January 2022 - 15

Left to right: Theodore Roosevelt, Lieutenant Dorsey H. Cullen and Elwood Hofer. Cullen served during the Spanish American War and fought in the Philippine Insurrection. Cullen was honored to
accompany Roosevelt in Yellowstone. (Theodore Roosevelt Collection, Harvard College Library)
flank, but the second bullet was not needed
for the first wound was mortal and he fell
before going 50 yards. "
A couple of days later the hunting party
reached Two-Ocean Pass. As the group
descended down the pass, Roosevelt noted
how difficult and dangerous it was. Roosevelt
shot another elk on the first day of hunting
along Two-Ocean Pass with his hunting
partner, a man named Tazewell Woody. They
had two opportunities to shoot elk prior to
Roosevelt's one-shot harvest of a 5-point bull.
" This was on the birthday of my eldest son,
so I took him home the [antlers], " Roosevelt
wrote. " On the way back [to camp] I shot
the heads of two blue grouse as they perched
in the pines. "
Roosevelt was having a good hunt, along
with others in his party. But the harvest of
animals wasn't the only part of Wyoming
that captured his appreciation of where he
was. He marveled at the mountains, valleys,
streams and general landscape. Hunting wasn't
easy, despite the successes. There was a lot
of rain, snow, wind and long hikes through
tough terrain. However, that all made this
hunt memorable for Roosevelt.
Early in the hunt Roosevelt harvested
every elk he had a legitimate shot at, but
there was a 10-day stretch where he got
nothing other than a cow elk, which served
as meat for the camp.
There was another factor for the period
of poor hunting.
" Our ill success was in part due to sheer
bad luck, but the chief element therein was
the presence of a great hunting party of
Shoshone Indians, " Roosevelt wrote. " Split
into bands of eight to 10 each, they scoured
the whole country on their tough, sure-footed
ponies. They always hunted on horseback
and followed the elk at full speed wherever
they went. "
After one week at Two-Oceans Pass,
Roosevelt's hunting party moved on to an area
near Pinyon Peak, located in Teton County
today. A few days later the group moved to
Wolverine Creek. The party was only a couple
of hours away from the spot where their hunt
would end. However, Roosevelt shot three
bull elk in half a day, including one, he said,
had " the finest antlers I ever got. "
The hunt ended a day later.
" To me, still-hunting elk in the mountains
when they are calling is one of the most
attractive of sports, not only because of the
size and stately beauty of the quarry and the
grand nature of the trophy, but because of the
magnificence of the scenery and the stirring,
manly, exciting nature of the chase itself, "
Roosevelt wrote.
" The wapiti is not only the most stately
and beautiful of American game, but it is
also the noblest of the stag kind throughout
the world. Whoever kills him has killed the
chief of his race, for he stands far above his
brethren of Asia and Europe. "
- Robert Gagliardi is the associate editor of Wyoming
Wildlife.
Wyoming Wildlife | 15

January 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2022