Theodore Roosevelt, while ranching in the Dakota Territory between 1884 and 1886, had an acquaintance on a nearby tract of land whose cattle ranch was plagued by a large and aggressive bear. When the bear slaughtered a big bull and left the carcass near the man’s ranch house, the ranchman finally decided to get revenge on the predatory beast. Believing the bear would come back to continue eating whatever was left on the bull’s carcass, the ranchman laced the animal’s body with poison and then hoped for the best. On this topic, Theodore Roosevelt wrote, “A large bear will make short work of a bull: a few months ago one of the former killed a very big bull near a ranch house a score of miles or so distant, and during one night tore up and devoured a large part of his victim. The ranchman poisoned the carcass and killed the bear” (Theodore Roosevelt, Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, chapter 3). According to Roosevelt’s tale, the ranchman’s poisoning plot was successful, and the killer bear (or some unfortunate passerby) was slain by the tampered remains.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Picture Attribute: (Theodore Roosevelt as a Rough-Rider at Tampa, Florida, dated c. 1903, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons and Ajuntament de Girona).
Sources:
- Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, by Theodore Roosevelt. First Published by The Century Co. (1888) and reprinted in 2019 by Digital History Books.
