Backroad Odyssey : Travel, Van Life & Lost Locations
Traveling America's backroads, road trip experts - Noah and Noodles - explore fascinating locations overlooked while traveling.
Living out of a van, they unravel the - often shocking - story behind each neglected story or location.
If you love travel, exploration and unique locations - join us on the road!
Backroad Odyssey : Travel, Van Life & Lost Locations
Van Life Diaries - Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Today we visit the North Dakota Badlands where the too often overlooked Theodore Roosevelt National Park lingers in the shadows...
While there, we answer the following questions:
- How did Theodore Roosevelt come to have a National Park named after him?
- Why is this sidelined National Park unique?
- Why should you add this fascinating park to your travel bucket list?
We'll also answer listener questions at the end - safe travels!
Works Cited:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2711623?read-now=1&seq=6#page_scan_tab_contents
https://www.jstor.org/stable/23349843?read-now=1&seq=28#page_scan_tab_contents
https://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/historyculture/park-history.htm
https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-national-parks/theodore-roosevelt
https://npshistory.com/publications/roosevelt/index.htm
https://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/nature/bison-buffalo.htm
Noah and Noodles here!
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Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.
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Welcome to Van Life Diaries. I'm your host, noah, joined as always by my dog and co-host, noodles the Woodle. If you've been with the show, welcome back. If you're new here, a welcome from me and a bark from Noodles. Today we're visiting the North Dakota Badlands where the too-often-overlooked Theodore Roosevelt National Park lingers in the shadows, with its colorful carved rock formations and thriving buffalo herds. Well, there we answer the following questions 1. How did Theodore Roosevelt come to have a national park named after him? Interesting story there. 2. Why is this sidelined national park, along with its wildlife, unique? We'll also answer listener questions at the end, but for now, join Noodles and I on our way to the Dakota Badlands.
Speaker 1:Safe travels. I wonder where this road would lead. So many possibilities. Care to share what you think. Oh, noodle Dolls, what do you see Back Road Odyssey.
Speaker 1:The rolling hills of the prairie extend beyond sight. Steep gullies, sandstone formations, winding waterways, nomadic buffalo this is North Dakota, and this is the land the 24-year-old Theodore Roosevelt visits in the summer of 1883. Just months after this first visit, both his mother and wife die on the same day. The open skies of North Dakota then become a refuge, a place of peace for the future president, a place of peace for the future, president, the kind of peace only achieved by endless skies, untouched land and open air, a serenity that Roosevelt would come to believe should be protected and accessible to all. We are in the van and we're camped just west of the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, right atop a large hill overlooking the park and a valley park, right atop a large hill overlooking the park and a valley. And there are certain places in the nation where you feel the space that you're in no traffic, no buildings, just space, open air. And I'm sure this is the feeling, this is the space chased by Theodore, or let's call him Teddy Roosevelt, on his various excursions into the wilderness.
Speaker 1:I want to start with a 1903 quote given by Teddy that I have on my phone right here. It was given at the rim of the Grand Canyon, and after this I'll ask a couple questions. Roosevelt at the rim of the canyon says quote leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, your children's children and for all who come after you. End quote. So, with that said, here are my questions.
Speaker 1:How did Teddy come to feel strongly about conservation in general. And how did that drive, that desire to conserve, lead to his later reputation as the champion of conservation and ultimately to his name ending up on the sign of an American national park, on the sign of an American national park? From a young age, theodore Roosevelt showed an interest in the natural world. His foray into taxidermy yielded a vast collection of birds, small mammals and eventually large game from Africa and the wilds of America. And while this might come across as slightly unappreciative or disregarding of the wilds and creatures that live there, it does solidify, at least in Roosevelt, an appreciation for the wilds, an appreciation that later turns into concrete policy that protects lands, kind of ironically, and the animals that he shot and collected. Well, an alderman in New York in 1883, roosevelt takes a hunting trip to the Dakota Badlands and the land would, as mentioned, become an invaluable retreat for Teddy. He later buys a ranch in the Dakota Badlands and returns regularly to hunt, to ride and to hike.
