2/2/2010:
On a warm sunny day in the spring of 1884, Theodore Roosevelt stood on the banks of the Little Missouri River in Medora watching a determined young cowboy struggle to break a wild horse. The bucking bronco kicked violently down the bank to the river, trying to dismount its rider. But just as the horse reached the water's edge, its front hooves sank into the sand. The horse toppled mid-buck, and its rider hurtled face-first into the river. The dogged young rider was John Goodall, a true cowboy of North Dakota's old west.
Goodall moved to North Dakota in the early 1880s, and in 1883, he was hired by the Marquis de Mores to work as the foreman of his ranching operations in Medora. In the Badlands of North Dakota, John Goodall quickly earned a reputation as an accomplished cowboy and rancher. Not only did he manage the Marquis's ranch, but he also helped the French nobleman scout and plan the Medora-Deadwood stage line. He rode with the first stagecoach to Deadwood in 1885.
Long after the breakup of his Badlands ranching operation, the Marquis remained a good friend of Goodall. Upon a return from overseas, de Mores contacted his old foreman and asked him to join his latest venture to build a railroad across the French colonies in Indochina. Unfortunately, the Marquis was killed during a hunting trip in Africa, before he ever had a chance to carry out his plans.
During his time as the Marquis's foreman, Goodall befriended another legendary figure of the old west: Theodore Roosevelt. He first met the future president at a gathering of the Medora Livestock Association in 1884, where he was chosen as foreman of the Little Missouri River Livestock Roundup organized by Roosevelt.
Although his time in North Dakota was brief, Theodore Roosevelt never forgot John Goodall, even when he became president of the United States. In 1908, President Roosevelt appointed his old cowboy friend commissioner-at-large and superintendent of livestock for several Native American agencies-a position Goodall held until 1912.
On this date in 1931, John Goodall died at the Y Cross Ranch, which he and his brother had established in McKenzie County. As North Dakota Governor George Schafer said, "John Goodall was gold, that's all. No sham, no trickery. He was square, frank, broad-gauged and true to every obligation." Today, he is honored in the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Dakota Datebook written by Carol Wilson
Sources:
50 Years in the Saddle, vol. 3. "Life and Exploits of John Goodall." Pg. 137-144.
http://www.northdakotacowboy.com/Hall_of_Fame/Ranching/goodall_john.asp