 I think we'd better begin before some of you get chilly. We are here celebrating this strenuous life, so hang in there, won't take long. We're glad you're here. I'm Clay Jenkinson of the Theodore Oswald Center here at Dickinson State University, and I want to welcome all of you. Some of you are members of the Theodore Oswald Association from around the United States and even around the world. Others are citizens of Dickinson, Stark County, and North Dakota. Staff, faculty, and students of Dickinson State University. Distinguished guests, and I want to start just by introducing some of the people here. Former North Dakota Governor Ed Schaefer, and it's why Nancy Schaefer are here, the Queen of Medora, and possibly the universe, Shila Schaefer. Guess where I learned. I am Valerie Naylor, the Superintendent of Theodore Oswald National Park, thank you. I just wanted to quickly read a letter to you that we unearthed at the Theodore Oswald Center at Dickinson State, as for those of you who haven't been with us for the last day and a little more, we're digitizing all of the papers of Theodore Oswald, probably up to two million documents of photos, cartoons, newspaper clippings, diaries, letters, et cetera, films, audio, all of it. We want everything that can be called Rooseveltian, and here's a letter from May 1910. It turns out that North Dakota and our own, the Honorable Lewis Hannah, wanted to erect a statue of former President Theodore Oswald on the Capitol grounds in Bismarck, and so they approached TR and said that this was their intention, and this is, I'll read the letter in its entirety, it's a very short one, the reply from former President Theodore Oswald, dated May 8th, 1910. Dear Mr. Hannah, not having heard from you an answer to my last letter, I gave a sitting to Mr. Wigeland when I reached Christiana, but my dear Mr. Hannah, I do wish that you and the others interested in this movement would adopt my suggestion before it is too late. Don't have it a statue of me. Have it a statue of a cowboy, or a pioneer farmer. This will be far more typical of North Dakota, and I am sure in the end will be far more satisfactory. And this, apart from my firm belief that no man should ever have a statue until he has been dead some little time. Mr. Wigeland, as I understand it, is making a cowboy statue anyhow. Now all you have to do is make a slight change in the face and keep it as the statue of a typical North Dakota cowboy of the type that represented the first inrush of the cattle into the Dakota country. The cowboy next to the pioneer farmer was the typical figure of the frontier days in our West, the West that you and I know and love belong to, always yours, Theodore Roosevelt. And so we, as usual, honored President Roosevelt's request and did not create a statue to him on the Capitol lawn in Bismarck. That was 101 years ago. Roosevelt said you should be dead for some little time. He's now been dead for 92 years. It's about time that we have a statue of Roosevelt in Roosevelt's Badlands guise. We're so glad that you hear this as a dream come true for Dickinson State University, for the Theodore Roosevelt Center, for the city of Dickinson, for Stark County, for Western North Dakota, for the people of North Dakota, and for Roosevelt lovers everywhere. Let me now introduce to you the President of Dickinson State University, D.C. Costin. Dr. Costin. If I could take just a moment before I begin my remarks. For those of you from out of state, I'd like to provide an additional credential for former Governor Ed Schaefer. Governor Schaefer also served as Secretary of Agriculture for the United States of America. And we truly salute the service that he has given both to this state and to the nation. I got to know him quite well in my prior role as he was serving as Secretary in what a distinguished time he had there and what an influence he made on our nation. Thank you. On July 4th, 1886, Theodore Roosevelt was here, gave a speech, and that speech is often cited as the coming out party for him as he began to look at the career that we all know as he became a national leader. What a fitting thing it is, as Clay pointed out, to have a statue of him here. And I'm sure that you will learn from Clay and others that this is a statue unlike any other statue in the nation to Roosevelt. It is a very appropriate thing that the people of this area take great pride in Roosevelt, what this area meant through his life as we have learned so well today during this symposium and that the people of this area have come together to make this treasure available not only for North Dakota and North Dakotans, but indeed for all of you from throughout the U.S. and indeed for people around the world to celebrate this truly marvelous man. The city of Dickinson is a great partner in this. Stark County, which is the county that we're in, as you can see, this is the Stark County courthouse. How fitting it is that an alumnus of Dickinson State University, Tom Bollinger, produced this statue and how meaningful it is for Dickinson State University to be a partner in this. And I especially want to say thanks to the Dickinson State University Foundation