Letter from Frank Ross McCoy to Theodore Roosevelt
Frank Ross McCoy reports on activities in Yosemite National Park, hoping to remind President Roosevelt of the “fine work and sport of the summertime.” John Muir, Joseph N. LeConte, and other members of the Sierra Club have said that the change in the valley has been very positive since it became part of the national park this year. The superintendent, Harry Coupland Benson, knows the park well and is popular with the Sierra Club. McCoy describes the park rangers and some encounters with grizzly bears, noting he found the instinct to shoot very strong but felt “stern duty’s restraining hand.” McCoy says Interior Secretary James R. Garfield came and went in a flurry, mentioning that he finds Roosevelt’s cabinet officers showing up everywhere to be “inspiring,” now that he has experienced it in the Philippines, Cuba, and the United States. McCoy offers his thoughts on race relations between the Californians and Japanese, as well as the attitudes of people on the West Coast regarding the Great White Fleet. McCoy regrets he cannot conduct Roosevelt and his family personally through the park.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-08-07
