ND Cowboy Hall of Fame - Stories & Articles

History Comes Alive in February and March

The North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame (NDCHF) has again joined forces with the North Dakota Humanities Council, Reiten Television and the North Dakota KX Television Network to produce a series of winter history and entertainment gatherings across the state in February and March.

This year's tour will feature a discussion and a preview of a new video documentary of Theodore Roosevelt and a follow-up discussion by Humanities Scholar and UND History Professor Emeritus Jerry Tweton.

The documentary, “T.R., A Cowboy’s Ride To The White House,” was written and produced by NDCHF Executive Director Darrell Dorgan. It features some of the country’s top Theodore Roosevelt scholars, was nearly four years in the making, and was shot in the Badlands of North Dakota where the future President ranched from 1883 until 1887. It will premier statewide on North Dakota Public Television on Thursday, March 4.

This year's symposiums begin on Wednesday, February 17, at the Valley City State University Science Center. The series continues with programs on Thursday, February 18, at the Hjemkomst Center, Moorhead; Monday, March 1, at Dickinson State University’s Beck Auditorium; Tuesday, March 2, at Outlaw’s Banquet Room in the First International Bank building, Watford City; Wednesday, March 17, at the Lake Region Community College, Devils Lake; and at the NDSU Research Center, Langdon, on Thursday, March 18. All programs begin at 7:00 p.m. local time and are free and open to the public.

Tweton’s presentation about Theodore Roosevelt’s time in North Dakota is based on thousands of hours of research and numerous written articles about the former President. He has been a part of the statewide history series since it began in 1998 and says that anyone interested in North Dakota history will be fascinated with the discussion and the video about one of the country’s greatest presidents who learned a lot during his ranching days in North Dakota.

Dorgan says the new video shows that the future President developed a true sense of democracy during his Dakota ranching days. “It was here he learned to get along with people and understand the dreams of those who settled the American West.
It was also here he became an American cowboy, an image and a lifestyle that helped prepare him for the White House just 16 years after he arrived in Medora.”

North Dakota Humanities Council Executive Director Brenna Daugherty says the council has sponsored the symposiums for the past 12 years. She says, "It’s a chance for people to get out, meet friends and neighbors and learn a bit about the past and the state's rich cultural heritage."

All programs begin at 7:00 p.m. and are free and open to the public.