Biography; Frontier and pioneer life -- Dakota Territory; Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
There were many reasons why the relations between the two men should
not have been noticeably cordial. Roosevelt had from the start thrown
in his lot with the men who had been most emphatic in their
denunciation of the Marquis's part in the killing of Riley Luffsey.
Gregor Lang, who was the Marquis's most caustic critic, was
Roosevelt's warm friend. "Dutch Wannigan," moreover, who had been
saved only by a miracle in the memorable ambuscade, was one of
Roosevelt's cow-hands. That summer of 1885 he was night-herder for the
Maltese Cross "outfit." He was a genial soul and Roosevelt liked him.
No doubt he was fascinated also by his remarkable memory, for
"Wannigan," who was unable to read or write, could be sent to town
with a verbal order for fifty items, and could be counted on not only
to bring every article he had been sent for, but to give an exact
accounting, item by item, of every penny he had spent. For the Marquis
the presence of "Dutch Wannigan" in Roosevelt's "outfit" was, no
doubt, convincing evidence of Roosevelt's own attitude in regard to
the memorable affray of June 26th, 1883. Whatever irritation he may
have felt toward Roosevelt because of it could scarcely have been
mollified by the fact that "Dutch Wannigan," in his quiet way, was
moving heaven and earth to bring about the indictment of the Marquis
for murder.
But there was another reason why the relations between the Marquis and
Roosevelt were strained. In the Marquis's business ventures he was
constantly being confronted by unexpected and, in a sense,
unaccountable obstacles, that rose suddenly out of what appeared a
clear road, and thwarted his plans. The railroads, which gave special
rates to shippers who did far less business than he, found for one
reason or another that they could not give him any rebate at all.
Wholesale dealers refused, for reasons which remained mysterious, to
handle his meat; yard-men at important junctions delayed his cars. He
could not help but be conscious that principalities and powers that he
could not identify were working in the dark against him. He suspected
that the meat-packers of Chicago had passed the word to their allies
in Wall Street that he was to be destroyed; and assumed that
Roosevelt, bound by a dozen ties to the leaders in the business life
of New York, was in league with his enemies.
A totally unexpected incident brought the growing friction between the
two men for a flash into the open. Roosevelt had agreed to sell the
Marquis eighty or a hundred head of cattle at a price, on which they
agreed, of about six cents a pound. Accompanied by two of his
cowpunchers, he drove the cattle to the enclosure adjoining the
abattoir of the Northern Pacific Refrigerator Car Company, had them
weighed, and went to the Marquis for his check.
"I am sorry I cannot pay you as much as I agreed for those cattle,"
said the Marquis.
"But you bought the cattle," Roosevelt protested. "The sale was
complete with the delivery."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account