ROBERTLOUIS
DEMAYO
ROBERT
The real-life, coming-of-age tale of how two Maine woodsmen taught young Theodore Roosevelt to
survive in the beautiful but unforgiving forests of the Northeast.
At twenty, Roosevelt had already traveled through
Europe and the Middle East when he arrived in Aroostook County, Maine, but it was in Maine where he was first tested—and tested himself. This historical fiction novel follows the three journeys he made to northern Maine in 1878-9. His father had died six months before his first visit, and on these trips, he hoped to simply “get away,” but he finds much more.
Under the guidance of two Mainers, William Sewall and Wilmot Dow, the frail but strong-willed New Yorker becomes a worthy outdoorsman, an experience that significantly shaped the worldview of the man poised to become the 26th President of the United States thirteen years later.
Winner of the John E. Weaver Excellent Reads Award for: All Ages Historical.
Wilmot Dow.
William Sewall, Wilmot Dow & T. Roosevelt.
William Sewall.
While at Harvard, TR met Alice Lee, and fell madly in love with her.
Eventually she became his first wife, but waiting for that date nearly
drove him mad.
When TR courted Alice, he also boxed, and rode his horse every day to see her.
When the horse was injured, he would run the six miles to her house, then
casually enter and visit before running back to Harvard.
Roosevelt climbed Mt. Katahdin on one of his visits, completing part
of the approach in one boot and the rest in a pair of mocassins.
When Theodore stayed with William Sewall in Island Falls, he often spent
his Sundays at Bible Point (now a State Historic Site).