Big game hunting

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to R. J. Cunninghame

President Roosevelt places R. J. Cunninghame in charge of managing his safari caravan, and details his expectations for the trip. Roosevelt wants to begin hunting as quickly as possible after arriving in British East Africa and spending several weeks at Alfred E. Pease’s ranch to improve his physical fitness. Cunninghame should hire the necessary support staff and porters at his discretion. Roosevelt wants to hunt some of the “common game” near the railroad so that their skins can be easily transported, but he also hopes to kill big game and is willing to “go to any trouble” to do so.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-31

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Kermit Roosevelt

President Roosevelt tells his son, Kermit Roosevelt, that he has tried the double-barreled Holland elephant rifle and is very impressed. However, the rifle’s recoil is powerful and he wants Kermit to practice shooting it in Africa before they begin hunting. It will be the best weapon for large game. W. S. Rainsford has warned him that hunting lions, elephants, buffalo, and rhinos is particularly dangerous and they should “take every precaution.” Roosevelt takes this advice seriously.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-31

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edward North Buxton

President Roosevelt is pleased with the double barreled .450 Edward North Buxton sent him as a gift from a number of people. Roosevelt discusses the amount of cartridges he would need for hunting game in Africa, will try to take care of himself on the trip and asks if there is any way he could thank all the gun donors. In a handwritten postscript, Roosevelt declares that even Holland has not made a better rifle; it fits him exactly and he will personally take it to Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-27

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to W. S. Rainsford

President Roosevelt is grateful for the guns W. S. Rainsford will leave in Africa for Roosevelt to use. He will not need any other guns. Roosevelt intends to follow the advice of the guides, Phillip H. Percival and Frederick John Jackson, and will be careful when pursuing wounded game.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-27

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Burroughs

President Roosevelt agrees that Abel Chapman’s book is interesting. Roosevelt hopes that John Burroughs’s prophecy about the big game herds being gone is wrong. Roosevelt does not expect to get lion and elephant while in Africa, but expects to get rhinos, giraffes, hippos, and antelope. Roosevelt anticipates telling Burroughs everything about his time in Africa upon his return.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-12

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Leigh S. J. Hunt

President Roosevelt is “overjoyed” to hear that Leigh S. J. Hunt’s son, Henry L. Hunt, has improved in health and discusses his Nile river travel plans for his upcoming African safari. Based on the advice of the Sirdar and John L. Harrington, Roosevelt plans to travel up the Sobat and Pibor rivers instead of the Bahr-el-Gazal. Roosevelt also reports that the Sirdar claims he can catch a white rhinoceros while in Uganda. In the postscript, Roosevelt wonders if they should bring donkeys on their river journey.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-14

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Winston Churchill

President Roosevelt thanks Winston Churchill for the copy of his book, which Roosevelt has recently received through Ambassador Whitelaw Reid. Roosevelt read the chapters of the book as they were serially released, and was very interested both in the chapters about government, as well as those about hunting. Roosevelt hopes to have as good of luck on his safari in Africa as Churchill did.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-06

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Sir John L. Harrington

President Roosevelt thanks John L. Harrington for the letter, and says that he will need the animals and saddles in about a year. He asks, though, that Harrington write to F. R. Wingate, who will also be furnishing some mules and donkeys, as he does not want his two friends to be working at cross purposes. Roosevelt expects to take Harrington’s advice and begin shooting at Gambela.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-06

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Caspar Whitney

President Roosevelt declines Caspar Whitney’s proposal to either author or authorize an account detailing the plans for his upcoming trip to Africa, as he claims it has already received enough publicity and that it is a “scientific trip” above all else. Roosevelt also does not wish to publicize his exact whereabouts and plans prior to the trip.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-07

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to J. Alden Loring

If J. Alden Loring wishes to join the expedition to Africa, President Roosevelt will inform Charles D. Walcott, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. However, he advises Loring that no member of the expedition party will be able to write about the trip until after Roosevelt has published his own articles and book as per his agreement with Scribner’s. The big game hunting will also only be done by Theodore and Kermit Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-02

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frederick Courteney Selous

President Roosevelt is very pleased to hear that Frederick Courteney Selous will be going hunting in Africa, but jokes that Selous should leave him at least one lion to hunt while he is on safari. He asks Selous to forward a letter to R. J. Cunninghame after reading it and adding any details he thinks are necessary. Roosevelt also shares his current traveling plans for his safari regarding where he hopes to hunt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-26

