In anticipation of the upcoming Republican National Convention, President Theodore Roosevelt embarked on a nine and a half week journey across the North American continent in April of 1903. Roosevelt wanted to personally talk to people and give an account of his previous term in office.

The Pennsylvania Railroad Company provided a special six-car train, decorated and equipped for the 14,000 mile cross-country trek. The tour began in Washington DC on April 1 and one week later, on this day, April 7, 1903, the President arrived in North Dakota. Over the course of one day, he traveled through six North Dakota towns, generally stopping at each for little more than half an hour.

His first and longest stop was at Fargo. Arriving early in the morning, he was escorted to the business district where he was greeted by several thousand children. From a stand in front of the Waldorf Hotel, Roosevelt discussed his administration’s Philippine policy. Responding to criticism regarding the behavior of some American military officers in the Philippines, he emphasized that “it was impossible that occasional instances of wrong-doing should not occur. But these offenses were the exception and not the rule.” Roosevelt continued, “As a whole, our troops showed not only signal courage and efficiency, but the great humanity and the most sincere desire to promote the welfare and liberties of the islanders.”

In Bismarck, President Roosevelt was treated to a barbeque of ox before moving on to Mandan where he was joined by two of his former cow hands, Sylvane and Joe Ferris. After a short stop in Dickinson, Roosevelt later wrote that “the whole town turned out with wild and not entirely sober enthusiasm. It was difficult to make them much of a speech as there were dozens of men each earnestly desirous of recalling to my mind some special incident.”

The final destination on April 7th was a half-hour stop in Medora. Arriving after dark, Roosevelt later recalled that “the entire population of the Bad Lands down to the smallest baby had gathered to meet me… They all felt I was their man, their old friend; and even if they had been hostile to me in the old days when we were divided by the sinister bickering and jealousies and hatreds of all frontier communities, they now firmly believed they had always been my staunch friends and admirers. Roosevelt continued, “I shook hands with them all and…I only regretted that I could not spend three hours with them.”

By the next morning, April 8th, the President’s train had left the state of North Dakota.

Written by Christina Sunwall

Sources:
Miller, James Martin, ed. The Triumphant Life of Theodore Roosevelt (1904)
Thomas, Addison C. Roosevelt Among the People: Being an Account of the Fourteen Thousand Mile Journey from Ocean to Ocean of Theodore Roosevelt (Chicago: The L. W. Walter Company; 1910)
Roosevelt, Theodore. “To John Hay”. Theodore Roosevelt: Letters and Speeches. Louis Auchincloss, ed. (Library of America; 2004)
Tour of the President to the Pacific Coast April 1 to June 5, 1903 Itinerary (1903)

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