ROOSEVELT’S POSSE

Pat Garrett, Ben Daniels, Seth Bullock and Bat Masterson. No, that’s not a cast of characters from a fanciful Western film. Between 1905 and 1919 these four men all worked for the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. Three of the four remained friends with the president until his death in 1919.

Roosevelt loved the American West and long regretted not having played a bigger role in its history. He relished his time there, as well as his friendships with some of the men who’d helped tame the frontier. The president was a romantic at heart. While he had one foot firmly planted in the dawn of the 20th century, he loved the adventure tales of the 19th century and earlier. His childhood heroes were Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett, and when he lived out West (1884–86), Roosevelt wore a buckskin shirt and pants in emulation of the two frontiersmen. Lighting in Dakota Territory, he hunted for big game, bought two ranches, raised cattle, cowboyed and tested himself against nature. By then the sun was beginning to set on the open range, but he still managed to live a bit of the history.

His time in the Dakota Badlands helped him overcome personal grief (the death of his mother and wife Alice within hours of one another on Valentine’s Day 1884) and bolster his physique, and that was where the figure carved on Mount Rushmore began to take form. The rugged land appealed to him, as did those who braved hardship and loneliness and survived; in them he saw a bit of himself. He particularly admired and appreciated certain Westerners who were legends in their own time.