A Towering Friendship Between a Lawman and President Roosevelt

When I first discovered the Friendship Tower in the mid 1980s, I was only 13 years old. I stumbled upon it quite accidentally while hiking through the snow with my little brother, Aaron. The site had fallen into obscurity. There were no paved roads leading to the site; no signs; no parking lot, no gift shop. There was nothing to explain the purpose or meaning of this stone tower. It was a lost monument without fanfare buried deep within the Black Hills of Deadwood Gulch. Well, nothing save a small plaque on its rock wall that read:

IN MEMORY OF

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

“THE AMERICAN”

OCTOBER 27, 1858- JANUARY 6, 1919

THIS TABLET IS ERECTED BY THE SOCIETY OF BLACK HILLS PIONEERS

JULY 4 1919

My brother and I entered the tower and took refuge halfway up its spiraling steps. Aaron’s feet were near frozen from trudging through knee-deep snow in cheap plastic tennis shoes. I removed his shoes and damp socks, and began warming his small feet with my hands. As young boys often do while exploring, we reclaimed the discovery as our very own, and renamed it The Castle. (more…)


Posted in Adventurous Places, Historical Journeys, North America and tagged , , by with 10 comments.