The romance of his life, as Theodore Roosevelt described his relationship with the American

West, lasted from 1883 to 1887.

He would write seven books on the West, and later as president, he'd set aside millions

of acres of Western land for future generations.

What he called the vigorous life, which later characterized Teddy Roosevelt, had its roots

in his time spent in the West.

The third Transconnel railroad, the Northern Pacific, made it possible for people to travel

on comfort to the Northwest Territories, first mapped by Lewis and Clark in 1803 to 1805,

while reading dime novels filled with Western heroes like Kit Carson and Jim Bridger.

It put areas like the Badlands, smaller Grand Canyon, carved out of the Earth 60 million

years ago, within reach of men like New Yorker Teddy Roosevelt.

They really wouldn't be in America without the West.

It gave great scope to American Averis, later justified as Manifest Destiny.

For many, the simple phrase Go West Young Man, was enough to send young men and women

on their way into a virtually unknown world.

The United States simply didn't have the manpower to control the land that came with Jefferson's

Louisiana purchase.

Even today, Americans are fascinated with the idea of people heading into the unknown.

The movie Wild Chronicles the Story of a Woman, who hikes a Pacific Crest Trail after her

life disintegrates.

She emerges a year later a changed person.

This is what the West offered people in the 19th century, even more so than now.

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