Summary

Depressed after the death of Alice, Roosevelt visited "the Badlands" where the Little Missouri River intersects the Dakota Territory in an austere and bleak place that reflected his own gloom. He invested in property with a pair of cowboys, and returned in the summer of 1884 when he threw himself into ranch work with gusto. He built a ranch home near Medora to share with family and friends. He wrote a series of sketches published in book form, "Hunting Trips of a Ranchman." in 1885, Roosevelt returned to New York City for the publication of his book and visited the new home at Oyster Bay that he and Alice had planned to make their own. Roosevelt crossed paths with Edith Carow, a childhood friend who was just leaving his sister's Madison Avenue town house where she was visiting. Ancient feelings of affection blossomed...