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On the fair-weather Monday morning when Theodore Roosevelt arrived in San Antonio, Texas via the Southern Pacific Railroad on May 16, 1898, the Harvard graduate from a wealthy East Coast family was a far cry from the Rough Riders legend he is championed for today.

News of his arrival made the pages of the San Antonio Light, as did a plethora of details cataloging military matters and troop movements throughout the country.

And throughout May 1898, the Light reports gave special attention to the flood of volunteers arriving in San Antonio from across country to train in the "First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment" that would fight in the Spanish-American War.

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RELATED: Remembering Teddy's three trips to S.A.

Before the catalytic sinking of the U.S. battleship Maine off the coast of Cuba, Roosevelt was an East Coast notable from a wealthy, esteemed family. He was a Harvard College graduate, a budding politician, a prolific man of letters and the assistant secretary of the navy — yet he had no combat experience to speak of.

As headlines ran throughout the country on the formation of the "First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment," applicants poured in from all over and Roosevelt seized the opportunity to join the adventure.

He resigned his post as secretary and stepped right into the rank of lieutenant colonel, serving under Colonel Leonard Wood, and led the cavalry unit which would train in San Antonio.

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The volunteer regiment was a mixed bag of cowboys and ranchers and ivy league college athletes recruited from across the country. A Washington correspondent described them at the time as a "rough riding outfit."

These were not traditionally disciplined, career soldiers.

RELATED: Myths vs. Facts: Teddy Roosevelt's time in San Antonio

The oft-told legend that Roosevelt recruited the Rough Riders from the the bar in the Menger Hotel is more flamboyant than factual, according to local historian Docia Schultz Williams. The majority of volunteers had already been recruited by the time Roosevelt arrived.

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And while the lieutenant colonel may have decamped at the Menger Hotel in the first days of his arrival, Roosevelt trained with his unit at their camp in Riverside park.

RELATED: How the Menger Hotel came to be San Antonio's most 'haunted' hotel

"Colonel Roosevelt is a very pleasant and affable gentleman, and will no doubt win the hearts of all his men," observed one reporter for the San Antonio Light.

The Rough Riders rode out of San Antonio on May 28, making their way to Cuba by way of Florida for battle. There, Roosevelt led his troops in the legendary charge up San Juan Hill, thus clinching his prestigious notoriety in military history, which he leveraged in subsequent command posts and eventually his presidency.

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Today, you can play a round of golf on the grounds where this cavalry unit trained; Camp Riverside. At the time it was the grounds of the International Fair, but is now Riverside Golf Course, located along the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River.

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The Menger Hotel in San Antonio may boast of hosting more U.S. presidents than any other hotel in Texas. George H. W. Bush stayed there. Bill Clinton stayed there, as did Ronald Reagan. Richard Nixon stayed there. So did Harry Truman, William Howard Taft and William McKinley. Even Ulysses S. Grant slept there.

The most important name not yet mentioned (and if you know your Texas history you’re already about to email me, but don’t hit send just yet because I’m coming to him) is Teddy Roosevelt. The others just slept and left. Teddy did far more. He left a bar behind, or at least a bar named for him, and you can still get a drink at the Roosevelt bar to this day, 120 years later.

How did that happen, you may wonder? Well, you know all about the U.S.S. Maine getting blown up in Havana Harbor in 1898. At the time, it was blamed on Spain with battle cries like, “Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!” The loss of some 260 sailors in that blast contributed to the start of the Spanish-American War.

Teddy Roosevelt was not yet president, but would be in three years. He was 39 and assistant secretary of the Navy. He asked for, and was given permission to put together a cavalry unit of 1,000 men, cowboy soldiers he called them, to help push Spain out of Cuba. He didn’t name them the Rough Riders, though. That was a name their public admirers gave them. They resisted it at first, but finally adopted it themselves.

