Postcard from the Past: Wyoming Residents Present Horse to President Teddy Roosevelt
One of the highlights of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt’s visit to Wyoming in 1903 was the gift of a saddle horse, according to historical accounts.
Wyoming Historian Phil Roberts wrote in his “Buffalo Bones” column, “Roosevelt’s three day trip to the state in 1903 was one of the most publicized visits by any chief executive.”
The president’s Wyoming trip began aboard a special train at the railroad station in Evanston and ended astride a horse in Cheyenne.
The train stopped in Laramie where citizens were at the depot in force to greet the Old Rough Rider. Several of them, knowing of the president’s fondness for riding, proposed he go to Cheyenne by horseback, Roberts noted.
Roosevelt accepted the invitation, and his entourage plus several local dignitaries and cowboys made the circuitous 65-mile ride horseback over Sherman Hill, stopping at the Van Tassell Ranch for lunch.
Upon his arrival in Cheyenne, the citizens showed the president “a Wild West show,” and during a break in the action, Douglas residents presented Roosevelt with a horse named Ragalon.
“I am going to name him Wyoming for the people who have been so generous to me. I shall be proud in Washington, D.C. to ride the finest horse which the great ranges have ever produced,” the president said.
He rode the horse to a barbecue at the Warren Ranch that evening.
Roosevelt and his newly acquired mount Wyoming left Cheyenne the next day for Washington, D. C. and the duties of the presidency. Roosevelt could then say he had ridden the ranges of Wyoming while serving as the country’s 26th president, according to the article by Roberts.
Teddy could also boast he could saddle up to ride the streets of our nation’s capitol with Wyoming between his legs.
