Teddy Roosevelt gave a speech here where this statue stands. In keeping with the legend that has grown up around here, the sculptor included his eyeglasses setting on a book, a gunbelt, and a speech in his hand. It is on the grounds of the Stark County Courthouse in Dickinson and is just one year old.
North Dakota can't claim many folk heroes, but the ones it has sure get a workout. Add Sakakawea, Lawrence Welk, and Roger Maris to TR's name and you've about run through the list.
The Hall of Fame in the state capital building exhibits portraits of a good many other people who have been honored, but who cares about Peggy Lee, Angie Dickinson, or Bobby Vee?
At any rate, there stands ole Teddy holding the speech with which he addressed the crowd. I don't know if it was any good or even if the people could hear it as he gave it, but we're not gonna forget it!
I was called back to work again yesterday to drive my old passenger to Dickinson for a meeting, so while I killed a few hours waiting for the return trip, I went to the nearby courthouse with camera in hand. And, I found more to do, too. First, I went to a hundred year old Episcopal Church building which has metamorphosed into a neat coffee shop. One coffee and caramel roll later, I found their old Carnegie financed library with a beautiful interior: pressed tin ceiling tiles, solid oak woodwork, a large brick fireplace, etc. Its shelves held a fairly large section of North Dakota history and biographies, and I spotted a few I had once owned, but for some reason forgotten by me now, I got rid of. For example, there stood Whoa...Yuh Sonsabitches, a book written about the old days in North Dakota. I longed to own it again.
Right close by I found another place to stop - a used bookstore owned by the library as a fund raiser. The helpful volunteer worker steered me to a section of Western literature where I began filling a bag with books. Luck smiled down on me this day for there was a copy of Whoa...Yuh Sonsabitches. It went directly into my bag; it had a one dollar price tag. When all done I laid a ten dollar bill and a few coins for tax on the counter and lugged out ten books. I have another story to tell about my book finds, but it will wait for Friday's blog.