So where could Teddy recruit 1,000 rough riders? Well, in Texas of course. So he went to the Menger Hotel, right across from the Alamo, and recruited great horseman from across the Southwest – from Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona. Roosevelt said these were a “splendid set of men . . . tall and sinewy with weather-beaten faces, and eyes that looked a man straight in the face without flinching.” He said that in all the world there were no better men for this cavalry than, “these grim hunters of the mountains, these wild rough riders of the plains.”

Roosevelt’s challenge was to take these fiercely independent men and teach them military discipline. And he had a preference for ex-Texas Rangers. He said, “We got our highest average of recruits from Texas because many had served in that famous body of frontier fighters, the Texas Rangers. Of course these Rangers needed no teaching. They were already trained to obey and take responsibility. They were splendid horsemen, shots and trackers. They were accustomed to living in the open . . . enduring hardship . . . and encountering all kinds of danger.” Native Americans, too, such as the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Creeks were also Rough Riders.

Roosevelt did convert these independent men, with the help of General Wood, into a disciplined cavalry unit within a month. He even got most of the men horses from Texas, some of them unbroken, but that was no problem for these expert horsemen. Roosevelt named his own horse Texas.

As Roosevelt was always a showman, he had his commander’s uniform made by Brooks Brothers in New York. He also introduced his men to the blue bandana with white polka dots, which became the distinguishing feature of the Rough Rider’s uniform. To this day, in black and white photographs, the Rough Riders look impressively stylish in their khaki pants, flannel shirts, trademark bandanas, and slouch hats.

The rest of the Rough Riders story is well-known, but perhaps erroneously visualized.

Most think of it as 1,000 horses thundering majestically up San Juan Hill like a scene from “War Horse.” They did in fact charge up San Juan Hill and route the Spanish forces, but delete the horses from your mind. There were none. They did it on foot and on their bellies. Roosevelt was on horseback part of the time, shouting commands as they fought inch by inch through tropical brush and oppressive heat, dodging torrents of bullets to take the hill, but they did it as infantrymen.

Despite all their cavalry training in San Antonio, they weren’t able to get their horses to Cuba. Why? When they were ready to depart from Tampa to Cuba, the Navy didn’t have enough ships for the horses, so they were left behind. Those with military experience will just shake their heads at this monumental snafu.

Nonetheless, the Rough Riders and other U.S. forces pushed the Spanish out of Cuba. Teddy Roosevelt wrote the primary history of the campaign which launched him into national fame and a good way toward the presidency. The road to the White House, for Teddy, in some ways started in Texas at the Menger Hotel, in the shadow of the Alamo.

ABILENE — JJ Diaz has been used to getting the ball handed off to him before exploding through the offensive line for a big touchdown for a majority of the season.

On Friday night, the Roosevelt senior found a new way to make a big play against Gunter in a Class 3A Division II semifinal game Friday at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium.

After Hudson Graham was hit attempting to pitch the ball to teammate Ethan Sloan, Diaz saw the ball on the ground, picked it up and broke a few shoelace tackles toward a 66-yard fumble recovery.

The game-changing play cut the Eagles deficit to eight points by halftime, but that momentum went away as the offense did not score the rest of the way en route to a 47-12 loss to the Tigers.

"It's been a great year, glad I could finish it with these seniors, these coaches and my family right there watching me from the sidelines," said Roosevelt senior quarterback Alex Treviño, who finished with 100 rushing yards and score. "We put in the work, and I hope the underclassmen can look at us and realize this is what you have to do in order to win.

"We left a legacy for the underclassmen, and I feel it's a seed, too."

Prior to that, the Eagles were playing from behind after a three-and-out to start their first offensive possession.

Gunter took advantage of the situation, engineering an eight-play drive that was capped off with a 1-yard run by Sloan before a Logan Hubbard extra point made it 7-0 at the 7:41 mark of the first quarter.

Things stayed the same until the second quarter, which saw both teams find success on offense.

Roosevelt did so by forging an 18-play drive, which milked the clock and wore down the Gunter defense.

