HISTORY

y\mei'ic£in History Play

TE II lY ROOSEVELTThe First Environmental PresidentPresident Theodore Roosevelt loved the American wilderness—and worked to preserve it for future generations.

ChcircictersTheodore Roosevelt, 26th President

of the United StatesWilliam Dutcher °| notedFrank Chapman / ornithologistsQuanah Parker, Chief of the

Ouohada Comanche tribeJack Abernathy, cowboy and

coyote hunterWilliam Temple Hornaday, zoo/og/st

and conservationist'Cabinet Members 1 8c 2Narrators A-E*Fictitious characters; all others were

1 people. ^

Words to Know

• ornithologist (n): a scientistwho studies birds j

• poacher [ny: one who hunts orfishes illegally

• proclamation (n): a formalpublic statement

• zoologist (n): a scientist whostudies animals and animalbehavior

This play is based on information foundin The Wilderness Warrior: TheodoreRoosevelt and the Crusade for Americaby Douglas Brinkley.

I

PROLOGUIÎNarrator A: Widely known as"Teddy" or "T.R.," TheodoreRoosevelt was a man of greatenergy and enthusiasm. Born in1858 in New York City, he was asickly child. But with determina-tion—and the help of his father,who had a gym built for him—Teddy became strong and healthyin his teens. During those years,he took a trip across the untamedAmerican West and fell in lovewith it. The trip changed his life.Narrator B: Roosevelt dedicated hislife to public service, racking up aseries of remarkable achievements(see chronology, pp. 16-17). But hisgreatest legacy may be the manynatural wonders that he helped pre-serve for generations to come.

Narrator C: On September 6,1901, an assassin shoots PresidentWilliam McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo,New York. Eight days later,McKinley dies. Theodore Roosevelt,who has been Vice President foronly six months, takes the oath asPresident, becoming the youngest

person ever to serve in that office.Narrator D: Roosevelt has hishands full running the country,but he considers protectingAmerica's natural beauty asimportant as his other duties. InMarch 1903, he meets with twonoted ornithologists.Theodore Roosevelt: Greetings,gentlemen. How are things in thebird world?William Dutcher: Not good, I'msorry to say. That's why we'rehere, Mr. President. For decadesnow, fashionable ladies have beendecorating their hats and gownswith egret feathers and putting fla-mingo plumes in their hair. Thatelegance comes at a tragic cost—the deaths of millions of birds.Frank Chapman: I once counted,in a single hour, the feathers of40 different bird species in thehats of women who passed me onthe street! Consider just one, theflamingo. Plume hunters in Floridaare killing 5 million of them everyyear. At this rate, our beautifulFlorida bird will soon be extinct—and it's not the only species that'sin trouble.

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eoD thiscirecit wonder o

WILOERNESS WARRIORRoosevelt in YosemKe National Parkduring his "Great Loop" tour of 1903—acampaign to convince Americans of theimportance of protecting naturai wonders

HISTORY

Roosevelt: This is an outrage!These bird butchers must bestopped. What can we do?Dutcher: We'd like your help toprotect Pelican Island in Florida.Rooseveit: Pelican Island, yousay? That's federal land, andhome to a wide variety of birdspecies.Chapman: Yes, and one of the fewplaces where the brown pelicancan still be found in the wild.Roosevelt: Please excuse me fora moment.Narrator E: Roosevelt calls one ofhis Cabinet members.Roosevelt: is there any law thatprevents me from declaring PelicanIsland a federal bird reservation?No? Very well then. I so declare it!Narrator A: On March 14, 1903,Roosevelt issues an executiveorder, or official directive, thatestablishes five acres off Florida'sAtlantic coast as the Pelican IslandNational Wildlife Refuge. It's thefirst time the U.S. government sets

aside land specifically for the pro-tection of wildlife.

SCENE 2 ^ " i M INarrator B: Even as President,Roosevelt still enjoys "roughing it"in the wilderness. In April 1905, amonth after he is sworn in for asecond term, the President vaca-tions in Oklahoma Territory. (Itwil l become a state in 1907.)While coyote hunting, he is mes-merized by the dusty trails thatrun through the tall prairie grass.Roosevelt: An amazing sight!Ouanah Parker: Those trails wereformed by herds of wild buffalo.The trails remain, but the buffaloare nearly gone.JackAbernathy: Sixty millionbuffalo once roamed the prairie,but only about 1,000 survive.Parker: My people hunted them,but we killed only what weneeded. Besides eating the meat,we used every bit of bone and hidefor clothing and shelter, even tools.

Abernathy: Since then, settlers andother white men have been killingdozens at a time for sport—orbecause they block railroad tracks.Roosevelt: Standing in the way ofprogress, eh? Well, progress needsto leave room for the buffalo.Narrator C: Later, during dinner atParker's house . . .Roosevelt: I've been thinkingabout this buffalo problem for awhile, Quanah. I want to bringbuffalo back here where theybelong, to roam wild and free.Parker: You have a big heart, T.R.,and you love the land like aComanche. The prairie needs buf-falo—but if you bring them back,hunters will just kill them.Roosevelt: Not if I can help it.We're working to create a gamepreserve—a place where it ' l l be acrime to kill buffalo. Wardens willbe able to arrest anyone who tries.Parker: Our children wil l see thebuffalo roam once again!Narrator D: A few months later.

An Adventurous LifePassionate aboutthe outdoors—andpublic service—Theodore Roosevelt(1858-1919)packed a lot ofliving into just sixdecades. Hereare a few of hisachievements.

LAWMAN1895-1B97: As New York City's Police Commissioner, Rooseveitcrusades against poiice corruption. Not one to ieave a tough job toothers, he often wailcs the streets at night, patroiiing for crooked cops.That aiso exposes him to aii ciasses of New Yorkers.

