The ranch-house of the Maltese Cross has been moved to Bismarck, where it stands, wind-beaten and neglected, in the shadow of the capitol. The Elkhorn ranch-house is gone, used for lumber, but the great foundation stones that Bill Sewall and Will Dow laid under it remain, and the row of cottonwoods that shaded it still stand, without a gap. Near by are the ruins of the shack which Maunders claimed and Roosevelt held, in spite of threats. The river flows silently beneath a grassy bank. There is no lovelier spot in the Bad Lands. THE END APPENDIX ROOSEVELT'S FIRST CONTRACT WITH SYLVANE FERRIS AND A. W. MERRIFIELD. (A copy of this contract, in Mr. Roosevelt's handwriting, is in the ranch-ledger, kept, somewhat fitfully, by Mr. Roosevelt and his foremen. This ledger, which contains also the minutes of the first meeting of the Little Missouri River Stockmen's Association, held in Medora on December 19, 1884, is now in the possession of Mr. Joseph A. Ferris, of Terry, Montana.) We the undersigned, Theodore Roosevelt, party of the first part, and William Merrifield and Sylvane Ferris, parties of the second part, do agree and contract as follows: 1. The party of the first part, Theodore Roosevelt, agrees and contracts with the parties of the second part, William Merrifield and Sylvanus Ferris, to put in on their ranch on the Little Missouri River, Dakota, four hundred head of cattle or thereabouts, the cost not to exceed twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) and the parties of the second part do agree to take charge of said cattle for the party of the first part; said cattle to be thus placed and taken charge of for the term of seven years. 2. At the end of said seven years the equivalent in value of said four hundred head of cattle, as originally put in, is to be returned to the party of the first part; provided that the parties of the second part are to have the privilege of paying off at any time or times prior to the expiration of said seven years, in sums of not less than one thousand dollars at any one time, said claim of the party of the first part to the equivalent in value of the original herd of cattle. 3. Any additional cattle put into the herd by said party of the first part are to be put in on the same terms as the original herd, and are to remain in the herd for as much of the seven years mentioned in this contract as is unexpired at the time they are put in. 4. One half of the increase of value of said herd is to belong to the party of the first part and one-half to the parties of the second part. 5. The parties of the second part are to have the power from time to time to make such sales as they in the exercise of their best judgment shall deem wisest, provided that no sale shall be made sufficient in amount to decrease the herd below its original value except by the consent of all parties in writing.