Oklahoma Journeys

Week of October 25, 2008

Teddy Roosevelt's Birthday

This week on Oklahoma Journeys, we say happy birthday to the 26th President of the United States, the president who presided over Oklahoma statehood in 1907…Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858. A frequent visitor to the Indian Territory, he left his mark on our state. The story of Theodore Roosevelt this week on Oklahoma Journeys from the Oklahoma History Center.

From the Oklahoma History Center, this is Oklahoma Journeys. I’m Michael Dean.

We remember him as the 26th President of the United States. A leader of the Republican Party and of the Progressive Party, he was Governor of New York and a professional historian, naturalist, explorer, hunter, author, and soldier. He is most famous for his personality: his energy, his vast range of interests and his achievements, his model of masculinity, and his "cowboy" personality. It was on this day, October 27, 1858, that Theodore Roosevelt was born. Roosevelt's youth differed sharply from that of log cabin Presidents. He was born in New York City in 1858 into a wealthy family, but he too struggled--against ill health--and in his triumph became an advocate of the strenuous life. Roosevelt had a profound influence on Oklahoma before, during and after statehood.

Roosevelt had always been fascinated by naval history. President William McKinley appointed a delighted Roosevelt to the post of Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. When the Spanish American War began, TR resigned his position with the Navy and accepted a Lt. Colonelcy in the Army and helped organize the first Volunteer Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Leonard Wood. Roosevelt came out to the Indian Territory to recruit cowboys and Indians from what would become Oklahoma to serve in his unit. Roosevelt had previously been to the territory and was familiar with the men who were settling it.

Following the war, Roosevelt was elected Governor of New York, where he gained a reputation as a trust buster. In 1900 he was placed on the republican ticket as candidate for vice president with William McKinley. They easily won the election. Six months after the election McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York when an anarchist assassinated him. TR was at a luncheon of the Vermont Game and Fish League when news arrived. Following McKinley’s death, Roosevelt became the youngest man to ever serve as president. In 1904, he ran for a full term as president, again easily winning.

As President, Roosevelt worked to ensure the government improved the lives of American citizens. His "Square Deal" domestic program reflected the progressive call to reform American workplace, initiating welfare legislation and government regulation of industry. He was also the nation's first environmental president, setting aside nearly 200 million acres for national forests, reserves, and wildlife refuges. In Oklahoma he took land owned by the federal government north of Lawton and turned it into the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. In 1905 while serving as president he journeyed to Frederick and participated in a wolf hunt in the Big Pasture area. It was during this term as president that Roosevelt oversaw the admission of Oklahoma as the 46th state.

You can learn more about the rough riders, and Roosevelt’s influence in combining the Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory into one territory before statehood and learn more about that wolf hunt by visiting the galleries at the Oklahoma History Center, NE 23rd Street just east of the state capitol in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Journeys is a production of the Oklahoma History Center, dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing our state’s past. I’m Michael Dean.