A Different Teddy This Time

            Yesterday at the Adirondack History Museum, I unearthed some interesting documents about the Roosevelt family. I was previously aware that Teddy Roosevelt was travelling in the park when he officially became president, but there was a lot about this event that I didn’t know. To my surprise, the manila folder for each Roosevelt family member was rather full, including several letters and news printings. After reading a bit more about the eventful September night of 1901, what I found to be the most compelling information was actually the details of the vice president’s arduous trip back to McKinley from the remote Tawahus Club in Newcomb. After McKinley was shot on September 6^th, Roosevelt visited him in Buffalo, but after a few days it looked as though the president would recover and so he returned to the Adirondacks to reassure the public. However, amidst hiking up Mt. Marcy with his family, a messenger climbed the mountain to inform Roosevelt of the president’s deteriorating condition.

            Making the trip back to McKinley’s bedside would not be an easy feat. Roosevelt first traveled ten miles to the Tawahus Post Office where he made his first wagon change. From this point, he traveled an additional two hours and twenty minutes (9 miles) to the Aiden Lair Lodge where the second wagon change would take place. The proprietor of the lodge brought him the remaining sixteen miles to North Creek, where he met his secretary at the train station. William Loeb, Jr., the secretary, delivered the telegram informing Roosevelt of McKinley’s death. It’s no surprise that Roosevelt received the news while en voyage in the Adirondacks; the journey at that time was seemingly endless.

It’s easy to forget the ease with which we move from one end of the park to another these days. A hundred years ago, Roosevelt’s trip to the train station alone took him seven hours. Today my biggest travel concerns involve having to fill up for gas and how much it will cost, not about whether or not my horses will make the journey. In a world where a 45-minute drive seems like a long time, I must remind myself to be patient.

http://www.adkmuseum.org/about_us/adirondack_journal/?id=117
http://www.adirondackexplorer.org/book_reviews/the-wilderness-warrior-theodore-roosevelt-and-the-crusade-for-america