Treviño faked a pitch right and bulldozed his way up the middle to convert a fourth-and-4 from the Tigers 8 for the first Eagles touchdown and cut the deficit to 7-6 after a missed two-point conversion with 9:09 left before the midway point.

A kickoff that went out of bounds, and drew a 5-yard penalty, allowed Gunter some time to regroup and Sloan did the rest as he caught the ball, ran to his right and followed his blockers to a 76-yard touchdown toward a 13-6 advantage almost 10 seconds later.

The Tigers looked to turn the tide after forcing the Eagles to turn the ball over on downs after nine plays and scoring on their next offensive possession.

Sloan, who finished with four total touchdowns and 81 rushing yards, tallied a 20-yard scamper to put Gunter ahead by two scores at 20-6 with 3:20 left before halftime.

"Points that we can get when we're not on offense, those easy points, they're a huge help," said Sloan, who totaled four touchdowns in the win. "If we're able to get those, it makes the game easier."

Diaz provided a spark by corralling a loose ball before running his way into the endzone for a 66-yard touchdown to get the Eagles within eight points as both teams went into their respective locker room.

"It was a great play and what a great way for our senior leader and captain of the football team to scoop that up and go score," Lander said. "There was a guy behind him and he went out there and scored it.

"It changed the momentum greatly and was a huge play for our defense."

But, that was all the offense Roosevelt mustered the rest of the way.

Gunter, which advanced to the state title game for the fourth time in six seasons, showed its defensive dominance by shutting out the Eagles in the final two quarters.

"All I know is this team is my family," Diaz said, following the contest. "We built a winning culture. I do remember coming into this school my freshman season and being 0-10 and not having won a game in two seasons.

"I remember our coaches just kept telling us to keep believing and know that we'll do better. ... This story that we built at this school is more than a state championship, I believe."

What's next?

Gunter (15-0) is scheduled to play Franklin (15-0) at 7 p.m. Thursday in the state championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

Gunter 47, Roosevelt 12

Roosevelt 0 12 0 0 — 12

Gunter 7 13 20 7 — 47

First quarter

GHS — Ethan Sloan 1 run, (Logan Hubbard kick); 7:41

Second quarter

RHS — Alex Treviño 10 run, (Run fail); 9:09

GHS — Ethan Sloan 76 kickoff return (Kick fail); 8:56

GHS — Sloan 20 run (Hubbard kick); 3:20

RHS —JJ Diaz 66 fumble return (Run fail); 0:23

Third quarter

GHS — Ashton Bennett 4 run (Pass fail); 8:45

GHS — Cole Lemons 16 pass from Hudson Graham (Hubbard kick); 2:10

GHS — Ivy Hellman 10 run (Hubbard kick); 1:43

Fourth quarter

GHS — Sloan 9 run, (Hubbard kick); 9:01

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: (RHS) 11; (GHS) 20

Rushes-Yards: (RHS) 51-212; (GHS) 22-301

Passing: (RHS) 0; (GHS) 111

Comp-Att-Int: (RHS) 0-3-1; (GHS) 5-8-0

Punts-Avg: (RHS) 3-37.0; (GHS) 1-24

Fumbles-Lost: (RHS) 1-1; (GHS) 2-2

Penalties-Yards: (RHS) 3-15; (GHS) 4-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Roosevelt, Alex Treviño 22-100, Hunter Woods 1-1, Nathen Casarez 1-4, JJ Diaz 12-58, Nate Gensler 8-13, Zach Bryant 5-17, Octavio Rodriguez 2-19. Gunter, Team 1-1, Logan Pierce 1-2, Hudson Graham 13-107, Cannon Lemberg 1-3, Cade Dodson 6-33, Brayden Hinton 3-21, Sail Rodriguez 1-4, Ashton Bennett 8-39, Ivy Hellman 1-10, Ethan Sloan 9-81.

