The Maltese Cross Cabin, located directly behind the Theodore Roosevelt National Park Interpretive Center, offers an authentic glimpse into Theodore Roosevelt’s life in the Badlands.
The cabin was originally located roughly seven miles south of Medora in the wooded bottomlands of the Little Missouri River. Constructed of durable ponderosa pine, the cabin has wooden floors and contains a living room, kitchen, and bedroom. The steeply pitched roof, unique at the time, created an upstairs sleeping loft for the ranch hands.
Several items displayed in the cabin belonged to Theodore Roosevelt. The white hutch in the main room is original to the cabin and was used by Roosevelt as a bookcase and writing desk. The traveling trunk inscribed with Roosevelt’s initials sits in the bedroom. The large leather trunk traveled back and forth with Roosevelt as he traveled the nation.