They were big men, and they named mountains for each other. Teddy Roosevelt and Deadwood's first sheriff, Seth Bullock, were a couple of bigger than life individuals who first met on the plains of Dakota in 1884. They were fast friends until both died within a few months of each other in 1919.
President Roosevelt cemented his friendship with Bullock by seeing to it that Scruton Peak, south of Pactola, was renamed "Seth Bullock Peak." The fire lookout on top of this 6000-foot peak can be seen from parts of Rapid City on a clear day.
When Teddy Roosevelt died Seth Bullock led a frenzied drive to erect a tower monument for him on Sheep Mountain. That peak is about four miles north of Deadwood, and was soon named Mount Roosevelt. The monument was the first in the United States dedicated to Roosevelt.
Teddy thought so much of Seth Bullock that he sent his sons to the Bullock Ranch to change them from "tenderfeet" into "cowboys." Roosevelt often boasted of Seth as being "my typical ideal American."
The record shows that Bullock cleaned up Deadwood in the 1870's without ever gunning down a single offender. Instead he relied on his wits and extremely strong personality.
Some of Bullock's other accomplishments-he is credited with introducing and promoting the crop of Alfalfa in South Dakota. As a member of the Montana Territorial Senate he wrote the resolution that eventually resulted in Congress establishing Yellowstone National Park. Seth was commissioned captain of the Spanish-American War era unit known as Grigsby's Cowboys or the Black Hills Rough Riders. Roosevelt appointed him first supervisor of the Black Hills National Forest. He was also a successful merchant, lecturer and statesman.
Bullock had two final requests. One was that he be buried so high up on Deadwood's "Boot Hill" that one could gaze north and see the tower monument on Mount Roosevelt. His other request was that instead of an epitaph his tombstone carry only the single word, "Pioneer."
10/01/03