President Roosevelt’s dogs are completely exhausted

The first vignette depicts President Roosevelt and his dogs marching into the canebrakes to find a bear. The second vignette shows a lot of downed trees and the sun high in the sky. The third vignette shows Roosevelt in his tent and a tired dog outside the tent with the moon in the background.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Cartoonist Ralph Wilder quotes a newspaper headline, or plausible rumor, about President Roosevelt’s hunting dogs being exhausted during the two-week tracking of black bears in the Louisiana canebrakes. In fact the bayous and canebrakes — tall and dense, rather like bamboo — and the boggy bayous were inhospitable to hunters and their hounds alike.

In fact, in his accounts of the hunt (only successful at its end, with one she-bear bagged), Roosevelt related that dogs caught the scent of bears, but their progress, as well as the hunters’, was stymied by the natural obstacles. It was only the president’s eventual gambit to recklessly chase after the sounds of the baying hounds, rather than rely on their forcing bears into the open, or near to camps, that enabled his success.

Wilder, without knowing those details, relied upon the stereotype of the perfervid Roosevelt, and pictured him plowing through canebrakes and smashing through felled trees in his quest. Typically (for the cartooned Roosevelt) at the end of the day he was fresh, enjoying a conversation in the tent, as an exhausted hunting dog straggles into camp.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-15

Creator(s)

Wilder, Ralph, 1875-1924

Language

English

Period

U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)

Page Count

1

Production Method

Printed

Record Type

Image

Resource Type

Cartoon

Rights

These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.

Citation