Elkhorn TV Show & Theodore Roosevelt’s Ranch | Medora, North Dakota
Medora, North Dakota Title

Elkhorn Season 2 World Premiere

September 27, 2025 | 2:30 pm – 6:30 pm

Old Town Hall Theater | Medora, ND

Be the first to see Elkhorn Season 2 in Medora, North Dakota. Watch the cast arrive in vintage stagecoaches, meet them on the red carpet, then head into the Old Town Hall Theater for a special big-screen showing of the new season’s first episode.

RSVP to the Premier

About the Show: Elkhorn

Elkhorn is an INSP original television drama that first aired in 2024. The series brings to life the story of Theodore Roosevelt, before he became president, during his time in the North Dakota Badlands.

 

Following the devastating loss of both his wife and mother, Roosevelt traveled west seeking solitude and renewal. The show follows his transformation from grieving New Yorker to determined rancher, hunter, and future leader. While the series dramatizes events for storytelling, its spirit reflects Roosevelt’s grit, resilience, and love of the frontier, a chapter that ultimately helped shape the man who would become known as “The Cowboy President.”

 

Season 1 of Elkhorn is available to stream on platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and Philo.

“I grow very fond of this place, and it certainly has a desolate, grim beauty of its own, that has a curious fascination for me.” Theodore Roosevelt

About the Real Elkhorn Ranch

“My home ranch lies on both sides of the Little Missouri, the nearest ranch man above me being about twelve, and the nearest below me about ten miles distant.” Theodore Roosevelt 1887

When Teddy Roosevelt first came to the Badlands in 1883, it was to hunt buffalo. But the rugged beauty of the land captured him, and before long he had purchased cattle and joined the life of a rancher. After tragedy struck on valentines day 1994, when both his mother and wife died, Roosevelt returned to the West in search of healing. There, along the banks of the Little Missouri River, he built what he called his “home ranch,” the Elkhorn.

The ranch stood about thirty-five miles north of Medora ND, shaded by cottonwood trees and overlooking wide meadows, sheer buttes, and the slow-moving river. It was here that Roosevelt found both solitude and strength. Days were filled with hard work alongside trusted ranch hands, Bill Sewall & Wilmot Dow, long rides through the Badlands, and quiet evenings on the ‘veranda.’

“It was here that the romance of my life began.” Theodore Roosevelt

“I have always said I would not have been President had it not been for my experience in North Dakota.” Theodore Roosevelt

At Elkhorn, Roosevelt witnessed the harsh lessons and wild beauty of frontier life. Those experiences shaped his passion for conservation, leading him to champion the protection of America’s wild places as president. Many now call Elkhorn the “cradle of conservation,” a place where Roosevelt’s vision for the nation’s lands first took root.

Life on the frontier also provided Roosevelt with practical skills and lasting connections. He learned horsemanship, worked alongside seasoned cowboys, and built friendships with men who would later ride with him in the Rough Riders. These experiences inspired the very idea of his cavalry unit and prepared him for victory in Cuba – a triumph that helped propel him all the way to the White House.

Today, you can visit the site of Roosevelt’s beloved ranch at the Elkhorn Ranch Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

“My home ranch-house stands on the river brink. From the low, long veranda, shaded by leafy cottonwoods, one looks across sand bars and shallows to a strip of meadowland, behind which rises a line of sheer cliffs and grassy plateaus. This veranda is a pleasant place in the summer evenings when a cool breeze stirs along the river and blows in the faces of the tired men, who loll back in their rocking-chairs (what true American does not enjoy a rocking-chair?), book in hand–though they do not often read the books, but rock gently to and for, gazing sleepily out at the weird-looking buttes opposite, until their sharp outlines grow indistinct and purple in the after-glow of the sunset.” From Hunting Trips of a Ranchman by Theodore Roosevelt

LITTLE PICTURES. BIG MOMENTS.

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