For those of you who do not know, more than twenty years ago Professors, Administrators, and local Businesspeople associated with Dickinson State University in North Dakota began promoting the idea of a Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library on the DSU campus. Prior to becoming President, Theodore Roosevelt had spent several years ranching about 40 miles west of Dickinson near a town called Medora.

In the 2010s Professors and Archivists at Dickinson State University collected and scanned thousands of Theodore Roosevelt documents and letters to create a Digital Archive. Meanwhile a DSU Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Committee/Foundation was formed to gather support and funding.

In about 2017, out-of-nowhere recently elected North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum showed up and began advising the DSU Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Committee/Foundation that what they really needed to do, was to invite more prominent and influential people from across the United States to serve on the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation Board. Once the TRPL Board was reformed with a more diverse group of people from across the United States with no ties to Dickinson State University, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum then persuaded them, “This Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library really should be in Medora”.

In my opinion, Governor Doug Burgum’s biggest backer and supporter in getting him elected one year earlier, was former North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer, who created the “Medora Foundation” in 1986 which owns the Medora Musical and the majority of the real estate in Medora. In my opinion, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library was hijacked from Dickinson State University and diverted to Medora by Governor Doug Burgum for political and money reasons.

Though the initial reason for Governor Doug Burgum diverting the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library to Medora was for political and money reasons in my opinion, as fundraising intensified, a site was obtained on “Medora Foundation” owned land, an architect was selected, the TRPL Board was reshaped again, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library began to appear to have prospects as a potential retreat for “The Elites”, as I will explain below.

In early 2026 as the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library was nearing completion, I was becoming angry and upset that the most important, highest paying jobs at the TRPL were being given to people who did not live in North Dakota. I read all of the TRPL staff biographies, and 32 of the 50 personnel were not living in North Dakota when hired.

Also in early 2026, a Dickinson Press Newspaper reporter Kelly Harju requested the IRS filings of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation and she found that the salaries of the TRPL executives was very high. For example, the TRPL CEO who lives in New York City started out in 2019 with a salary of over $600,000 per year, which increased for the following six years to over $700,000 per year. So far, this CEO who lives in New Your City, has been paid over $4 million in salary, from a non-profit Presidential Library located in North Dakota.

I wrote and shared a couple of articles on Facebook complaining about how the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library had received $50 million of North Dakota Taxpayer money from the State Legislature in 2019, later another $4 million, a $70 million line of credit in 2023, and then requested another $50 million in 2025, but the TRPL had given 32 of their 50 highest paying jobs to people who do not live in North Dakota. The TRPL is using North Dakota Taxpayer money to pay very high salaries to people who do not live in North Dakota. Why is the TRPL CEO getting paid more than five times what the current Governor of North Dakota is being paid, and more than 1-1/2 times what the President of the United States is paid?

In response to my Facebook articles about the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, I received some messages from people giving me additional information. People who lived and worked in Medora complained to me that both the “Medora Foundation” which was created by former North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer and the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation were pushing out the millionaires and replacing them with Billionaires.

When I began trying to make sense of everything, I realized that Billionaires can achieve their goals and objectives more easily through the creation of “non-profit” foundations. Billionaires can create a non-profit foundation to buy, own, hold, and control land and businesses and not only shield themselves from taxes and liabilities but collect “charitable donations” from other Billionaires for a “good cause” and “tax deduction”. Non-profit foundations can also hire numerous executives and pay them very high salaries, maybe even executives who don’t live anywhere near the project or have little involvement in the project, which might appear to be political payoffs, influence peddling, or money laundering.

As all of this information was coalescing in my mind, I kept getting the impression that this new aspect of Medora was similar to the Bohemian Grove in California where a rustic primitive campground in the Redwood Forest became a retreat for “The Elites” from around the World. Here we have nearly a Billionaire Doug Burgum with very close ties to Billionaire Bill Gates, and the TRPL Billionaire donors Harold Hamm, Rob & Melani Walton, John Ballantyne, Gary Theraldson, and TRPL Billionaire Board Members such as Gretchen Stenehjem. But these were just my own personal thoughts, at first.

I was doing more research about Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library donors when I came across several newspaper articles referring to a December 2025 fundraiser in Dallas, Texas attended by both Doug Burgum and current North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong. Here is a Google AI overview of these newspaper articles:

“Governor Kelly Armstrong and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum attended a fundraising event for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library hosted at Harlan Crow’s Dallas home.

The December 2025 gathering was organized to raise private capital for the 93-acre presidential library site located near Medora, North Dakota. The event sparked some scrutiny and differing perspectives; while some local North Dakota lawmakers raised concerns over the fundraiser’s connection to Crow—due to his previous extensive gifts to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas—project spokespersons and Governor Armstrong have defended the library’s solid financial footing and transparency.”

Is Harlan Crow a member of the Bohemian Grove? Here is a Google AI overview:

“Yes, billionaire real estate developer Harlan Crow is a member of the Bohemian Club. The Dallas-based megadonor has been a fixture at the secretive, all-male organization’s annual summer retreats in Monte Rio, California, and notably hosted Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as his guest at the Grove.”

So after reading more about the Bohemian Grove in California, its history, what it is, what happens there, who its members are, (Theodore Roosevelt was made an honorary member but never attended), Doug Burgum’s attendance at Stanford University 49 miles from Bohemian Grove, Doug Burgum’s associations with Billionaires including Bohemian Grove member Harlan Crow, I believe that Doug Burgum is trying to make the TRPL and Medora his own new Bohemian Grove.

In order to bring more prestige and importance to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Medora, Doug Burgum has managed to have President Donald Trump attend the July 4th grand opening ceremony. I believe that President Donald Trump is willing to do this because the majority of North Dakotans like Trump, 67% of North Dakotans voted for Trump in 2024.

With this article, I want everyone to know what is really going on. I am angry about the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library awarding the most important, highest paying jobs to people who do not live in North Dakota, and paying many out-of-state people very high salaries with North Dakota Taxpayer money.

How do I know that President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend the July 4th grand opening ceremony? Because of the security measures.