If you pass by the Dickinson State University rodeo grounds, you might notice a new addition.
On Wednesday, crews from Rock Solid Express Trucking hauled more than 60 cottonwood logs to the site of the planned Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in what interim library CEO Jim Kelly described as the “first physical move toward construction.”
The logs, which were harvested from the grounds of the North Dakota State Penitentiary, will be used to build a true-to-life replica of Roosevelt’s Elkhorn Ranch cabin, which was originally located in the badlands west of Dickinson.
“Some of these trees, which are nearly four feet in diameter, look like they’re probably in that range of 125-150 years old, which would mean they were alive and were saplings when Roosevelt was built his cabin in 1884,” Kelly said.
In the name of authenticity, he said the present-day cabin build is likely to be a “pretty arduous process,” with much of the labor done by hand. While there’s no formal schedule yet worked out for construction of the cabin, Kelly said work should start in the next month.
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