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John L. Harrington

President Roosevelt thanks John L. Harrington for sending a map, which gave him exactly the information he wanted. Roosevelt is extremely eager to get to Africa for his safari, and appreciates all the assistance Harrington has given him in writing to various people.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-29

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Rufus G. Shirley

President Roosevelt thanks Rufus G. Shirley for the gift of the hunting knife, and hopes that it will prove as useful to him on his safari as it has during Shirley’s own hunting trips.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-24

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edward North Buxton

President Roosevelt agrees with Edward North Buxton regarding the cartridge size, and thinks Buxton is correct about sending him the rifle to try. Roosevelt sends Buxton his head measurements for a pith helmet, and asks him to order various other necessary supplies to have sent to Mombasa. Roosevelt recently spoke with Francis Richard Charles Guy Greville, Lord Warwick, who seemed to be “a good fellow.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-26

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Alfred E. Pease

President Roosevelt is concerned about what Sir Alfred E. Pease tells him, because he had previously received a letter from the National Bank of India, and he does not understand “where the hitch came in.” Roosevelt and his son Kermit Roosevelt think they may be somewhat out of practice at shooting when they first arrive in Africa. Leopold Guy Francis Maynard Greville, Lord Warwick, recently dined with Roosevelt, and told him about his recent trip to Africa. Roosevelt asks Pease if there is anything he can do to help secure horses, as he believes he will need one in order to have a chance at shooting a lion.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-12

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to F. R. Wingate

President Roosevelt tells F. R. Wingate, British Governor General of the Sudan, that he is very interested in F. A. Dickinson’s report concerning where to find white rhinoceros. He will try hunting at both locations that Dickinson advises. Roosevelt maintains that he has never been a lucky hunter, but eventually gets game by allowing plenty of time to find it. He does not want to “make a record bag,” but would like to hunt a variety of species to get examples to donate to the National Museum in Washington, D.C.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-07

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Kermit Roosevelt

President Roosevelt was proud to hear that his son, Kermit Roosevelt, visited Robert Harry Munro Ferguson and Isabella Ferguson, and is concerned about their situation. Roosevelt has been enjoying the fall weather at the White House, and updates Kermit on some family matters, including that he has sold a horse. Preparations for Roosevelt’s African safari are proceeding, with many officials and friends coming together to help ensure that they are able to find the animals that Roosevelt wishes to hunt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-27

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to F. R. Wingate

President Roosevelt attempts to assuage F. R. Wingate’s embarrassment about previously addressing him by the wrong title, saying that “not one in ten” Americans know his proper title. Roosevelt is touched by the effort so many English people have made to help with preparations for his safari, both his friends and also various officials he is not acquainted with. He sympathizes with Wingate’s feeling about the lack of development in the Sudan, comparing it to American improvements in the Philippines, where ambitions were high, but a lack of funds disrupted the projects. Roosevelt will communicate with Wingate from Nairobi, and relates his plans for traveling and hunting. Roosevelt reflects that he “ought to feel melancholy over leaving the Presidency,” but the excitement of his upcoming safari dwarfs any such feelings.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-27

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Kermit Roosevelt

President Roosevelt celebrates Harvard’s victory over Yale in the football match. He tells his son Kermit that J. H. Patterson, who killed the man-eating lions of Tsavo, spent Friday at the White House. Carl Ethan Akeley, who has hunted elephants and rhinoceros, came to lunch the next day. Both gave valuable advice, and Roosevelt tells Kermit that they must be extremely cautious in Africa until they are used to what is being done. The arrangements are all made. Roosevelt also says that Kaiser William II has “come an awful cropper,” and been a “perfect fool.” The German people are finally angry about it. Roosevelt has finished the lectures he will be giving at Oxford and the Sorbonne. He hears that Senator Joseph Benson Foraker is preparing an attack against him, but he is indifferent.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-22

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Percy C. Madeira

President Roosevelt tells Percy C. Madeira that this is the most interesting photograph or set of photographs he has ever seen. He will be “more than content” if he is able to do as well in eleven months in Africa as Madeira did in three.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-23