and most especially their CEO, Kevin Thompson, who has taken such a lead role in helping us get to this day. What a wonderful celebration it is and what a great time we have and how we all look forward to seeing what's under the black cloth. Thank you very much. For those of you who don't know, Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech on this site in July of 1886. It's regarded by many as his first great national speech. We knew that he gave the speech. We have copies of the speech. We have contemporary accounts of the speech. I'll come back to that a little bit later, but we didn't know quite where he had delivered it. We knew it was somewhere near the depot, but we didn't know quite where to place it and it's not here accidentally. It turns out that our emeritus professor of English, Dr. Carl Larson, was doing archival work for the coming centennial of Dickinson State University and he happened upon an old newspaper account that said that the speech was delivered right here on what's now the Stark County Courthouse lawn. It wasn't then. It was just an empty place in the city, but that's where that Independence Day celebration in 1886 occurred. So then we approached the county and they were very generous in saying that they would like to partner with us along with the city of Dickinson to place this statue of Roosevelt delivering that first great national address on this spot in 1886. So I'd like now to introduce Dwayne Bucky-Wolf, a county commissioner to speak for Stark County. Dwayne? Good afternoon distinguished guests and all guests. In behalf of the Stark County commission and the Stark County Park Board, we welcome you all. And I guess it's a great honor for us to be part of a partnership that was formed between the Dickinson State College and the foundation and city of Dickinson to provide a spot for the statue that will be unveiled very shortly. I think that we have something very unique here and also the project that you see right now is not totally complete. There'll be another small park on the other side of the sidewalk that'll balance this whole thing out. So it's a great asset for the community. And we look forward to having many visitors and many people to enjoy this particular area. With that, I'll cut it short, as Roosevelt didn't like long speeches either, as I understand it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Bucky. It's truly a cooperative project. We wanted to make sure that the whole city of Dickinson and Stark County in Western North Dakota were part of this great thing that we're doing at the university here, the digitization of Roosevelt, the creation of a Theodore Roosevelt National Center. And so we're so glad that we have the city and the county and the university and the people of Dickinson involved. So now I'd like to introduce the mayor of Dickinson, my dear friend, Mr. Johnson, please. Thank you, Clay. My first name is Dennis. I think he had a senior moment. Well, it's my pleasure to give an official welcome on behalf of the citizens of Dickinson to the members of the Theodore Roosevelt Association and to those of you attending the TR symposium and of course to all of our friends and citizens who are here for this event. And I'd like to recognize Dickinson's favorite son, and that's Clay Jenkinson. Many of you probably don't know. He is a Dickinson native. He's a very talented scholar and the success of the symposium is largely due to him. So we're always pleased when he comes home to Dickinson. And to D.C. Costin, he's new to our community, new president. I've known D.C. for a few years in his previous life at NDSU. He's a fine choice to lead Dickinson State and we're very happy to have you in our community, D.C. And then to my great friend, Commissioner Wolfe, who we've worked together on many projects, the county and the city work well together here in this corner of the state. I just want to say thank you to Bucky. He is concluding his service on the county commission and he's truly been an outstanding county commissioner. And then yesterday I came down and got a sneak preview of the statue. I had to take a look at it and it is truly outstanding. So I want to say to Tom Bollinger that you've done a great job and it's something that our citizens and visitors will enjoy for many years. Now shortly you're going to hear from Clay Jenkinson and he'll recite some excerpts from Roosevelt's speech and I invite you to listen very carefully. I read the speech this week and was struck by the timelessness of it. Roosevelt's speech applies to those of us living in Southwestern North Dakota today as much as it did to those living here 125 years ago. When I read his speech, I heard Roosevelt speaking to me. I heard it in the context of the massive and growing oil development that is taking place in Western North Dakota. Oil development that is substantial, increasing and at times overwhelming for those of us in government. Roosevelt said, here we have a grand country. Roosevelt said, we must take heed to use right the gifts entrusted to our care. Roosevelt said, it is incumbent on us here today to so act throughout our lives as to leave our children a heritage