PASSING: Roosevelt, Alex Treviño 0-3-1—0. Gunter, Hudson Graham 5-8-0—11.

RECEIVING: Roosevelt, None. Gunter, Cannon Lember 1-29, Ivy Hellman 1-40, Ethan Sloan 2-26, Cole Lemons 1-16.

RECORDS: Roosevelt 14-1. Gunter 15-0.

The dining facility went quiet, Lt. Gen. Sean Bernabe had the trophy in hand. The commanding general tried to look serious, and for a second the assembled culinary team held their collective breath. He couldn’t help but smile though, and when he did, the team knew what was coming next.

“Ai-ee-yah!” shouted the crowd. The entire cafeteria erupted in applause. They had done it, the hours of planning and preparation had all been worth it. The 3rd Cavalry Regiment team at Theodore Roosevelt Warrior Restaurant won the annual Thanksgiving culinary competition at Ft. Hood, Texas, on Nov. 22, 2022.

“They did so much work,” said Master Sgt. Jigna P. Steward, the Warrior Restaurant’s senior enlisted culinary specialist. “Hours and hours and hours of work. They used their hearts and their skills and a lot of training and then they made it happen.”

“It makes me really, really proud,” Steward said.

Five dining facilities participated in the competition and each one had chosen a theme to wow the judges. This year’s themes included churrascaria, football, a glamorous casino and The Peanuts. Despite the eclectic mix of themes one thing that the judges and Soldiers found to be consistent was the food.

“I don’t know who put all this together but it’s amazing,” said Maj. Leif Vestermark from 1st Medical Brigade while dining.

Vestermark, who was enjoying the spread with his NCOs, had moved on to dessert but his sergeants were just digging in.

“The turkey is so good,” said Staff Sgt. Laura Alvarez, who also works at 1st Medical Brigade, who was sampling some turkey while also enjoying a plate of collard greens and baked macaroni and cheese.

Bernabe, who led the delegation of judges alongside Maj. Gen. Michael Keating, III Armored Corps deputy commanding general-support, Maj. Gen. Christopher Beck, III Armored Corps deputy commanding general-maneuver, Command Sergeant Maj. Cliff Burgoyne, the III Armored Corps Sgt. Major and several others agreed with the sentiment, especially after eating five Thanksgiving dinners in a row.

“What we saw out here was excellence,” Bernabe said. “These kinds of competitions are all about caring, and providing the best possible. They provided a great Thanksgiving meal.”

The commanding general remarked that he found the winning dining facility’s theme, football, to be well thought out, and well executed. He found the centerpiece, a fully edible miniature football stadium, sculpted from puffed rice, marshmallow and fondant to be particularly impressive. What really set the 3rd Cav team apart though, according to the general, was something far more modest.

“It was a close competition,” Bernabe said. “Ultimately, like with many things, it comes down to leadership. You can see it in here, at every level from the top, down the middle and to the youngest leaders and that’s the key to their success.”

Before Bernabe left to crown the runners-up at the 1st Cavalry Division, he paused to express his gratitude to the community for the quality of the competition.

“To all the Soldiers here at Ft. Hood,” said Bernabe, ''I'm lucky to be a part of this team.”

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Inside Texas is putting a new twist on long-time photographer Will Gallagher’s time-honored countdown to Texas football kickoff. In addition to Will’s great pictures, the Inside Texas staff will go through every player on the roster by jersey number and offer a season outlook on each, from five-star to walk-on.

[Join Inside Texas today and get the best Texas Longhorns insider team info and recruiting intel!]

We’ll also look back at other greats to wear that day’s number, with special reverence to some of Texas’ best.

Today is 46 days until kickoff. No. 46 will be worn by Tausili Akana, a freshman EDGE. Inside Texas previewed Akana before his jersey number was assigned.

Today, we’ll look back at Roosevelt Leaks, a Longhorn legend who wore No. 46.

