Hunting Trips of a Ranchman and the Wilderness Hunter [Hardcover]

Theodore Roosevelt (Author), Stephen E. Ambrose (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Modern Library | Publication Date: October 22, 1996

Written during his days as a ranchman in the Dakota Badlands, these two wilderness tales by Theodore Roosevelt endure today as part of the classic folklore of the West. The narratives provide vivid portraits of the land as well as the people and animals that inhabited it, ever underscoring the author's abiding concerns as a naturalist.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's no secret that America's most bully president was also its most bully outdoorsman and conservationist; what's often forgotten was how beautifully and authoritatively he wrote about the wilderness and his considerable experiences there. These two pre-White House narratives--Ranchman was originally published in 1885, Wilderness eight years later--are rich and vivid. The former chronicles Roosevelt's sojourns in the Dakota Badlands; the latter is an extended love letter to the pleasures and challenges of outdoor life. So what if some of his 19th-century ideas seem politically incorrect by the standards of the next century--magnificent prose is still magnificent prose. "Nowhere, not even at sea," writes the future First Hunter in one haunting passage, "does a man feel more lonely than when riding over the far-reaching seemingly never-ending plains ... [but] after a man has lived a little while on or near them, their very vastness and loneliness and their melancholy monotony have a strong fascination for him." By comparison, the isolation and weight of the Oval Office must have seemed like an afternoon stroll in the park.

From Library Journal

These two volumes from 1885 and 1893, respectively, revisit the days when men were men and animals ran for cover. Despite what may seem to be a shoot-everything-in-sight point of view, Teddy's true love of nature shines through.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 832 pages
• Publisher: Modern Library (October 22, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679602348
• ISBN-13: 978-0679602347
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,155,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quintessential Roosevelt, May 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Hunting Trips of a Ranchman and the Wilderness Hunter (Hardcover)

This volume will be enjoyable to anyone who loves nature or reading about nature; it will also interest the hunter and naturalist. See the events that help shape the life the greatest president this country has ever seen. A true conservationist, Mr. Rooselvelt was a REAL nature lover - his opinions were shaped through personal experience.
The two books in this volume are highly recommended.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent period piece of history, September 26, 1997

By 

Ed Houston ([e-mail]) (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hunting Trips of a Ranchman and the Wilderness Hunter (Hardcover)

I have an original copy of the "Hunting Trips of a Ranchman" published in 1900. I found the book to be completely engrossing and was unable to put it down until read. It was one of those that I hatted to see end. This book give a very accurate look at the times.

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ted's Excellent Hunting Adventures, July 30, 2002

By 

suetonius "seutonius" (Phoenix) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hunting Trips of a Ranchman and the Wilderness Hunter (Hardcover)

The two books contained in this Modern Library edition are organized by species with each chapter devoted to hunting a particular animal during a hunting trips in the late 19th century in the American West. Some hunts were primarily intended to harvest meat while others were more oriented towards collecting trophy specimens. At other times Roosevelt stumbles upon game and kills it merely because it happens to cross his path. The bloodthirstyness of the hunters will be a shock to modern readers. Even those familiar with hunting may be taken aback by Roosevelt's "kill anything that moves" hunting philosophy. A modern hunter is limited by hunting seasons, bag limits and will usually not kill females with young. This was not the case in Roosevelt's day. He and his hunting companions gleefully slaughter any animal they come upon whether it's a bear sow with immature juveniles or a large record-book specimen. It was a different time then but it is laughable to hear Roosevelt described as a concerned conservationist and proto animal rights activist if you have really read his writing. There is one particularly disturbing episode where Roosevelt is sitting beside a stream with his hunting companions and sees a small animal walking along unafraid. In a matter of seconds Roosevelt pounces on the small creature, gutting and skinning it with his bare hands and laughing at his Native American companion's uneasyness at his needless cruelty.

Roosevelt's writing has an unfortunate tendency towards hyperbole. For example, he is incapable of simply eating a meal, instead he has a magnificent feast or a delicious repast. There is an annoying tendency to employ cute phrases that grate on a modern reader's ear. He refers to bears as "Ephraim" or "Bruin" and all large animals are "brutes" or "savage brutes." Putting aside these minor complaints this book is a fascinating historical document which contains information about the natural history of North American game species that is still useful to hunters and outdoorsmen today.