for which we will receive their blessings and not their curses. If Roosevelt were here today, he could give the same speech. He would say that he expects us to develop our oil resources responsibly, to use the gift of oil rightly and to leave our children a heritage that they will thank us rather than curses. Roosevelt would say to us, here we have a grand country. It is your duty to keep it that way. So Mr. Bollinger, each time I pass by this statue, I will remember Roosevelt's call to duty. Thank you. That was just a perfect thing to say about Roosevelt's legacy and what our responsibility is in the coming decade or two decades or three decades in Western North Dakota that couldn't have been more appropriately tied to this situation and to Roosevelt's leadership in conservation. Thank you very much. Now we're going to have a brief musical round by the DSU Coral students, directed by Bruce Souther. It's called a Theodore Roosevelt Round. So come on down. First requisite of a good citizen in this Republic of Oz is that he shall be able and willing to blow his way to pull his weight, pull his weight to pull his weight, to pull his weight to pull. The first requisite of a good citizen in this Republic of Oz is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight to pull his weight, pull his weight, pull his weight, to pull his weight to pull his weight, When Roosevelt gave that speech, it was one of the hottest days in the summer of 1886. It was also exceedingly windy. He rode in that morning on a freight train from Madura. He spent a number of hours here. He gave the speech, and then he went back on a passenger train. And he was traveling with the editor of the Badlands Cowboy, a man named A.T. Packard, Arthur Packard. Packard listened to Roosevelt talk all the way from Madura to Dickinson about citizenship and responsibility and the American promise and the great things that were going to happen out here. And then he came and watched Roosevelt give this extraordinary address. And then he rode back with TR on a passenger train to Madura, during which time Roosevelt talked the entire way about citizenship and public responsibility and the great promise of this place. And as they got to about Freiberg, A.T. Packard turned to him and said, remember this was 1886, Roosevelt was 27 years old. He said, if you continue to think this way and to act upon your thoughts, I predict that you will someday be the president of the United States. Roosevelt was 27. And Roosevelt replied, well, if your prophecy proves true, I will be a great one. And he was. So we just love this moment. I've been talking to Doug Candy, who's a citizen of Dickinson, and he sent me a document. His grandmother, Mary Susanna, was 17 years old on that day in 1886. And she was here and she left some reminiscences of this occasion. And we're going to investigate them further as time goes on. But what she mostly remembers is that he gave the speech and it was much, much windier than this. And afterwards he said to Packard, now let's go get some food. So that's her memory of that actual occasion in Western North Dakota. I appreciate Doug Candy for contacting us with that. I'll just give you a couple of sentences from this speech. You can find it yourself on our website, TheodoreRoseveltCenter.org. But this is one of the key ones Dennis has pointed to this. He said, it is the same with us here talking about the burden of the Declaration of Independence. We, Grangers and Cowboys alike, have opened a new land. We are the pioneers. And as we shape the course of the stream near its head, our efforts have infinitely more effect in bending it in any given direction than they would have if they were made farther along. So he uses the stream metaphor. If you adjust the course of that river near its source at the beginning of North Dakota history, you have more influence than you will have, say, in 2011 or 2018 to shape the course of that community. In other words, he said, the first comers in a land can, by their individual efforts, do far more to channel out the course in which its history is to run than those who follow after them. And their labors, whether exercised on the side of evil or on the side of good, are far more effective than if they had remained in the old settled communities. Then a little bit later in the speech, he says, this is getting to the most famous passage. You have been told that in the end we are to fall air to most of this continent. Well, I think so myself. I hope to see the day when not a foot of American soil will be held by any European power. That was a little warning to Canada. But we must, meantime, remember that we can only prove our fitness to hold sway over our neighbor's possessions by the way in which we rule ourselves. It is not what we have that will make us a great nation. It is the way in which we use it. I do not undervalue for a moment our national prosperity. Like all Americans, I like big things, big prairies, big forests and mountains, big wheat fields, railroads, and herds of cattle too, big factories, steamboats, and everything else. But we must keep steadily in mind that no people were ever yet benefited by