Moments in
Time
Estimated Time
One - two 45 minute sessions
New Mexico’s Rough Riders
Goal
To explore the significance of the Rough Riders in both the 1898 war with Spain
and the establishment of New Mexico as a state.
Student Learning
Materials
 Moments in Time video
– Rough Riders
 Quotes (included here in
the lesson plan)
 Paper and writing materials
Vocabulary
Cavalry
 Recruitment
 Justification

Standards Met
New Mexico State
Standards 4th grade
 Social Studies History 1A,
1B
 Language Arts 2A, 2C
Extensions
In the video, historian Paul
Hutton mentions the annual
Rough Riders reunion. Have
students do more research on
this reunion. Are there photographs, interviews or other
stories that reflect a firstperson perspective on the
Rough Riders?
Suggested Forms
of Assessment
 Letter writing exercise –
development, content,
grammar and revision
 Peer review partnership
work
 Group discussion
 Student presentations
Lesson Plan by Beth Maloney
After discussing Theodore Roosevelt’s perspective on soldiers from the Southwest,
students write letters from his point of view justifying the need for recruitment of these
men into the military.
Procedure
1. If possible, have students watch the Moments in Time – Rough Riders video on their
own or in class. As a class, discuss the 1898 war with Spain, setting the context for Theodore Roosevelt’s recruitment effort for the US military. The video states that Roosevelt
loved the story of the American Southwest and wanted to recruit “hard, tough men who
could face up to anyone on the field of battle”. What was Roosevelt’s experience with
New Mexico? What qualities was he crediting to men from the Southwest and what was
he looking for in their recruitment? Review the following Roosevelt quotes:
“Recruits must be a good shot….able to ride anything in to the line of
horseflesh…a rough and ready fighter, and above all must have absolutely no
understanding of the word fear.” - Theodore Roosevelt
“They were a splendid set of men these Southwesterners – tall, sinewy, with
resolute weather beaten faces and eyes that looked a man straight in the face
without flinching.” - Theodore Roosevelt
2. Individually, students write a letter to the US War Department in 1898 as if they were
Theodore Roosevelt, who was then Assistant Secretary of the Navy. In their letters,
students need to justify why the military should support a rounding up a “cowboy
cavalry” from areas in the Southwest to fight as part of the war against Spain in Cuba.
Why should these men be entrusted with such an important role?
3. In pairs or small groups, students trade letters and give each other feedback and suggestions on grammatical structure and content. Students incorporate edits into a final
version of their own letter to share with the class.
4. As a whole class, share letters or excerpts from letters by reading aloud. Are the
letters similar in tone? Do they use similar justifications for the recruitment of soldiers
from New Mexico? Why would Roosevelt have had to make such justifications?
5. Discuss what some see as the lasting legacy of the Rough Riders. In the video,
historian Paul Hutton describes the role that the Rough Riders played as an essential one
for statehood in New Mexico. Why? How could the fighting they did prove that New
Mexicans were trustworthy, loyal American patriots deserving of statehood? Why did
Paul Hutton say, “there are probably few stories in military history that are more romantic?”