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President Roosevelt sends Jonathan F. Leathers the book on birds and hopes he will “make something of it.” He is pleased to see Leathers’s interest in birds.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-11
President Roosevelt tells Frank M. Chapman about the birds he and John Burroughs encountered on a trip to Pine Knot.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-10
President Roosevelt tells his son Kermit Roosevelt about the trip he and Edith Roosevelt just took to Pine Knot with John Burroughs. He also says he is “in busy correspondence” about the upcoming Africa trip, and notes that Congress “will end in an ugly fight” with him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-10
President Roosevelt wishes that he could help Cadwallader W. Parker in the song bird matter. Roosevelt notes, however, the difficulties on getting federal legislation on such a subject. He will forward Parker’s letter to C. Hart Merriam.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-30
Theodore Roosevelt stands corrected, as he learned from Merriam that the song thrush and the titmouse are invasive.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-22
President Roosevelt agrees with John H. Bowles about the importance of stopping spring shooting, and says that he wishes to see game preserved for everyone in the United States, and not only those who are rich enough to own game preserves. The best way to make sure that there will continue to be animals to hunt is the enactment of good game laws. He also wishes public schools would teach children to protect bird life. Such actions would be economically advantageous to many people.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-07
President Roosevelt thanks Henry P. Bridges for the turkeys, and wishes he had been hunting with him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-27
President Roosevelt enjoyed a recent article John Burroughs wrote. He wishes Burroughs could have accompanied him on some recent walks around the White House grounds. Roosevelt comments that he has been “trying to obey Emerson’s injunction” to observe birds with field glasses and not shoot them, but Roosevelt comments that there are some birds that are impossible to make out with field glasses.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-14
President Roosevelt enjoyed reading John Burroughs’s recent article, and believes that Burroughs’s writings “will last, just as those of White of Selborne will last,” comparing him to a famous English naturalist. Roosevelt wishes Burroughs was with him and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt on a recent walk to help them identify the birds they saw and heard.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-04
President Roosevelt has identified the bird that he previously wrote to John Burroughs about as a Cape May warbler and describes its coloration.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-05
President Roosevelt is interested in the list that George L. Fordyce sent him. He is glad that people are starting to take interest in bird life in a way that is non-destructive.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-01
President Roosevelt tells his son Kermit about how his trip through the southern states has gone thus far. Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt and a cousin, John S. Elliott, accompanied Roosevelt as far as Atlanta, and had a lovely time. They also visited the childhood home of Roosevelt’s mother, Martha Bulloch Roosevelt. Roosevelt, now accompanied by John Campbell Greenway and John Avery McIlhenny, believes that the next part of the trip will be hard work going forward.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-10-22
President Roosevelt tells Kermit Roosevelt about the holiday he had at Pine Knot, Virginia, with Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt. The president tells Kermit, “Mother is a great deal more pleased with it than any child with any toy I ever saw.” The president and Edith spent time with Joseph Wilmer and William Nivison Wilmer, who are “the most generous, thoughtful, self-effacing friends.” The president talks about his attempts to cook fried chicken and how Edith “greatly enjoyed” it as well as his attempts to encourage peace negotiations between Russia and Japan. The president looks forward to seeing Kermit at Bishop William Lawrence’s house and appreciates the recommendation of “that piece in Collier’s.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-06-11
President Roosevelt has finished reading John Burroughs’s Atlantic Monthly article. He recommends a “slight toning-down” of the statements regarding a mother-bird’s coloration. William J. Long, a “nature faker,” made an attack on John Burroughs in Harper’s Monthly. Roosevelt does not understand how reputable publications encourage Long. Roosevelt comments extensively on animal intelligence and on how animals may or may not teach their young.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-05-29
President Roosevelt informs his son Kermit that Secretary of State John Hay is “pretty sick,” and hopes that he recovers. Roosevelt updates his son on events at the White House, where the birds have returned and he has been riding with Edith. Archie and Quentin both had friends to see them, and Roosevelt, Ted, and Matthew Hale have been playing tennis. Roosevelt is sad that his friend Frank C. Travers died last night.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-03-20
President Roosevelt writes to naturalist Edward Howe Forbush that he has just read Forbush’s report from last year on the destruction of birds in New England. Roosevelt asks if Forbush has noticed a change in numbers this spring or summer. Roosevelt has not noticed a difference, with many types of birds “as plentiful as ever,” noting he has been observing birds in Oyster Bay for 31 years. Only quail and woodcock numbers seem diminished.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-07-21
President Roosevelt informs Homer Davenport of the current lack of funding for stocking Yellowstone Park with birds. Roosevelt adds that he has been working hard to get Congress to “give enough money for propagating the buffalo” and consequently nothing can be done for the time being.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-06-16
President Roosevelt is lucky to have identified the Cape May Warbler as John Burroughs has not seen one. Burroughs is glad that Roosevelt enjoyed his Atlantic article and is sending a copy of his article in the Cosmopolitan. Burroughs advocates doing something about the “unfair advantages” that have benefited Standard Oil.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-10
Theodore Roosevelt shares the details of Ted Roosevelt’s travel plans to visit John Burroughs. When Roosevelt lived on his ranch in North Dakota was the only time he could really hear bird songs.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1900-05-05
Governor Roosevelt sends John Burroughs a copy of his book Big Game Hunting. Roosevelt specifically asks him to look at a description of birds, “Again and again as I have listened to those plains birds I have longed to have you hear them.” His son Ted will also be visiting Burroughs.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1900-05-01