Qualla: Theodore Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Cabin

Theodore Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Cabin: Introduction

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rickalexander1008, CC BY-SA 4.0. "What true American does not enjoy a rocking-chair?" Theodore Roosevelt once wrote. His favorite chair may still sit in the Maltese Cross Cabin, a sturdy ponderosa pine structure that served as his first home in the Dakota Territory. The cabin has traveled more miles than most buildings ever will, exhibited at world's fairs and state capitols before finally settling at the visitor center of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Inside, a white hutch holds the same shelves where Roosevelt organized his books. His initialed leather trunk waits in the bedroom, as if ready for another train trip from New York.

Image: Rickalexander1008 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Theodore Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Cabin: A Mansion on the Plains

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Richard N Horne, CC BY 4.0. In 1883, the Maltese Cross cabin stood seven miles south of Medora in the wooded bottomlands along the Little Missouri River. By badlands standards, it was practically a mansion. Ranch managers Sylvane Ferris and Bill Merrifield built it to Roosevelt's specifications: wooden floo...

Image: Richard N Horne | CC BY 4.0

Theodore Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Cabin: Grief and Reinvention

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0. Roosevelt used the cabin actively from 1883 to 1884, living the life of a working cowboy. Then came Valentine's Day 1884. His wife Alice and his mother Mittie died within hours of each other in the same house in New York. Roosevelt fell into depression and retreated to the badlan...

Image: Acroterion | CC BY-SA 4.0

Theodore Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Cabin: The Traveling Cabin

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit MDuchek, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Maltese Cross Cabin's journey across America began during Roosevelt's own presidency. In 1904, it was exhibited at the World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. The following year, it traveled to the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Oregon. In 1910, the cabin mov...

Image: MDuchek | CC BY-SA 3.0

Theodore Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Cabin: What Remains

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Podruznik at English Wikipedia, Public domain. Today, the National Park Service maintains the Maltese Cross Cabin as a historic landmark. Tours run from mid-June through Labor Day; the rest of the year, visitors explore on their own. Several items present in the cabin actually belonged to Roosevelt. The white hutch in the mai...

Image: Podruznik at English Wikipedia | Public domain