Big game hunting

Theodore Roosevelt compares his hunting in Africa to his time hunting buffalo with Victor Grant Smith.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1909-07-01

Theodore Roosevelt writes about the conditions and hunting in Nairobi, British East Africa. He writes that his present accommodations are very comfortable and details his and Kermit’s successful hunting expeditions so far. Roosevelt writes that Kermit is learning a lot in Africa and that Douglas Robinson and his sons would also enjoy the safari. Roosevelt mentions that he now trusts Theodore Douglas Robinson in business matters as he trusts Douglas.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1909-05-19

Theodore Roosevelt describes his hunting experiences, but notes that they are taking a brief break from the field to allow the naturalists to catch up with their hunting. Instead he is taking time to write home, as ordinarily his free time is filled with writing articles for Scribner’s Magazine. He also mentions that he is reading his “pigskin library” and would not be able to fully enjoy the wilderness without his books. He hopes to hear news from the family, and reports that Kermit Roosevelt has developed a recklessness in regard to big game hunting.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1909-06-21

Theodore Roosevelt writes that he and Kermit Roosevelt have finished a trip into Sotik and have returned to Nairobi. He describes his anxiety at having Kermit with him in dangerous game country. His articles will be appearing in Scribner’s Magazine soon and he is grateful to Andrew Carnegie for undertaking the scientific aspects of the expedition. Roosevelt will resume political work when he returns to the United States.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1909-07-27

Theodore Roosevelt informs his sister that he is taking a day off from hunting to allow the naturalists to catch up with their work. He writes that the trip has been a success and they have acquired many specimens for the museum. Roosevelt praises Kermit Roosevelt’s hunting skills and mentions that they are both in good health and have avoided fever. Roosevelt looks forward to seeing his wife soon and writes that the pigskin library remains a source of comfort for him.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1910-01-21

Theodore Roosevelt acknowledges receipt of John Callan O’Laughlin’s letter and updates him on the status of the safari. The group has killed a great deal of game to be mounted in the Smithsonian.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1909-07-16

A hunter in the woods, carrying a rifle labeled “Gov. B. Odell,” stands next to a tree with a sign that states “Presidential Timber.” He is looking at a tiger labeled “Tammany.” Caption: Gov. Odell. — What a fine White House rug his skin would make!

comments and context

Comments and Context

The date of this cartoon gives extra significance to an otherwise mundane depiction of a New York governor having presidential ambitions. Around this time, New York had a surfeit of officials with publicly-discussed possibilities, if not credentials, to be president of the United States. Democrats had President Cleveland himself, a two-term president and a rumored candidate for 1904. Former Governor David Bennett Hill was a perennial aspirant. On the Republican side, Levi P. Morton had served as vice president under Benjamin Harrison, and serious consideration was afforded former Governor Frank S. Black, Lieutenant Governor Timothy Woodruff, and Governor Benjamin B. Odell. These discussions and putative career-paths were upset by the person and public acclaim of New Yorker Theodore Roosevelt… and, while he was Vice President, the assassination of President William McKinley. Also interesting is the fact that this cartoon was published only days before McKinley was shot.

The brochure for Theodore Roosevelt’s Maltese Cross Cabin at the Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park was published by the Theodore Roosevelt Nature and History Association in cooperation with the National Park Service sometime after 1959. It features photographs of the cabin and the items that were left in the there that belonged to Roosevelt. William Barnhart describes the history of Roosevelt’s cabin and how it came to part of the of the National Park Service.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Creation Date

Unknown

Theodore Roosevelt and an unidentified man posing with a dead hippopotamus during Roosevelt’s post-presidential safari.

Collection

Dickinson State University

Creation Date

1909-1910

Part of “Theodore Roosevelt: His Life Reviewed in Pictures,” this photo shows Theodore Roosevelt posing with a dead rhinoceros during his post-presidential safari. Caption on verso summarizes how Roosevelt became president and lists some of his accomplishments.

Collection

Dickinson State University

Creation Date

1909-1910

Theodore Roosevelt posing with a dead lion during his post-presidential safari.

Collection

Dickinson State University

Creation Date

1909-1910

Postcard featuring four gun bearers; Gouvimale, Bakhari, Johari, and Kasiturah; employed during Theodore and Kermit Roosevelt’s African safari. Kermit Roosevelt is standing in the background.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Creation Date

1910

John Burroughs gives Theodore Roosevelt feedback on his book. Animal coloration is discussed. Burroughs mentions another book he is reading that he thinks Roosevelt would enjoy. Burroughs and his wife left Pasadena and arrived safely to their destination.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1910

Edmund Heller spoke with Charles D. Walcott, Secretary of the Smithsonian, and decided at the last minute to join Paul James Rainey’s expedition to Africa on behalf of the National Museum. He did not realize that Theodore Roosevelt had intended to write to Walcott requesting that Heller not go so that he could focus on writing reports on the specimens collected from his own African expedition. Heller explains that no other qualified man is available to go, and lists the ways that this expedition will assist him in finishing his work with Roosevelt’s collection. The paper on the white rhinoceros will be published before Heller goes, and he assures Roosevelt of his dedication to the work.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-09

Theodore Roosevelt writes to H. C. Sticher of The Free Press, Osage City, Kansas, in response to reports of his over-indulgence of alcohol during the Republican National Convention in Chicago. Roosevelt contends that he is 33 years sober. He includes letters drafted by Dr. Abbott and family physician Dr. Lambert as proof of his sobriety.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-07-15

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary thanks D. P. Brannin for his letter to Roosevelt. While some of Roosevelt’s specimens from his recent Africa trip are on display at the National Museum of Natural History, the remainder have not yet been mounted due to lack of Congressional funding.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-05-08

Theodore Roosevelt shares with Stewart Edward White the complimentary words that R. J. Cuninghame wrote about White. He hopes to see White’s wife, Elizabeth Colvert Grant White, the next time they come out East.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-24

Theodore Roosevelt sends Frederick Courteney Selous an article he wrote for The Outlook and directs him to the footnote about Alfred Russel Wallace’s statement about antelope horns. He finds Wallace and naturalists like him absurd in their writings about protective coloration and similar notions. They develop theories without having practical knowledge. Kermit Roosevelt’s hunts were successful.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-24

Theodore Roosevelt comments on which class of “honor” African game should be assigned. However, he finds it difficult to make such a list “clear-cut.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-20

Theodore Roosevelt appreciates George B. Clark’s kind letter. He was pleased to hear Kermit Roosevelt has been hunting well on his trip. Roosevelt congratulates Clark on his moose and bear kills. Roosevelt hopes to see Clark when he is next in New York. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-29