African Safari

Throughout his life, Theodore Roosevelt possessed a passion for the outdoors, and biology. As a boy he would often accompany his father on outdoor adventures and even created his own collection of taxidermized animals. This collection would later be requested for use by the Smithsonian, nodding to the quality in which they were preserved. This trend culminated in his Safari to British East Africa where, along with other members of his expedition he collected 11,400 animals and 10,000 specimens of plants for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.¹ After his presidency he, along with his son Kermit, Edgar Alexander Mearns (head naturalist and bird collector), Edmund Heller (caretaker of the large animals collected), John Alden Loring (in charge of small mammal collecting), and many other men left New York on March 23, 1909.² In addition to the massive amount of supplies, guns, and ammunition collected as provisions for the trip, Theodore Roosevelt would also take his famous “Pigskin Library” along with him. A gift from this sister Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, these books were bound in pigskin to protect them from the environment and humidity, and constituted a collection of some of his favorite books.³

The trip was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute and funded by private donations to acquire specimens for the museum to study. After arriving in Mombasa, Kenya on April 21, 1909, they proceeded north to the Kapiti Plains, then followed a route that took them to Nairobi, Mt. Kenja, Loita Plains, Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, and up the Nile to Khartoum, which ended their expedition on March 14, 1910.⁴ After his return to the United States, Roosevelt published a book titled “African Game Trails” describing the events of his Safari.

1. “Smithsonian African Expedition (1909) | Smithsonian Institution.” Smithsonian Institution, www.si.edu/object/auth_exp_fbr_EACE0006. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024. 

2. Ibid.

3. Carter, Paula. “Lions, Tigers, and Books…:” Harvard Gazette, 25 Sept. 2003, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2003/09/lions-tigers-and-books/.

4. “Research Guides: Theodore Roosevelt’s Africa Expedition: Topics in Chronicling America: Introduction.” Introduction – Theodore Roosevelt’s Africa Expedition: Topics in Chronicling America – Research Guides at Library of Congress, https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-theodore-roosevelt-expedition.  Accessed 25 Oct. 2024. 

Entry contributed by Isaac Baker – Theodore Roosevelt Center Student Employee