2026, books, Family, History, holidays, Uncategorized

You Call This A LIbrary?

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This week we have encountered two external references to our former region of ND. At church on Sunday we spoke to some fellow parishioners who had just returned from a cattle buying trip to Montana. They stopped in Medora, ND on the way there. Medora is about 40 miles east of where we used to live. It is a small town of about 120 people adjacent to Theodore Roosevelt National Park and home to the newly opened Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. Daughter’s best friend’s dad owns a ranch there, and she spent a lot of time there as a kid. It is also home to the Medora Musical, an outdoor theatre that has a cast of singers and dancers all summer for shows every night. The various attractions of the place have been promoted by a foundation started by Harold Shaefer, the manufacturer of Mister Bubble.

Our church friends were quite disappointed by the library, due to the pushy crowds and the fact that they saw no books in the library. We thought that perhaps all the books were digitized, but had no other explanation.

The other Medora connection was an article by Rachel Monroe in the August 17 edition of The New Yorker describing what is was like to be there during our current president’s visit on July 4th. It was, of course, a disaster. The musical had to be cancelled because the tech crew couldn’t got the stage ready in time to support heavy protective barriers for presidential security. She had much better experiences at the Mandan Rodeo and the 250th Celebration at the Sisseton Wahpeton pow wow. I encourage you to read the article if you can.

I know there is a special Teddy Roosevelt department at the university in our former town. Maybe they have some books. Who knows?

Ever been to a Rodeo, a pow wow, or a presidential library? What sort of books might Teddy have had?

24 thoughts on “You Call This A LIbrary?”

  1. I had to look this up, as I was pretty sure there had to be a TR presidential museum in New York. Indeed there is at Sagamore Hill. I suspect they have his books (as they should). IIRC from The American Experience, TR was a voracious reader. I worry about this new museum, but then, I’m worried about American museums in general these days. Everything is getting sanded down and laminated.

    I went to kindergarten in Tama, Iowa and I know we went to a powwow too, but that was before there was a casino. I’m quite sure it’s very different now.

    Been to a lot of Presidential Libraries too as part of family vacations, but only took the s&h to the Hoover museum in West Branch. Like all of them, it’s gotten “improved”. My memory of it involves taking my cat to the house on her leash. She enjoyed it very much.

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  2. My first rodeo was in Colorado, I think in Greeley, where we lived for those summers. The next one would have been taking Joel to the former Met Stadium in Mpls. (or technically Bloomington?). He wore his cowboy outfit, including chaps…

    I’ve been to a pow-wow here in Winona – each September there is one held here on the east end of Lake Winona…

    Huh – guess I’ve never been to a presidential library.

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  3. TR wrote dozens of books himself and thousands over his lifetime at a 300+ per year pace.
    Never been to a presidential library. Medora pow wow long ago.
    A Cass County (Fargo) rodeo even longer ago.
    It is with amusement that I can see the photos of 47’s Air Force One “library.” It’s a display of fake books.
    I’m not joking.

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  4. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    I have been to many rodeos, the last several in Cave Creek, AZ where they had a big rodeo in the spring. The participants were from all over the American West. Early on in life I attended quite a few with my dad, who at that time was the Mills County Extension Director, near Omaha. The county fairs would often feature rodeos. He would get free tickets. I was his little shadow at that point, so I often attended with him. My favorite part was the barrel-racing Cow Girls who rode the horses with their braids flying behind their heads. These events inspired my days at home with my cowgirl hat, toy six shooters, and stick horse playing Annie Oakley.

    I also have been to a Pow-Wow at the Mdewakatan Dakota Pow Wow Grounds. What sites and sounds those are.

    I cannot remember being at a Presidential Library, but I did go to Sen. George McGovern’s Library in Mitchell, South Dakota with his niece, my dear friend from childhood. She is the friend who I visited in Sioux Falls, SD last December, then she died in her sleep upon her return to her home in Georgia. I do know that such libraries do not necessarily house books. They house documents and media commemorating their work. My theory about the “library” of the current felon president is that the library will consist only of several abused mobile phones and pictures of his toxic messages written on Depends, depicting the literal sh*t show we are living through right now.

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  5. I’ve been to one powwow at the Mankato Land of Memories park. That one is Mdewakatan Dakota. I enjoyed the dancing and ceremony, but not much else.

    I’ve never been to a rodeo, but I’ve seen them on tv. I cringe at the way the animals are used. I wonder what those horses and cows think of us.

    No presidential libraries either, though from what I’ve heard of the new Obama Center in Chicago, it might be a thing to see.

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  6. My hometown puts on a small rodeo each summer along with a parade. I attended once many, many years ago. At that one there were several local boys/men participating. I’ve not been to a pow wow but in Taos there was a demonstration of some of the dances – that was interesting.

    I have been in the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, TX – didn’t tour the entire library but what I did see was well done.

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  7. No rodeos or pow-wows for me. I’m not really interested in rodeos but would like to see a pow-wow some day.

    We were in Chicago recently and walked around the campus of the Obama presidential center. The museum is sold out for months in advance, so we didn’t see the exhibits, but explored the gardens and the building with the cafe and a small theater. It would be nice to see the museum. I think there’s a replica of the Oval Office, so people can remember what it looked like in saner times.

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  9. Pretty sure this was the first song I ever heard Dolly sing. My parents did not have any record albums she was on, but I distinctly remember this song on the car radio, maybe when we were on the road to my grandparents’ place in the mid 60’s.

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  11. I always resented Whitney Houston for the heavy handed version she did of I Will Always Love You. I don’t know why she thought belting out the song so stridently in such a monotone could possibly improve on Dolly’s tender, nuanced original.

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  13. I’ve never been to a rodeo or presidential library. Never been to a real pow wow either, although I have seen at least one performance that was intended to introduce white people to indigenous dance. If Teddy Roosevelt were around today, I believe he would champion environmental causes. He’d probably shelve books by Aldo Leopold, Bill McKibben, Michael Pollan, Rachel Carson, Edward Abbey, and the like.

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