Stories of the Great West . By Theodore Roosevelt . The Century Co., New York, 1909.

This book is made up of a collection of sketches written by Theodore Roosevelt and published heretofore in different books, but now brought together from various sources and put in a convenient volume for school libraries and juvenile collections. The matter is divided into two sections, stories from history and stories from personal adventure, all dealing with the development and life of the great West, or more specifically the great Northwest. The first of the historical group treats briefly of Daniel Boone and the founding of Kentucky. This is followed by a fuller expository section on “The Backwoodsmen of the Alleghanies,” being a chapter from Mr. Roosevelt's famous larger work, The Winning of the West. Here the life of the pioneer is carefully studied and reproduced. The story of how George Rogers Clark conquered the Northwest Territory for the Americans during the Revolutionary War is the theme of the third section. The description of the march of Clark and his men kneedeep through the icy waters which covered the drowned lands of the Wabash country to surprise the British regulars under General Hamilton at Vincennes is made as thrilling and heroic as Washington's crossing the Delaware to surprise the British at Trenton. The next section treats of the exploring expedition of Captains Meriweather Lewis, and William Clark (a younger brother of George Rogers Clark) through the greater Northwest in 1804-1806. This is another chapter from The Winning of the West. In the last sketch the author turns to Texas history for a subject, and retells briefly the dramatic story of the death of Crockett and his brave companions in the Alamo.

In the second group of realistic stories, the most interesting are the accounts of life in Mr. Roosevelt's “Home Ranch” on the Little Missouri in the Dakotas. Here we have descriptions of the cowboy life as it was in the days when Mr. Roosevelt was himself a ranchman, the round-up and the work and exciting incidents pertaining thereto, the stirring conflicts with wild animals and wilder men, and all the story of western ranch life. The last sketch or story is perhaps the most interesting of all. It is called “Sheriff's Work on a Ranch,” and is a detailed account of how Mr. Roosevelt and two of his trusted cowboys followed and captured in midwinter three thieves who had made off with the ranch boat, the only one in all that section of the country. The chase, the capture, the long days of guarding the captives, the great hardships and difficulties attendant on the three hundred mile journey to a place where a real sheriff could be found to take charge of the prisoners,—all this goes to make up a decidedly engrossing narrative.

L. W. P., Jr.

How to cite:
L. W. P., Jr., "Stories of the Great West", Volume 014, Number 1, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page 80 - 81. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v014/n1/review_22.html
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