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President Roosevelt cannot give the endorsement John Hays Hammond requests, because if he gave one endorsement, he would be asked to endorse countless other organizations as well. If he were going to South Africa, he would hire Frederick Russell Burnham as a guide. Because he is going to East Africa, however, he needs someone with local knowledge.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-29
Theodore Roosevelt recalls meeting with J. R. Erasmus and has read a great deal about South African history. The odds seem against Roosevelt’s presidential campaign but he is going to stand for the “cause of all decent men.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-07-02
President Roosevelt would like to know if Earl Grey has any insider information on affairs in South Africa. Roosevelt hopes that the situation in Africa will settle down because he believes that the British and Boers will eventually “tend to amalgamate.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-11-22
President Roosevelt will seek to privately “better the South African situation.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-11-06
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt writes to Frederick Courteney Selous about big game hunting and authors of the sport. Roosevelt was disappointed by the inaccuracies in Percy Selous’s book, which he bought because it was co-authored with Henry Anderson Bryden. Roosevelt offers congratulations to Selous and his wife on the upcoming birth of their first child and talks about his own family life and the obstacles it produces for getting away despite being fond of his wife and six children. He longs for an extended hunt but will settle for reading of other wildernesses like those in Selous’s book. Roosevelt presumes they would both count Fitzwilliam Thomas Pollok a fake based on his writings since he includes some experiences “that are all nonsense,” much like the writing of Henry Astbury Leveson, the Old Shikari. Roosevelt says that both Pollok and Leveson’s work would “have done credit” to the adventure writer Mayne Reid. Roosevelt also thinks William Henry Drummond “was not always an exact observer” based on what Selous wrote. Roosevelt mentions the black rhinoceros attacks William Astor Chanler and Ludwig Ritter von Höhnel experienced when in Africa and that he has just finished the book by John Guille Millais that Selous sent him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1898-02-15
Harry Johnston takes great pleasure in corresponding with President Roosevelt, not just because it is an honor to have private letters from an important head of state, but also because Johnston is elated that Roosevelt shares his opinions about the treatment of Black people. Johnston outlines some of his beliefs, including the fact that better treatment of Africans in British colonies makes good economic sense. Johnston will be in the United States in the autumn, and hopes to meet with Roosevelt and discuss a number of matters he hopes to write about, including a history of African people in the Western Hemisphere, the problems of Liberia, and the preservation of big game. In a postscript, Johnston writes in “phonetic English,” saying if English spelling were simplified it would become the “universal medium of international relations.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-06
Frederick Courteney Selous responds to an article about African wild dogs by H. A. Bryden. Selous describes several encounters with African wild dogs he has had on various hunting trips in Africa over the years. He includes details about how the dogs sound, how they hunt, and what animals they hunt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-03
Governor Roosevelt recently had dinner with Guy Hamilton Scull, a Rough Rider who had been to South Africa. Roosevelt describes what Scull told him about the South African War and the soldiers fighting it.
1900-12-07
Governor Roosevelt responds to Robert Harry Munro Ferguson’s letter about the South African War. He discusses the Boers and military leadership, and draws comparisons to the Spanish-American War. He requests that Ferguson visit the following Saturday.
1899-10-28
Walter Gordon-Cumming has left remount work and hopes to return to the front lines. He opposes the Colonial Government taking over the colony as he does not believe that they can effectively enforce martial law.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-02-02
Walter Gordon-Cumming is serving with the British during the South African War. He summarizes the war’s progress and believes that it is being carried out in a “weak lenient manner.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-01-16
Walter Gordon-Cumming is serving with the British during the South African War. He summarizes the war’s progress and believes that it is being carried out in a “weak lenient manner.” Typed copy of original handwritten letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-01-16
John St. Loe Strachey sends a letter from the aide-de-camp of the Governor of Cape Colony, which is the best information he can provide as to the treatment of the Cape Rebels.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-07-14
Earl Grey plans to send President Roosevelt a copy of Cecil Rhodes’s will and other documents, which will illustrate why Roosevelt reminds him of Rhodes. He wishes that Roosevelt and Rhodes could have met, because it would have been an encouragement to Rhodes to see someone who holds his ideals be in a position to see them realized.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-03-28
The Boer delegates; Montague White, A. D. W. Wolmarans, and Cornelius Hermanus Wessels; would like to meet with President Roosevelt and deliver a letter from Paul Kruger, the former President of the South African Republic. In a handwritten note, President Roosevelt agrees to the meeting and asks if it will be informal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-03-05
Arthur Hamilton Lee clarifies comments he made during a debate in Parliament concerning American neutrality during the South African War. He claims his comments were distorted by the Associated Press. Lee concludes by expressing pleasure concerning Ted Roosevelt’s recovery.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-03-01
Walter Gordon-Cumming reviews his recent experiences during the South African War.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-02-29
Paul Kruger, former President of the South African Republic, requests that President Roosevelt publicly speak out against British atrocities taking place during the ongoing South African War. The original in Dutch and a translation are included.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-02-12
Alastair Penrose Gordon-Cumming encloses the latest information from his brother Walter who is in South Africa and suffering from gout. Several of Gordon-Cumming’s cousins were killed at the Battle of Colenso and he wishes that President Roosevelt could stop the South African War.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-02-02
Captain White congratulates President Roosevelt on his succession to the presidency. He has been serving in South Africa for eighteen months. He began as a “Pro-Boer” but that illusion has left him. The war is going steadily but White expects the attrition to last for several more months.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-10-17