Speaker 1:After his inauguration as President of the United States in 1901, following the assassination of William McKinley, roosevelt for the first time now has the immense power of the presidency at his disposal. And while he pursues other policies, other goals, while in office, mediating the Russo-Japanese War, the construction of the Panama Canal, halting unchecked monopolies of the Gilded Age barons that took advantage of the system. Conservation becomes his most recognizable legacy. We left our campsite and are now driving to the park. The sky's a bit dark, let's hope it doesn't rain on us today. But whatever happens happens.
Speaker 1:And here is a quick question. Okay, we see Roosevelt today as this mustachioed masculine champion of conservation. But what specifically did he do? Okay, right, what actions, what policies, what movement towards conservation did he support? Tangibly? Because and I'm sure Teddy would agree with this talk is cheap. Talk is cheap Until it's not.
Speaker 1:Roosevelt is really the first president to fully embrace the wide-reaching nature of his office. He embraces the fact that the president can use the status and power of the office to frame the debate rather than to react to the whims and wishes of others, of all the forces of politics, of others of all the forces of politics. Most simply put, roosevelt knows that whatever he does as president is newsworthy. So he exploits this visibility and pressures Congress, not directly but through their constituents, by focusing on growing environmental issues, amplified by the bully pulpit. It becomes difficult for the American public and, by extension, for Congress, to overlook the mishandling and mistreatment of American land. In part, this strategy, this presence, this microphone, this is what leads to five national parks under Roosevelt, which required specific legislation to be passed through Congress. But it's the Antiquities Act, signed on June 8, 1906, that enables Teddy to go crazy with his conservation agenda. Essentially, this act enables Roosevelt and his successors to proclaim historical landmarks in federal ownership as national monuments. Importantly, without congressional approval. Teddy very loosely interprets this act and proclaims 105 national monuments, all now federally protected. In all, theodore Roosevelt, through laws, persistent communication and a genuine desire to conserve the wilds he frequents throughout his life, opens the nation's eyes to the natural wonders around them when the dust settles around them. When the dust settles, teddy is credited with saving 230 million acres of American wilderness, a legacy that extends well beyond his death in 1919.
Speaker 1:We're in the park. It's sprinkly a little bit, but that's okay. We're parked on the side of the road. So Teddy didn't create the park for himself and name it after himself. That would be wild. It was a memorial park in 1947, something like that, and was later elevated to a national park in the 70s. It's called Theodore Roosevelt National Park one because he credits this land in part as the basis for his conservation beliefs, and two because people later on, after his death, wanted to acknowledge everything that he did for America's wilds and wildlife. It's a place set aside to provide the peace that Teddy found in this place and other places around the nation throughout his life.
Speaker 1:Now let's get to the land itself. What makes where I'm at special and why should you travel to the North Dakota Badlands? Over thousands of years, the Little Missouri River and its tributaries cut through the soft sedimentary layers of the northern Great Plains. Snow, ice, wind all add their touches to the landscape. Water, though infrequent at times, gathers in heavy erosive downpours, forming gullies. Prairie fires ignite coal beds throughout the valley, and these beds can burn for years and bake the overlaying sediments into hard natural brick, and bake the overlaying sediments into hard natural brick. This brick then oxidizes and turns into a brilliant red. It's this that gives the landscape its characteristic color and it further shapes the land. This hardened, baked rock is now more resistant than the unbaked sections of land. So over time, erosion wears down these less resilient rocks and voila, you have a jumbled, multicolored landscape of uneven knobs, ridges and ravines the landscape of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Speaker 1:But any landscape is only as interesting as those that live upon it. Prairie dogs populate the divots in the grasslands, over 200 bird species thrive in the open skies and elk roam seeking the plentiful edible grasses. But maybe the animal most associated with Theodore Roosevelt National Park are the herds of massive American buffalo. The rain lets up a bit. I'm out here at one of the pullouts in the park, so one of the main reasons I'm here is passing up Narrow Valley. Right in front of me now, about 200 meters. So a herd of bison maybe 15 or so, is slowly trudging away from us through the damp grassy soil, truly truly one of the most amazing animals to see in person in their natural habitat. And to think that they once existed in crazy amounts of numbers throughout the Great Plains and beyond is just wild. And this right in front of me here specifically is one of the reasons this park is special.
