Their turn comes
Subject(s): Animals, Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919, Science
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President Roosevelt chases the “American Society of Nature Fakers” into the woods with a large “federal regulation” big stick. There are books and papers in the foreground, including “The Call of the Riled by Jack Onion” and a crowd of people watching in the background.
Comments and Context
At first glance this cartoon might seem to be an allegory, one of many that addressed President Roosevelt using the Big Stick to bring malefactors in the business world to justice. Instead it is a straightforward depiction of one of several non-political causes taken up by the peripatetic president at this time.
The naturalist president — whose historical fame would be secure if he had confined himself solely to nature writing, animal species, flora and fauna, migration, natural coloration, exploration, and such — took offense at professional writers who imbued animals with human characteristics. With Aesop’s techniques of manifestation Roosevelt had tolerance, barely, but he resented the fact that popular books were based on — and therefore misled the reading public — animals who could think and act and reason like humans.
Roosevelt could never leave a wrong unchallenged, and he wrote article and gave speeches that attacked popular authors like Ernest Thompson Seton and, to a lesser extent, Jack London. The cartoonist Maybell ran apace with Roosevelt in depicting the chase — Roosevelt’s rout of the “nature fakers” (or “fakirs”) as the everyday Muckrakers cheer him on.
Maybell’s cartoonist’s license permitted hyperbole, but it curious why the artist shielded authors’ names and book titles (Jack Onion; Call Of the Riled) except for the understandable and magnetic attraction of puns.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-05-20
Creator(s)
Language
English
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
Page Count
1
Production Method
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
Their turn comes. [May 20, 1907]. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301533. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Maybell, Claude, 1872-. Their turn comes. [20 May. 1907]. Image.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. August 3, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301533.
APA:
Maybell, Claude, 1872-., [1907, May 20]. Their turn comes.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301533.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. August 3, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.
APA:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.
