Theodore Roosevelt National Park spans three separate units in the badlands of western North Dakota along the Little Missouri River and preserves the landscape that deeply shaped Theodore Roosevelt before North Dakota became a state. He first came in 1883 to hunt bison, returned in grief after the deaths of his mother and wife in 1884, and ran the Maltese Cross and Elkhorn ranches here. Those years, and the ruinous winter of 1886–1887, helped form the conservation outlook he later carried into the presidency. Developed gradually after his death, the park also protects dramatic badlands scenery, ranch remains, trails, and significant Great Plains wildlife.