SOLDIER1898: Rooseveit makes headiines during theSpanish-American War when he ieads a cavairy(horseback) regiment of "Rough Riders' in avictorious charge against Spanish troops in Cuba.

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Original 5 national paritsNational parksestablished by RooseveltNational monumentsestablished by Roosevelt

Roosevelt's L e g ^National Parks & Monuments

1902-1909

Roosevelt signs a presidentialproclamation creating WichitaNational Forest and Game Preservein Oklahoma. Its 60,800 acres areto be a haven for birds, fish, anddeer, as well as buffalo.

SCENE 31Narrator E: In December 1905,Roosevelt visits the Bronx Zoo inNew York City—an institution he

helped found a decade earlier.With him is a zoologist who hasbeen working to protect the buf-falo—also known as Americanbison—from extinction.Roosevelt: Now that you and Ihave formed the American BisonSociety, Bill, let's do some seriousplanning. Oklahoma Territory hasa buffalo preserve without any buf-falo. How's our Bronx herd doing?

WEB WATCHConservation: "No Greater Issue"

theodore-roosevelt.com/trenv.html

William lemple Hornaday: Quitewell. I've chosen 15 of the bestbreeding cows and bulls to send toOklahoma.Roosevelt: Wonderful. Congresshas approved $15,000 for fencing.That'll keep the beasts togetheruntil the herd grows.Hornaday: But will it keeppoachers out? What exactlyhappened at Pelican Island inFlorida last summer?Roosevelt: Poachers shot GuyBradley, one of our best PelicanIsland wardens. He caught theSmith gang red-handed, and theykilled him.Hornaday: Were they afterplumes for hats?Roosevelt: Not this time. Theywere killing cormorants—birdsthat are the best you ever saw atcatching fish. Fishermen see themas pests and as competition.Hornaday: if people are willing to

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TRUST BUSTER1902: T.R. flghts for ths regulation of "trusts," ormonopolies, groups of companies set up to eliminatecompetition. Successfully breaking up the powerfultrust that controls the railroads is a major victor«).

BUILDER1904: Under Roosevelt, the U.S. beginsconstruction on the Panama Canal. When it opensin 1914, it cuts 8,000 miles off the sea journeybetween the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

PEACEMAKER1906: Roosevelt is the first American to receivea Nobel Peace Prize, negotiating for an end tothe war between Russia and Japan in 1905.

HISTORY

GIANTSOn Mount Rushmore lieftto right): Washington,Jefferson, Roosevelt,and Lincoln

murder each other over hat plumesand fish, how can we hope to pro-tect the buffalo?Roosevelt: By cracking down onpoachers. I increased the numberof armed game wardens at PelicanIsland, and we'll have them at thebuffalo preserve. But I fear thatBradley won't be the last wildlifeprotector to die in the line of duty.Narrator A: T.R. is right. In 1908,poachers kill a warden and anotherconservationist. Publicity over themurders and tough new laws helpend the feathers fashion.

Narrator d: In 1908, Rooseveltlearns that Congress plans to allowmining in the Grand Canyon.Roosevelt: Dash it! Back in 1903,I told Arizonans: In your owninterest—and the interest of all thecountry—keep this great wonderof nature as it is.Cabinet Member 1: It was a greatspeech, Mr. President. But peoplewant to develop the land.Roosevelt: Short-sighted nincom-poops! The Grand Canyon is a

natural work of art carved by theColorado River over millions ofyears. It's irreplaceable.Cabinet Member 2: SenatorBenjamin Harrison tried three timesto protect it by making it a nationalpark—in 1882, '83, and '86.Congress never okayed it—not evenwhen Harrison became President.Roosevelt: But I have somethinghe didn't—the American AntiquitiesAct of 1906. I'll declare the GrandCanyon a national monument!Cabinet Member 1: How can acanyon be a monument?Roosevelt: That law authorizes aPresident to protect objects "of his-toric or scientific interest." Francehas the Eiffel Tower, Egypt has theGreat Pyramids, and India the TajMahal. Our Grand Canyon is noth-ing less than a temple of nature.Every American should see it.Cabinet Member 2: What aboutthe folks who run farms, lumbermills, or other businesses there?Roosevelt: They can keep doingit, just not in the canyon. They'llthank me one day—or their grand-children will. So wil l yours!

Narrator C: On January 11, 1908,Roosevelt declares more than800,000 acres in Arizona a nationalmonument, ensuring that the GrandCanyon will be preserved forever.

EPILOGUE " i " ^ "Narrator D: Considered one of thegreatest Presidents in U.S. history,Theodore Roosevelt has beenenshrined with three others—George Washington, ThomasJefferson, and Abraham Lincoln—on Mount Rushmore NationalMemorial in South Dakota.Narrator E: Roosevelt's conserva-tion triumphs during two terms asPresident include the creation of5 national parks, 51 federal birdreservations, 4 national game pre-serves, 18 national monuments,and ISO national forests—a totalof 230 million acres. Today onlyabout 15,000 American buffaloroam wild, but the species is farfrom extinct. Hundreds of thou-sands are being raised on ranchesor in conservation areas.Narrator A: As Gifford Pinchot,who Roosevelt appointed as thefirst chief of the U.S. Forest Service,said: "The greatest work thatTheodore Roosevelt did for theUnited States, the great fact whichwill give his influence vitality andpower long after we shall all havegone, [is] that he changed the atti-tude of the American people towardconserving [our] natural resources."

—Rachel Waugh & Kathy Wilmore

Write It

Write a brief essay describingTheodore Roosevelt's personality.Which of his qualities do you mostadmire? Why?

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