Potus Geeks Photo: Theodore Roosevelt's Diary - February 14, 1884

On February 14, 1884, Theodore Roosevelt's diary entry included a large 'X' and the words, "The light has gone out of my life." The future president lost his mother and first wife on that day. His mother, Martha "Mittie" Roosevelt (nee Bullock), died of typhoid fever in the early morning hours and his wife, Alice, succumbed to kidney failure several hours later in the same house. Alice Roosevelt had given birth to their first child, who was also named Alice, only two days earlier. Roosevelt was so devastated that he would never again speak publicly about his first wife.

In June of 1884 Roosevelt headed west to the North Dakota Badlands to soothe his grief. A year earlier he had purchased the Maltese Cross Cabin in Medora and purchased some cattle. His cattle had wintered well and he made the decision to expand his ranching business, purchasing the rights to a second site 35 miles north of Medora. He named it the Elkhorn Ranch. Roosevelt would own the ranch for another 14 years before selling it to Sylvane Ferris, one of his managers and partners at the Maltese Cross Cabin.

The Elkhorn Ranch is credited as being one of the inspirations for Roosevelt's deep concern for the environment. It made him aware of the growing loss of wildlife and wilderness in the North Dakota Badlands due to overhunting and overgrazing. During his presidency, Roosevelt established the U.S. Forest Service and he promoted passage of the Antiquities Act. This law allowed him to designate 18 National Monuments across the country. During his presidency he designated numerous national parks, forests, and preserves on more than 230 million acres of public land.