62 SEEKING ROMANTIC ADVENTURES. 



booter like those whose exploits he has read of in books and which 

 he is eager to imitate. 



It was not from such motives or with such intentions that 

 young Roosevelt resolved to try the experiences of life on the 

 western plains. If the thousand tales of daring feats, bold enter- 

 prises and dangerous ventures that are so eagerly read by school- 

 boys ever had any charm for him, they certainly did not influence 

 his actions in the slightest degree. He had no thought of achieving 

 distinction by scalping Indians. But he wanted a ranch in the West 

 and secured one in North Dakota during his third term at Albany. 

 He was fond of hunting big game. The long expedition with his 

 trusty rifle and a few associates or attendants was his pastime. 



BOOKS WERE A PART OF HIS OUTFIT. 



Mere sport is commonly an idle thing, a device for whiling 

 away time and obtaining a temporary pleasure. Roosevelt had no 

 thought of going to the Bad Lands for any such purpose. He had 

 other objects in view, and, although enjoying the chase as any full- 

 blooded man w otild be apt to enjoy it, he never would have ventured 

 into the far West merely for this. He had aims and ideals that 

 could not be realized by trout fishing and bear hunting. His books 

 went with him, and were as much a part of his outfit as his gun and 

 cartridge pouch. 



He felt that vigor of mind and body would result from rough- 

 ing it on his lanch. He would breathe a pure air, drink from 

 unpolluted streams, climb steep cliffs and stand on their summits 

 in the glow of healthful exercise. The winds would bronze his 

 cheek and toughen his fibre. The weariness of toil would bring 

 refreshing sleep ; the silence of the evening camp would give him an 

 opportunity to think; books would be read with a keener relish; 

 the wild horse, spirited and hard to subdue, would test his nerve 

 and muscle; association with the shrewd, yet untutored ranchmen 

 w^ould hold him in contact with common, ordinary men; he would 

 learn much from the rough characters whose names are never 

 written in histories, but who are, after all, heroes in their way. 



Col. Roosevelt's favorite works while on the Ranch were books 



