Take Two: Elkhorn Returning to INSP

Theodore Roosevelt is back in the saddle again.

Elkhorn, the acclaimed series that focuses on the 26^th U.S. President’s early days as a cattle rancher in the Dakota Territory, will resume for a second season on INSP in the fall of 2025.  The announcement came Monday from Craig Miller, VP of Original Programming for INSP and an executive producer for the Western drama.

“When we left Theodore Roosevelt at the end of season one,” Miller said, “the future president had somehow managed to establish Elkhorn as a formidable ranch while still reeling from the deaths of his wife and mother. In season two, Roosevelt finds enemies at every turn as he struggles to keep the ranch afloat.”

Among the original cast members reprising their roles: Mason Beals as young Teddy Roosevelt; Jeff DuJardin as Marquis de Morès, a powerful and duplicitous French-born landowner;  Elijah Mahar as Bill  Sewall, Teddy’s rugged, longtime friend and mentor; and Garrett Schulte as Wilmot Dowell, Sewall’s nephew, who journeys from New England to the Dakota Territory with his uncle to help the newbie rancher cowboy up.

The official INSP plot synopsis: “In Elkhorn Season 2, Roosevelt and his fellow ranchers must defend themselves against the men of the Chicago Beef Trust, who embark on a campaign of sabotage and violence to protect their stronghold on the local cattle market.

“Roosevelt continues his power struggle with the enigmatic town founders, the Marquis de Morés and his wife, Medora, who reign over the townsfolk with threats, intimidation, and hired guns.

“Amid this turmoil, Roosevelt also learns to navigate the cramped quarters of the Elkhorn cabin with the wives of his partners, Bill Sewall and Wilmot Dow. Though Roosevelt agreed to let the men bring their wives when they returned from Maine, the women’s presence is clearly unnerving for the recently widowed Roosevelt, who moved to the Badlands to escape the painful memory of his own wife's death.”