"Theodore Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranch in North Dakota is often called the Walden Pond of the West. But Roosevelt's ranch is now feeling the pressure of an oil boom that is industrializing the local landscape. Critics say a proposed gravel pit and a bridge could destroy the very thing that made such a lasting impression on Roosevelt: the restorative power of wilderness."
"Roosevelt first came to the western North Dakota Badlands in 1883 to shoot one of the area's few remaining buffalo. He got his trophy, but he also fell in love with the landscape and cattle ranching.
He came back in 1884 and rode 30 miles up the Little Missouri River from the nearest town and found an isolated site on the river bank that suited him. That's where he built a big cabin called the Elkhorn Ranch."
John McChesney reports for NPR's Morning Edition August 7, 2012.
Advertisement 
