Theodore Roosevelt is best known as the 26th President of the United States and the legendary "rough-rider" of the Spanish-American War. But much less is known about his deep connection and love for North Dakota, a state that was instrumental in shaping his larger-than-life persona, adventuring spirit and immense love for the outdoors.

Now, nearly 106 years after his death, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation plans to celebrate and honor that connection between the man and the land that shaped him by opening a massive state-of-the-art presidential library built on over 90 acres in the North Dakota Badlands.

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The project is founded on the three Roosevelt values of citizenship, leadership and conservation. The library, built on the edge of Medora, North Dakota, will overlook Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which is the only national park named after a person.

In the spirit of Roosevelt, the foundation behind the project is not building just any ordinary library. The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library will harness the power of both technology and nature to give visitors a highly immersive experience that rather than shutting one in, inspires and pushes you to experience the joy of the outdoors as Roosevelt did.

The library will not just seek to educate people about Roosevelt. Instead, it will use immersive storytelling methods, the latest technology, including augmented reality, and the surrounding nature in Medora, North Dakota, to show people of all ages what they can learn from the life and experiences of the man and president.

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In a message announcing the project, Edward O’Keefe, CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation, said, "TR famously balked at the critic, and encouraged everyone to ‘get in the arena’ of life."

O’Keefe, a North Dakota native, explained that the vision for the library is to serve as a hub for civic engagement, learning, and research. The library will include a large auditorium which the foundation envisions as a space that could host future presidential debates.

Above all, O’Keefe said that the library will seek to connect people with what Roosevelt used to describe as the "strenuous life" of the North Dakota wilderness.  

"North Dakota is the fulcrum of the hero’s journey in TR’s almost unbelievable life story," said O’Keefe.

"[Roosevelt] wrote that if all his memories were to be taken from him, and he was forced only one memory from his incredible life he would choose to remember ‘my life on the ranch with its experiences close to nature and among the men who lived nearest her,’" he explained. "He did not choose the memory of the Roughriders or the charge up Kettle Hill; he would not recall McKinley’s assassination and his rise from the vice presidency to the Oval Office … TR chose to remember North Dakota, and so North Dakota chooses to remember TR."

Roosevelt, who served two transformative presidential terms from 1901 to 1909, moved to the North Dakota Badlands in 1884 in his early twenties. He was suffering from a broken heart after both his wife and mother died on the same fateful day. It was in North Dakota that the broken man found comfort in the solitude and beauty of the wilderness.

He later wrote that he "would not have been president had it not been for my experience in North Dakota."

With this in mind, O’Keefe said that the library "will not be a box in the Badlands with artifacts under glass," but "like TR’s life, will be an experience."

"We want every visitor to the TR presidential library and museum to walk out understanding the role of nature as a restorative force in TR’s life, and that each of us can be the change we want to see in the world," said O’Keefe. "This museum can be a platform for embracing civic dialogue, thoughtful debate, and inspiration around the globe."

After receiving the approval of Congress and then-President Donald Trump, the foundation completed its purchase of the land for the library from the U.S. Forest Service in 2022. The land is situated close to Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Roosevelt’s famous Elkhorn Ranch.

The building is designed to be able to live off the land, just as Roosevelt did.

The project website states that just as "through his action, passion, and foresight, Roosevelt ushered in a new era of conservation and stewardship of the American natural landscape," the library’s design "will reflect and expand upon those values, setting an ambitious new standard for environmental conservation and sustainability leadership."

The foundation is utilizing local contractors and constructing the library with materials that will allow the building to minimize waste and emissions as well as water and energy usage.

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Instead of disrupting the sloping, grassy North Dakota "burning hills," the library’s design team from the U.S.-Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta envisioned a building that blended in naturally with the landscape. The building has an earthen roof that curves with the nearby butte. The grounds and roof will be made up of native plants and grasses so as to help restore the biodiversity of the region which has been degraded over time.

Pictures shared exclusively with Fox News Digital by the foundation show that the library interior is already taking shape. Natural light flows down from glass ceiling panels, coloring a set of already completed massive, rammed-earth walls, composed of a mixture of gravel, sand, silt and clay.

Right in front of the library will be a large circular hiking trail surrounding the butte with several unique viewpoints along the way that encourage visitors to explore and reflect.

The library is expected to open on July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of America and the Declaration of Independence.

Theodore Roosevelt V, a great-great-grandson of the 26th president and ally of the project, has said through the library "North Dakotans have ensured a legacy not just for their state but also for our nation and the world."  

But beyond North Dakota, Roosevelt said that all Americans can be inspired by the continuing legacy of his great-great-grandfather.

"My great great grandfather’s legacy of citizenship, leadership, and conservation are as relevant today as they were during the height of his presidency," he said in a statement on the library website. "When you focus on people interested in solutions rather than divisive rhetoric, it becomes clear that there is much more that unites us than divides us – just as there was at the turn of the 20th century."

"Like Theodore Roosevelt, a man of paradoxes – Republican and progressive, crusader against monopolies and capitalist, hunter and conservationist, partisan and rogue independent – our country is many different things. Finding the commonality among them may just be the key to America’s future."

When President Abraham Lincoln first proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday, little did he know he was spelling the beginning of the end to the prominence of the original patriotic celebration held during the last week of November: Evacuation Day.

In November 1863, Lincoln issued an order thanking God for harvest blessings, and by the 1940s, Congress had declared the 11th month of the calendar year's fourth Thursday to be Thanksgiving Day.

That commemoration, though, combined with the gradual move toward détente with what is now the U.S.' strongest ally – Great Britain – displaced the day Americans celebrated the last of the Redcoats fleeing their land.

Following the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in 1776, New York City, just 99 miles to the northeast, remained a British stronghold until the end of the Revolutionary War.