Speaker 1:Once, ranging from Mexico to southern New England, the buffalo once roamed the Great Plains in numbers as high as 60 million. The large sustainable herds provided food, clothes, shelter and tools for tribes across the plains. Then American expansion west and over hunting drive the buffalo to the brink of extinction by the turn of the 20th century brink of extinction. By the turn of the 20th century the thundering herds of millions of buffalo are reduced to an estimated 300. If not for the foresight of certain people, including Roosevelt, this trend might have continued. The Lacey Act of 1894 grants the Buffalo of Yellowstone legal protection. Concerned private citizens begin to capture and shelter bison, and Teddy both co-founds the American Bison Society of 1905, which promotes bison reintroduction and conservation projects, and he later supports the establishment of reserves to protect bison populations. All of this and more leads to the 500,000 plus buffalo population today in North America.
Speaker 1:The buffalo herd just disappeared over the valley a couple minutes ago. It's so cool. So the buffalo in this park arrived in the 50s when something like 28, 29 bison were brought from a wildlife refuge and placed within the borders of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and by 1962, the herd increased to like 145, something crazy like that. Today there are over 600 in the north and south units of the park. I don't know, it's really just one of the most heartening stories of success that you'll find. But here's something that I've been thinking about.
Speaker 1:Teddy first came to the Dakotas to hunt Buffalo. That's why he came. He wanted to hunt them before they the trails, breathing in this fresh air, seeing the roaming buffalo? You can't argue with the conservation legacy he left behind. The 70,000 plus acres of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, with its sloping valleys, jagged formations, colorful gullies and roaming buffalo, lie untouched as the last relic of a man who found peace here and fought for its preservation. The rolling hills of the prairie extend beyond sight Steep gullies, sandstone formations, winding waterways, nomadic buffalo this is North Dakota. This is the kind of peace only achieved by endless skies, unspoiled land and open air. This is Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Speaker 1:With that said, let's get to listener questions. Just listen to your national park episode. Cool, is there any actual value in becoming a national park city? My first response is yeah. Yeah, if you missed the episode, anyone who's listening now? Basically, you apply to an organization that's based in London to become a national park city, so it's a nonprofit organization. But in order to get that title, to get that name, you have to apply, you have to meet their kind of rigorous standards and you have to wait a while. So you have to want it and somebody comes to the city, a representative from that organization, to look at what your city does to warrant it being called that. So that in itself, I think, definitely makes it worth it Because it's a point of pride. I think if you call something special, you're going to treat it as special and for the people of Chattanooga, people driving through Chattanooga, visiting knowing it, referring to it as a national park city, can only benefit and as well as like marketing for a city. So yeah, I mean long, answer short. I really do think it's a it's a good thing. What's the what's the bad of it? Would be my response as well.
Speaker 1:Do you think you downplayed the importance of Gettysburg in your last episode? You know what's interesting about history and battles and events is everything has importance. You can emphasize anything and it will be important. And Gettysburg for sure was important because it stopped Lee from invading the North, but because we were focusing on Chattanooga Lee from invading the North, but because we were focusing on Chattanooga, I wanted to emphasize how important that event was towards bringing about the end of the war. So Gettysburg for sure definitely was important. But also you have to look at other battles that are kind of overlooked, other events that are overlooked, and kind of communicate why they're important. Looked other events that are overlooked and kind of communicate why they're important.
Speaker 1:Last question here Is there any part of the country you've been to that you feel should become a national park or national monument? Awesome question. My first thought is the Boundary Waters in Minnesota, northern Minnesota. I think it's a remarkably interesting, unique landscape that is undervisited and undervalued, a lot like Theodore Roosevelt National Park. That's just my first general response to that question, but I love, love, love that question. I'll have to think about that a little more. It's Noah here.
Speaker 1:Thank you for traveling with Noodles and I. Every second you spend with us means the world. Final thoughts Theodore Roosevelt National Park is one of those sites that people tend to overlook. I definitely did. It was between one of the destinations that I wanted to go to and where I was and I thought, oh, let's go check it out, let's learn about it. And it also is one of those destinations that surprises you when you end up going there. And for anyone who's taking a road trip or considering going there, or if this episode changed your mind about maybe wanting to go there, my official recommendation is please, please, please do. And, with that said, if you find value in the show, taking a minute to rate and review the show wherever you're listening now helps. Noodles and I continue to put the work we'd like to into each and every episode. Thank you for traveling with us. Be good to each other. Where to next.
