"No triumph of peace is quite so great as the supreme triumph of war."

This line from TR's Speech to the Naval War College in 1897 tops my list of Quotes I'd Like to See Posted to the Outdoor Message Board of the Quaint Local Unitarian Parish But Never Will Be.

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In the NY Sun, Theodore Roosevelt Association Executive Director John Gable surveys the flourishing TR book industry. I'm currently reading I Rose Like a Rocket, which takes a particular interest in TR's formation in Albany politics, and is quite good. You do get a sense of what an odd bird he must have seemed to many of his contemporaries.

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Have come across some splendid Rough Rider sites while TR surfing:

The name of the mountain lion pictured with these Rough Rider officers was Josephine.

She and other regimental mascots were recalled by TR in his 1899 account The Rough Riders.

The regiment had three mascots; the two most characteristic—a young mountain lion brought by the Arizona troops, and a war eagle brought by the New Mexicans—we had been forced to leave behind in Tampa. The third, a rather disreputable but exceedingly knowing little dog named Cuba, had accompanied us through all the vicissitudes of the campaign. The mountain lion, Josephine, possessed an infernal temper; whereas both Cuba and the eagle, which have been named in my honor, were extremely good-humored. Josephine was kept tied up. She sometimes escaped. One cool night in early September she wandered off and, entering the tent of a Third Cavalry man, got into bed with him; whereupon he fled into the darkness with yells, much more unnerved than he would have been by the arrival of any number of Spaniards. The eagle was let loose and not only walked at will up and down the company streets, but also at times flew wherever he wished. He was a young bird, having been taken out of his nest when a fledgling. Josephine hated him and was always trying to make a meal of him, especially when we endeavored to take their photographs together. The eagle, though good-natured, was an entirely competent individual and ready at any moment to beat Josephine off. Cuba was also oppressed at times by Josephine, and was of course no match for her, but was frequently able to overawe by simple decision of character.

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Rough Rider veterans pledged to meet yearly "'til none remain." In 1905 they chipped in to buy an artificial leg for a member who had lost his own in a bar fight. The last remaining Rough Rider, Jesse Langdon, died in 1975.

This reunion pic was taken in Las Vegas, N. M., where the city museum has an extensive Rough Rider collection. Here's a reunion ribbon, included in a comprehensive Rough Rider roundup at a Spanish-American War centennial website.