History Revealed: Tracing Teddy Roosevelt

Join RCHS for a special History Revealed presentation. As part of his “Tracing TR’s 1903 Train Trip Tour,” author James Blase will present the history of Teddy Roosevelt’s 1903 train trip that culminated in a stop at the Grand Canyon. Blase’s new book, “Keep it for Your Children: Theodore Roosevelt’s 1903 Western Trip,” creates a first-person journal of a 66-day western train trip the President made during his first term in office, in 1903 – a year after Landmark Center first opened its doors. The train trip included a stop in Saint Paul, where Theodore Roosevelt arrived by train at 2:30 pm on April 4, 1903, and where the President spoke to a crowd estimated at approximately 50,000 outside the Cedar Street side of the State Capitol. Late in the afternoon the President travelled to Minneapolis, where he attended a banquet and made a speech at the Nicolette Hotel.

Jim Blase’s presentation, complete with photos, will cover the entire 66-day trip, but he will be emphasizing the President’s stops in Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The presentation is in conjunction with a two-week Amtrak western “loop tour” train trip Blase will be making, beginning in St Louis Missouri (the “Gateway to the West”) on July 1, and continuing through New Mexico, the Grand Canyon, California, Oregon, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota, culminating back in St. Louis. The tour’s route mirrors much of the President’s in 1903.

Reservations requested – see the page here or call the office at 651.222.0701. Free and open to all.