“The Winchester
,which
is
stocked and
sighted
tosuit
myself,
is by all odds
thebest
weapon
I
kind of game with it...
[It] is deadly, accurate and
handy...
stands very rough
usage and is unapproachable
for the rapidity of its fire.”
To Theodore Roosevelt and
other hunters in the late 1800s,
“Winchester” meant a lever-act
ion
rifle. Roosevelt bought his first
two Model 1876s in .50-95 when
he was 22. A t
rip to the Da
kota
Territory fe
d his zest for the out-
door life. Arriving in dress that
by his own later admission made
himout to be a “cowboy dandy,”
he impressed the ranchmen
whose skil
ls and resourcefu
lness
he so admired with his enthu-
siasm. He shot a bison with an
1874 Sharps in .45-90 and invest-
ed in the Maltese Cross Ranch.
Roosevelt’s return to New
York was attended by t
ragedy.
In February of 1884, he lost his
mother to typhoid. The same day,
his wife, Alice, died of Bright’s
disease after giving birth to a
daughter. “TR,” as he was known,
found solace in the West, add-
ing to his Da
kota stake with the
Elkhorn Ranch. Alas, a ferocious
blizzard in 1886 would claim up
to 90 percent of the livestock on
the northern plains. Roosevelt’s