riches if their property corrupted their virtue. It is of more importance that we should show ourselves honest, brave, truthful, and intelligent than that we should own all the railways and grain elevators in the world. Absolutely. And then he closes. And by the way, a contemporary observer said that his voice was between a shriek and a squeak. No amplifier. His Harvard falsetto. His clipped tones. But then at the end, the last paragraph is very moving. This is Roosevelt reflecting on what his experience in Dakota territory has meant to him. He is now, as Dr. Costum said, ready to launch himself back into the national arena. He is on a path that will inexorably take him into the presidency. And this is what he says. It's extremely moving. I am myself, at heart, as much a westerner as an easterner. I am proud, indeed, to be considered one of yourselves. I am proud, indeed, to be considered one of yourselves. Let us now unveil this, Tom, and let the people of Stark County and North Dakota see this marvelous thing that you have done. Tom Bollinger, he chose to be photographed in this era without his spectacles. He probably didn't wear his authentic buckskin shirt when he made this speech, but we put him in it because we like it so much. His gun is down at the ground. He has checked that because he's a law and order man. His hat, the style that he wore during this period, is here. His spectacles are on top of a book, and we chose Francis Parkman's The Oregon Trail, one of his favorite books, and a book that led him into his own historiographical work on the American West. So now, without further ado, let me introduce Tom Bollinger to talk a little bit about this extraordinary piece about the town. Well, thank you so much, ladies and gentlemen, fellow North Dakotans. I can't express to you how much of a proud I am to have had this opportunity. I want to thank the city of Dickinson, Stark County Commission, Stark County DSU Alumni Association, specifically Kevin Thompson, Clay Jenkinson, and Sheila Kilbrigg, the committee that I worked very closely with. 35 or 40 years ago or whenever it was, I was a student here. And I was studying for an art degree and a business degree. And one of the things I came to learn throughout my career as I left North Dakota to pursue that, the opportunity in the last few years to come back to North Dakota, to Western North Dakota, I have learned that this is not only one of my favorite places, you are my favorite people. There's probably quite a number of you that I'm related to that I know directly. A lot of Lorenzes from the Dodge Holidays app area. I have my brother Rob and his wife from Bemidji. He was at UND for a long time. My wife, Cam, of course, is here with me from Arizona. I have the Luger family from Fort Yates. It's where I was actually born in Bismarck, but grew up in Fort Yates. A little bit of comment about receiving a commission like this and understanding after you went through the competition and I was selected what it really meant. Beginning to understand after talking with Kevin and Clay and Sheila a little bit about this on bailing at the Theatre Roosevelt Center Symposium, and there's lots and lots of Theatre Roosevelt historians, and they're going to be really, really particular about accuracy. So doing the research of, first of all, knowing that I'm not depicting Theatre Roosevelt in the iconic teddy with the glasses and the big grin and the rotund body. Also trying to, so accurately depicting the buckskin shirt and the seal skin shafts and the gun belt that were made by J.S. Collins in Cheyenne, Wyoming and the single action colt with the fine engraving and his logo on the handle is all important for historical accuracy. But I came to understand after reading TR's biography autobiography, lots of other biographies, almost probably everything TR wrote about his time in western North Dakota and why he came here after losing his wife and mother on the same day buying the ranches in the Badlands. My job as the artist is to depict a historical figure, but it's not an illustration. Hopefully what I've captured and accurately in his portraiture is a feeling of reflection about his past and some determination about his future. I think that Dickinson in western North Dakota is probably in a similar place right now. And if this sculpture and this park help in any way with cultural redevelopment and planning to make sure that Dickinson grows in the right way, I thank you very much for that opportunity. I think it's time for us to cease so you can come up and touch it and look at it and be photographed with it. And they're also, Tom has generously provided some miniature, some maquettes that the Dickinson State University Alumni Foundation will have for sale for those who want to take home a copy of this or to invest in one at some point. They're on display up on the stairs here. I will try to make them on display at other moments during this event, but I want to thank President Costin, Bucky Wolfe, Dennis Johnson, Bruce Souther, and the DSU Coral Group, and particularly Tom Bollinger for this extraordinary moment in the history of North Dakota. Thanks for being here, everyone.