A Corking Good Time!
That is how Theodore Roosevelt explained his Great Loop Tour of 1903.
It also expresses my feelings on my latest book (number 7!), Go West Mr. President: Theodore Roosevelt’s Great Loop Tour of 1903, that hits bookstores on June 1st.
After my last book on TR, I really did not want to say goodbye to him. He is such a fascinating person, whose lifetime was filled with many stories. I didn’t want to write about a subject that had already been covered in detail, and, if I did decide to author another book, it had to be something that ignited my interest.
That’s when his Great Loop Tour of 1903 hit me. Most biography books on Theodore only lightly touch upon some of the highlights of his two-month trip, but no one has ever taken on the task of writing a detailed account of this most memorable trip. As I started researching this project, I found one particular website (Newspapers.com) to be very helpful because it allowed me to read numerous newspapers from 1903 in the various cities on his route. I knew then that this was a story about TR that had to be told.
I pitched my idea to the publisher of my previous Roosevelt book, and her reply was, “When can I see the manuscript?” (Words a writer loves to hear!) Off I went on a five-month journey, pouring through various newspapers via my computer. Thankfully this great website saved me a LOT of footwork and money. Had I tried to tackle this subject ten years ago, I would have had to visit numerous city libraries and spend untold dollars traveling to do the research. While the website was a great gift, I did put feet on the ground in Denver, Colorado Springs, Pasadena and Los Angeles to review newspapers that were unavailable on the website.
As I followed Theodore’s travels through 21 states and two territories (Arizona and New Mexico), I found myself amazed that his 265 speeches (which he wrote himself!) were just as relevant and vital in today’s world as they were 117 years ago.
Then there were those wonderful little nuggets, stories only carried by local newspapers. Some were just a few lines telling what Theodore did, like recognizing many men in the crowd who served with him in the Rough Riders, or jumping out of his carriage to spend a few moments with a young girl who just had serious spinal surgery.
Other stories found their way to me, like his sharing a breakfast off the back of a chuck wagon with cowboys while wearing a top hat and frock coat. His 60-mile horseback ride from Laramie to Cheyenne, Wyoming, was just as much fun to follow as any of his adventures in the Dakotas of the late 1880s. The details of his visits to Yellowstone and Yosemite illustrated his love of the land and his desire to protect it for future generations. Nowhere was this more obvious than his first visit to the Grand Canyon during this trip. The unique beauty of this vast area left Theodore speechless (something that was hard to do!), and I sensed that he wanted more time alone to allow the grandeur of the canyon to wrap itself around him. Theodore was determined to save the Grand Canyon from mining and lumber interests, who cared nothing for its history or beauty. When his attempts to get Congress to name it a National Park met roadblock after roadblock, he used the 1906 Antiquities Act to make the Grand Canyon a National Monument. (Congress named it a National Park seven weeks after Theodore’s death in 1919.)
Every day it was like an Indiana Jones adventure for me. Finding a new speech, or a new story that had been waiting to be revealed. Perhaps the biggest discovery, at least in terms of a “scoop,” was an assassination attempt on TR’s life which almost happened during his visit in the state of Washington. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I found this little gem. Checking all my TR books, I found no mention of it. “Eureka!” I yelled out loud. I found something that no one had published before. Had Indiana Jones been with me he would have slapped me on the back and said “Bravo!”
I often believe that some stories or pieces of history are there waiting for the right person to come along to tell its story. A writer who has a genuine interest in the subject, and is not just looking to make a buck, is often rewarded with these previously unknown stories by some serendipitous incident. It was that way for me and my Chaney books. People and material that had been around, but had been given little attention, suddenly crossed my path. I’ve always believed it was because whatever subject I was writing about trusted me to do the material justice. I do believe that writers do not pick their subjects, but the subjects choose them.
As I came to the end of writing about Theodore’s Great Loop Tour, I was disappointed. I had been having so much fun following him around and listening to his words. But the story was finished and it was time to let it go.
So, is this it? The last book I write on Theodore Roosevelt?
I have no idea. Perhaps there is another event in Theodore Roosevelt’s life that will grab me and take me on another adventure.
Go West Mr. President: Theodore Roosevelt’s Great Loop Tour of 1903 by Michael F. Blake. Two Dot Press, $26.95 (ISBN 978-1-4930-4846-5). Also available as an E-book.