Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, 70,447 acres (28,531 hectares), W N.Dak., in the Badlands and on the Little Missouri River; est. 1947. There are three units—the North Unit, the Elkhorn Ranch Unit, and the South Unit. Roosevelt first came to the area in 1883 to hunt bison and other big game. In 1884 he established the Elkhorn Ranch, and for several years after that he returned to the ranch for short periods. The ranch house and other buildings have been accurately reproduced in a diorama. The landscape of the park is marked by tablelands, buttes, canyons, and rugged hills; animal life is diverse. Among the attractions are petrified forests. See National Parks and Monuments, table.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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