Captured Continentals were held aboard prison ships in New York Harbor and British political activity in the West was anchored in the Big Apple, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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However, that all came crashing down on the crown after the Treaty of Paris was signed, and new "Americans" eagerly saw the British out of their hard-won home on Nov. 25, 1783.

In their haste to flee the U.S., the British took time to grease flagpoles that still flew the Union Jack. One prominent post was at Bennett Park – on present-day West 183 Street near the northern tip of Manhattan.

Undeterred, Sgt. John van Arsdale, a Revolution veteran, cobbled together cleats that allowed him to climb the slick pole and tear down the then-enemy flag. Van Arsdale replaced it with the Stars and Stripes – and without today's skyscrapers in the way, the change of colors at the island's highest point could be seen farther downtown.

In the harbor, a final blast from a British warship aimed for Staten Island, but missed a crowd that had assembled to watch the 6,000-man military begin its journey back across the Atlantic to King George III.

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Later that day, future President George Washington and New York Gov. George Clinton – who had negotiated "evacuation" with England's Canadian Gov. Sir Guy Carleton – led a military march down Broadway through throngs of revelers to what would today be the Wall Street financial district at the other end of Manhattan.

Clinton hosted Washington for dinner and a "Farewell Toast" at nearby Fraunces' Tavern, which houses a museum dedicated to the original U.S. holiday. Samuel Fraunces, who owned the watering hole, provided food and reportedly intelligence to the Continental Army.

Washington convened at Fraunces' just over a week later to announce his leave from the Army, surrounded by Clinton and other top Revolutionary figures like German-born Gen. Friedrich von Steuben – whom New York's Oktoberfest-styled parade officially honors.

"With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy, as your former ones have been glorious and honorable," Washington said.

Before Lincoln – and later Congress – normalized Thanksgiving as the mass family affair it has become, Evacuation Day was more prominent than both its successor and Independence Day, according to several sources, including Untapped New York.

Nov. 25 was a school holiday in the 19th century and people re-created van Arsdale's climb up the Bennett Park flagpole. Formal dinners were held at the Plaza Hotel and other upscale institutions for many years, according to the outlet.

An official parade reminiscent of today's Macy's Thanksgiving Parade was held every year in New York until the 1910s.

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As diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom warmed heading into the 20th century and the U.S. alliance with London during the World Wars proved crucial, celebrating Evacuation Day became less and less prominent.

Into the 2010s, however, commemorative flag-raisings have been sporadically held at Bowling Green, the southern endpoint of Broadway. On the original Evacuation Day, Washington's dinner at Fraunces Tavern was preceded by the new U.S. Army marching down the iconic avenue to formally take back New York.

Thirteen toasts – marking the number of United States – were raised at Fraunces, each one spelling out the new government's hope for the new nation or giving thanks to those who helped it come to be. 

An aide to Washington wrote them down for posterity, and the Sons of the American Revolution recite them at an annual dinner, according to the tavern's museum site.

"To the United States of America," the first toast went. The second honored King Louis XVI, whose French Army was crucial in America's victory.

"To the vindicators of the rights of mankind in every quarter of the globe," read another. "May a close union of the states guard the temple they have erected to liberty."

The 13th offered a warning to any other country that might ever seek to invade the new U.S.:

"May the remembrance of this day be a lesson to princes."

The incoming Trump administration has reinvoked chatter about the possibility of the United States purchasing Greenland, an idea floated during the president-elect's first term in office.

In his first term, Trump tweeted an image of coastal Greenland with an edited, glossy Trump tower building superimposed on the landscape. It was captioned, "I promise not to do this to Greenland!"

In August 2019, President Trump confirmed to reporters that he was interested in purchasing Greenland, an idea that raised both curiosity and debate.

"Denmark essentially owns it," Trump said. "We’re very good allies with Denmark, we protect Denmark like we protect large portions of the world. So the concept came up and I said, ‘Certainly I’d be.’ Strategically it’s interesting and we’d be interested but we’ll talk to them a little bit. It’s not No. 1 on the burner, I can tell you that."

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The Wall Street Journal first reported Trump’s interest, citing sources who said he had mentioned the idea with "varying degrees of seriousness."

The idea was shelved after Joe Biden took office in 2021, but has resurfaced online in the wake of Trump's victory earlier this month.

Republican Congressman Mike Collins of Georgia posted what appears to be an electoral map featuring Greenland on November 7, with the territory voting GOP. It was captioned, "Project 2029."

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Since then, a member of parliament in Denmark has pushed back on the idea of the United States purchasing Greenland as an American territory. According to a post from Rasmus Jarlov, the Danish parliament does not intend to offer the territory to anyone, especially the United States. 

"Greenlandic independence requires approval by the Danish parliament[sic] and a change of our constitution," wrote Jarlov. "I can guarantee you that there is no way we would approve indepence[sic] so that you could buy Greenland. Nice fantasy but forget it."
 

This is far from the first time that the United States has considered purchasing the strategically beneficial Arctic landmass.

After World War II, President Harry Truman offered Denmark $100 million for it in 1946, but Denmark refused.

The idea actually came up earlier in 1945, when Senator Owen Brewster, R-Maine, called Greenland a "military necessity" supported by American military leaders. 

In 1946, a State Department official noted that the Joint Chiefs of Staff believed the U.S. should aim to purchase the territory. That December, Secretary of State James Byrnes even made an offer directly to Denmark’s Foreign Minister Gustav Rasmussen, suggesting a sale might be the simplest solution.

American interest in Greenland goes back even further. In 1867, the State Department explored buying both Greenland and Iceland, recognizing their strategic importance.

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If Denmark hypothetically agrees to sell Greenland to the United States, it would be the largest expansion of American territory in history, topping 1803's Louisiana Purchase.