevelt spent twenty-four hours at a stretch in the
saddle, dismounting only to get a fresh pony. He did everything that
his men did, and endured the hardship as well as the pleasure of
ranch life. Often during the round-up he slept in the snow, wrapped in
blankets, with no tent to shield him from the freezing cold.
Although he kept Elkhorn Ranch for twelve years he gradually quit the
cattle business and spent more and more time in New York City where he
entered political life.
But his vacations always found him in the West where his greatest
pleasure was hunting. He hunted all over his ranch and through the
Rocky Mountains beyond. Frequently he would go off alone with only a
slicker, some hardtack, and salt behind his saddle, and his horse and
rifle as his only companions. Once he had no water to drink for
twenty-four hours and then had to use some from a muddy pool. But such
adventures were sport for him, and he liked to see how much exposure
he could stand. Then he would return to the East, rested and
refreshed.
When war between Spain and the United States was declared in 1898, Mr.
Roosevelt was Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He resigned this
office, saying, "I must get into the fight myself. It is a just war
and the sooner we meet it, the better. Now that it has come I have no
right to ask others to do the fighting while I stay at home."
He decided to raise a regiment made up of men he had known in the
West, together with adventure loving Easterners, and call them his
"Rough Riders." He borrowed the name from the circus. The idea set
the country aflame, and within a month the regiment was raised,
equipped, and on Cuban soil. There was never a stranger group of men
gathered together. Cowboys and Indians rode with eastern college boys
and New York policemen. They were all ready to follow their leader,
Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt. They were full-blooded Americans. They
believed in their country, and they obeyed their leader, not because
they had to do so but because it was right that they should obey.
The most important battle in which the Rough Riders engaged was that
of San Juan Hill, July 1 and 2, 1898. This helped to decide the war.
Roosevelt led the charge. His horse became entangled in a barb wire
fence, but he jumped off, ran ahead, and still kept in front of his
men. He lived up to his advice, "When in doubt, go ahead."
At the close of the war, when the Rough Riders returned to the United
States, they landed on Long Island and the country rang with applause.
The men could talk of no one but their commander, Colonel Roosevelt.
The last night in camp was given over to a great celebration, and when
goodbyes were said, he told them, "Outside of my own family I shall
always feel stronger ties exist between you and me than exist between
me and anyone else on earth."
After his bravery in the war, every one in the United States admired
Theodore Roosevelt, and was glad to honor him. He was elected Governor
of the State of New York. Two years later, when William McKinley was
made president, Roosevelt was chosen as vice-president. He had held
this office but three months when President McKinley was killed, and
Theodore Roosevelt became president of the country he loved to serve.
In 1904 he was elected president to succeed himself, and so for seven
and one-half years he gave his energies to the greatest office in our
country.
When his duties in the White House ended, he went on a long hunting
trip to South Africa. There he killed many strange and savage animals.
These he had mounted and sent home to government museums so they could
be observed and studied.
Returning to the United States as a private citizen, he spent much
time in writing, for he had always liked to set down his ideas and
experiences. If you look in a library catalogue, you will find
Theodore Roosevelt wrote more than twenty books during his life.
He died at his Sagamore Hill home in 1920, after a life of vigorous
activity to the last.
So we see he was a cowboy, a hunter, an author, a soldier, and
president, but it was not for any of these achievements alone that we
honor Theodore Roosevelt. It is because he was first, last, and
always, an American, eager to serve our country and follow its free
flag.
* * * * *
"_Speak softly and carry a big stick._"