daily companions,
wore well.

They called him "Mr. Roosevelt," not "Theodore" nor "Teddy." For,
though he was comrade and friend to all, he was also the "boss," and
they showed him the respect his position and his instinctive
leadership merited. More than once a man who attempted to be unduly
familiar with Roosevelt found himself swiftly and effectively
squelched. He himself entered with enthusiasm into the work of
administration. He regarded the ranch as a most promising business
venture, and felt assured that, with ordinary luck, he should make his
livelihood from it. On every side he received support for this
assurance. The oldest cattleman as well as the youngest joined in the
chorus that there never had been such a country for turning cattle
into dollars. In the Territorial Governor's Report for 1885, Packard
is quoted, waxing lyric about it:

Bunch and buffalo-grass cover almost every inch of the
ground. The raw sides of buttes are the only places where
splendid grazing cannot be found. On many of the buttes,
however, the grass grows clear to the summit, the slopes
being the favorite pasture-lands of the cattle. Generally no
hay need be cut, as the grass cures standing, and keeps the
cattle in as good condition all winter as if they were
stall-fed. The only reason for putting up hay is to avoid a
scarcity of feed in case of heavy snow. This very seldom
happens, however, as very little snow falls in the Bad
Lands. A curious fact with cattle is that the ones that have
been here a year or two, and know how to rustle, will turn
away from a stack of hay, paw away the snow from the grass,
and feed on that exclusively. Even in the dead of winter a
meadow has a very perceptible tinge of green.

A realist might have remarked that very little snow fell in the Bad
Lands mainly because the wind would not let it. The _Cowboy_ editor's
exultant optimism has an aspect of terrible irony in the light of the
tragedy that was even then building itself out of the over-confidence
of a hundred enthusiasts.

Bill Sewall and Will Dow alone remained skeptical.

Perhaps we are wrong [Sewall wrote his brother], but we
think it is too cold and barren for a good cattle country.
Nobody has made anything at it yet. _All expect to._ Guess
it's very much like going into the woods in fall. All are
happy, _but the drive is not in yet_. When i