August 6, 2009

August 6, 2009

Before leaving Theodore Roosevelt National Park, we make a last stop at the Visitor Center and watch the park film while waiting for a ranger tour of TR’s Maltese Cross cabin. It was well worth the wait. The ranger was great. Another fine example of a NPS ranger bringing history to life. In 1883 a young 24-year-old Roosevelt came out here on a buffalo-hunting trip. He fell in love with the area, invested in a local cattle operation and had this two-room cabin built for himself. Expecting to find millions of buffalo, he was disappointed to find the buffalo almost extinct. It was the beginning of his reputation as an ardent conservationist and National Park advocate. During his presidential term he started the Forest Service and set aside 283 million acres under federal protection.

Leaving the park, we head east but not before stopping to use the Internet and restocking the RV with supplies. We were really low on most things after over a month in the northern wilderness. We spend the night in an RV park in Hazen, ND. Our timing is good. We arrive just in time for a BBQ sponsored by the local Chamber of Commerce.