Roosevelt Leaks, a pivotal figure in UT football history

The Texas Longhorns were 26-8 when Leaks was part of the program. A standout from Brenham (Texas), Leaks’ first season in 1972 included a 230-carry, 1099-yard, eight-touchdown campaign.

He followed that up with an even better year in 1973, finishing third in Heisman Trophy voting behind Ohio State offensive lineman John Hicks, who was the runner up, and running back John Cappelletti, the winner representing Penn State. Leaks rushed 229 times for 1415 yards and 14 touchdowns, figures that lead the Southwest Conference and earned him consensus first-team All-America Honors. Leaks was the first African-American All-American produced by the Longhorn football program.

Injury hampered his 1974 season. Leaks was able to rush 96 times for 409 yards and four touchdowns in 1974, but his 1972 and 1973 success paved the way for one of the best Longhorns to ever wear burnt orange to follow in his footsteps.

Earl Campbell saw Leaks’ success at Texas following the integration of the football program, and it was one of the many factors that led to the Tyler Rose selecting Darrell Royal’s program. Leaks and Campbell even shared a backfield in 1974, a season where Campbell led the team in rushing as a freshman with 928 yards.

Leaks was drafted by the Baltimore Colts in 1975, and he enjoyed a nine-year NFL career with Baltimore and Buffalo.

Leaks was one of the best to tote the rock for the Longhorns, eventually joining the University of Texas Hall of Honor in 1985. He is an important figure in Longhorn history, not only for his on-field exploits between the lines, but also his achievements outside of them.

Tausili Akana season outlook

Akana, the younger brother of Texas volleyball national champion Keonilei Akana, chose the Longhorns in a bit of a surprise (according to the RPM) over Oklahoma. That decision led to one of the strongest tweets of the 2023 cycle.

Though ranked as a linebacker and despite playing off-the-ball during the 2023 All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Akana will have a unique role for him at Texas. When recruiting Akana, Pete Kwiatkowski and Texas labeled his future position as a DPR, or designated pass rusher. That likely means Akana will be a specialty player asked to get after the quarterback on passing downs when his opportunity for playing time arrives.

“Coming off the edge, sealing the edge, and just going to get the quarterback is one thing I love,” Akana said in January. “Playing into space is another thing I like to do. A lot of O-linemen look at me and they’re like, ’oh, who is this guy? He’s kind of skinny for a D-lineman.’ But once I get out there, I tear things up.”

Akana mentioned that Steve Sarkisian was the only head coach who made the trip to Hawaii to visit his family. Plus, as Jake Langi mentioned, Kwiatkowski and Jeff Choate have strong reputations in Hawaii and among the Polynesian community on the islands and on the West Coast.

Akana had a successful career playing for Lehi (Utah) Skyridge, winning a state championship during his senior year. He’ll need to add plenty of bulk to his light frame, but Akana has a role carved out for him whenever he’s ready for extended action.

Tausili Akana as a recruit

Akana was ranked as the No. 131 overall prospect, the No. 12 linebacker, and the No. 2 prospect in Utah according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. On3 ranked Akana as the No. 33 linebacker and the No. 3 player in Utah.

Recent player to wear No. 46: Malik Jefferson

Jefferson played in 33 games with 29 career starts before declaring for the NFL Draft after the 2017 season. He was named Big 12 Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year in and first team All-Big 12 in 2017, the same season he was a second team All-American (Associated Press, Sporting News) and a 2017 Butkus Award semifinalist.

Jefferson was named second team All-Big 12 at linebacker by the Associated Press in 2016 and was also a semifinalist for the 2016 Butkus Award. He earned freshman All-America honors in 2015 and was named honorable mention All-Big 12 and Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year.

[Sign up NOW for the Inside Texas newsletter for Texas Longhorns daily updates and breaking news in your inbox!]

All-Americans to wear No. 46

Joseph Ossai, JACK, 2020

Malik Jefferson. LB, 2017

Roosevelt Leaks, RB, 1972 and 1973

Steve Habel co-authored this article.