Great Plains Studies, Center for

 

Date of this Version

Summer 2011

Citation

Great Plains Quarterly 31:3 (Summer 2011).

Comments

Copyright © 2011 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska.

Abstract

The title of Dan Aadland's latest book, In Trace of TR: A Montana Hunter's Journey, is intriguing. It implies a connection between Theodore Roosevelt (TR) and the author; less clear is what that connection is, based on the title. In his introduction, Aadland states that the connection between him and the twenty-sixth President of the United States was made with similar experiences in ranching, horsemanship, and hunting. The objective of the book is to invite the reader along for a good ride with TR and Dan. And quite a ride it is.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part includes three chapters describing the author's hunts of pronghorn, his visit to the Elkhorn Ranch, and his relationships with horses. The second part includes four chapters that describe more hunts with family and friends in mountain ranges in and around Montana where TR also hunted. Aadland also discusses Native Americans, his views of TR's religion, and snippets of the president's conservation philosophy. The first of the final section's two chapters includes recollections of hunting near and around the author's ranch and some discussion of the ills of market hunting. The second emphasizes other aspects of TR's legacy, his ability to interact with the common man, and even the author's opinion of how TR may have chosen to die.

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