The Making of Theodore Roosevelt

By Robert Louis DeMayo

Book Overview

This is a work of fiction.In the fall of 1878, twenty year old Theodore Roosevelt made the first of three trips to northern Maine where he was guided through the wilderness by two seasoned woodsmen: William Wingate Sewall and Wilmot Dow. It was here that Theodore learned to be an outdoorsman and to feel comfortable with the tough men who worked in the backwoods. These journeys to Maine transformed Theodore from a sickly, depressed boy, to a young man who was ready to take on the world. Roosevelt would later comment on Sewall, "There is no one who could more clearly give the account of me when I was a young man and ever since."Between his three visits, which all took place within a year, Roosevelt covered over one-thousand miles of virgin forest, frozen lakes and cedar swamps. These explorations were undertaken by foot, snowshoe, canoe, sleigh and buckboard, in all sorts of weather, and through difficult terrain. This story is also about how Theodore met his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee, and follows their courtship. Alice was his first, passionate love, and during his trips to Maine she was always on his mind.In the 60's my father bought some land from William Sewall's grandson; as a boy I roamed the same woods as Theodore and grew up listening to the many stories of his time in Maine from William Sewall's descendants and the offspring of the woodsman who knew him. In this account I have tried to imagine what these journeys were like, and have taken some creative license in doing so, but at the same time stayed true to the original experience. Even so, all characters other than Theodore Roosevelt, Alice Lee, Dickey Saltonstall, Bill and David Sewall and Wilmot Dow are the invention of the author, and all conversation, except where it is quoting other text, is the invention of the author. I hope you enjoy learning about this fascinating time in Theodore Roosevelt's life-and northern Maine-as much as I have. Sincerely yours,Robert Louis DeMayo

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1469949423
• ISBN13: 9781469949420
• Release Date: January 2012
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub
• Length: 286 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 6.0"