Roosevelt’s 150th birthday to be celebrated

MEDORA — The legend lives on in Medora as the Theodore Roosevelt Association spends the weekend commemorating Roosevelt’s 150th birthday.

Approximately 60 members of the association will be in attendance from 20 different states.

The event, which is today and Saturday,, is dubbed “The Strenuous Life”, and will involve a visit to the Maltese Cross Ranch with branding and roping exhibits, a horse back ride, as well as a re-creation of the famous barroom brawl between Roosevelt and the “bad man” as Roosevelt accounts in is autobiography of 1913.

Michele Bryant, board trustee for the association, says that many publications and lectures have taken place in regards to Roosevelt, but she wanted to go beyond the normal education.

“Our whole purpose is two-fold,” Bryant said. “One is to actually have hands-on experiences. We’ve had lots of lectures and periodicals and books, but we are trying to duplicate things that Theodore Roosevelt did.”

To do so, Byrant and other members of the board will be experiencing some of Roosevelt’s favorite activities throughout the weekend, by taking a horseback ride through the Badlands as well as practicing roping and branding with the original Maltese Cross brand.

A re-enactment of a famous bar room brawl that was depicted in Roosevelt’s autobiography will also take place at the Iron Horse Saloon.

“The whole weekend we are going to be accompanied by a Theodore Roosevelt re-enactor from Illinois, and a gentleman that was a Hollywood stunt man to play the ‘bad man,’” Byrant said.

The public is welcome to view the bar room brawl re-enactment at the Iron Horse Saloon, which will take place at approximately 6:45 p.m. today.

“It’s going to be really fun,” Byrant said. “We are really excited about it.”

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