Badlands

We are entering the only national park named for an individual - the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (Great trivia question!).
In addition to Teddy Roosevelt, the area was the sight of some skirmishes for Custer before he reached the Little Bighorn.  This was his opportunity to recover some of the glory he had lost after the Civil War.  The cavalry was  under orders to remove the Indians from the path of those going to the Gold Rush in North Dakota and protect wagon trains.

We stopped at the first visitors area, which was called the Painted Canyon.  I must admit, it was impressive.   It was a lot greener and more picturesque than I had expected.  The Visitors Center here sits on a ridge, which is a natural trail for the animals, so at various times of the day, they get Bison, Antelope, Wild Horses, Elk, etc. through here, right in the parking lot.

There is a north end and a south end of the park, and we are at the South end. TR came out here in 1883 to hunt bison.  He fell in love with the area and invested in a cattle ranch. The following year, February 14, 1884,  his wife died in childbirth (having Alice) and his mother died of typhoid on the same day in  a separate part of the house.  TR returned to his ranch, the Maltese Cross Ranch, and then bought another one in the north, the Elkhorn Ranch.  He wrote several books about his adventures, and developed a feel for conservation. He felt  his experience here was what gave him the confidence to eventually run for President.

You can kid of see all of these formations from this vantage point. 

Here's an example of the red clinkers from the coal fires deep in the ground.

The Little Missoui wanders all through the park. 

Not too far from here was the Battle of the Little Bighorn, in Montana.  Although this is an old poster,  (this year was the 137th annniversary), I liked this picture of Sitting Bull, the victor in the Custer battle.