On Monday, we did the back-country gravel road drive into the Elkhorn Ranch Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND. This was T.R.'s principal ranch in the 1880s, when he was in the cattle business of then-Dakota Territory. He stated that (I paraphrase) if it weren't for his time in Dakota Territory, he would never have been president. The UND Archeological Field School will doing a precision mapping project here in about a week. So we came out for a visit so the kids could see T.R.'s place, and so I could do a little recon.
Kids hanging out, literally, at the entrance gate to the Elkhorn Ranch.
Emma hanging out, literally, at the interpretive sign area next to the former cabin at the Elkhorn Ranch.
CATTLE POOP!!
Kids hanging out on the fieldstone foundation stones of T.R.'s cabin.
Grace being presidential, or goofy, whilst standing on a foundation stone of the cabin.
Emma posing on a cabin foundation fieldstone.
Connor and Carrie at a corner of the barn, which was archeologically excavated back in the 1950s. A cement post was placed, in 1959, to mark the building corner.
Grace showing off a cement corner post she found while exploring.
The gang in front of a site datum placed in 1959. We are probably the first people to see this since 1959, or at least the first to see it and recognize its archeological importance. This will help the fieldschool tie the original map work, from the 1959 excavations, into our modern, high-tech map. If you want something done right, you better get a TEXAS A&M AGGIE to do it!
View of the Badlands behind (west) of T.R.'s cabin. He took some photos of his ranch place back in the 1880s, and you can see these very hills today!
Kids hanging out, literally, at the entrance gate to the Elkhorn Ranch.
Emma hanging out, literally, at the interpretive sign area next to the former cabin at the Elkhorn Ranch.
CATTLE POOP!!
Kids hanging out on the fieldstone foundation stones of T.R.'s cabin.
Grace being presidential, or goofy, whilst standing on a foundation stone of the cabin.
Emma posing on a cabin foundation fieldstone.
Connor and Carrie at a corner of the barn, which was archeologically excavated back in the 1950s. A cement post was placed, in 1959, to mark the building corner.
Grace showing off a cement corner post she found while exploring.
The gang in front of a site datum placed in 1959. We are probably the first people to see this since 1959, or at least the first to see it and recognize its archeological importance. This will help the fieldschool tie the original map work, from the 1959 excavations, into our modern, high-tech map. If you want something done right, you better get a TEXAS A&M AGGIE to do it!
View of the Badlands behind (west) of T.R.'s cabin. He took some photos of his ranch place back in the 1880s, and you can see these very hills today!
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