California--Yosemite National Park

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frank Ross McCoy

President Roosevelt asks Frank Ross McCoy to relay his regards to Yosemite park rangers John D. Alger and Archibald C. Leonard, remembering “the two bully camps we had” on a recent camping trip. While Roosevelt sympathizes with McCoy about the bears, he views it as good that they found refuge in Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks. He agrees with McCoy regarding the Japanese.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to S. B. M. Young

President Roosevelt thanks Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park Young for his interesting letter and is glad he is pleased with the selection of James Buchanan Aleshire as Quartermaster General. Roosevelt reassures Young that he is needed in the park.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Samuel Adams to Theodore Roosevelt

Samuel Adams confirms receipt of Theodore Roosevelt’s letter in stead of Walter L. Fisher as Fisher is currently traveling to inspect the West.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-20

Creator(s)

Adams, Samuel

Letter from William H. Taft to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of War Taft updates President Roosevelt regarding the management of the National Parks. Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park S. B. M. Young would prefer rangers to the military, and Taft agrees with him, but Congress is putting the responsibility of park management on the War Department rather than the Department of the Interior. Taft warns that he accidentally engaged in cards on a Sunday, in case the press finds out. While traveling, he saw Secretary of Commerce and Labor Oscar S. Straus, and they discussed both Japanese naturalization and immigration of Russian Jews. Taft briefly lists his upcoming speeches.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-04

Creator(s)

Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930

Topics of the time

This excerpt from The Century Magazine includes articles on reading, on the permanent establishment of an American art school in Rome, and on the addition of Yosemite Valley to Yosemite National Park. Richard Watson Gilder enclosed the excerpt in a letter to President Roosevelt, noting his authorship of the articles.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-05

Creator(s)

Gilder, Richard Watson, 1844-1909

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Kermit Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt writes to his son Kermit from his Western speaking trip to say how much the family are enjoying themselves, though he cannot stand all the speaking and this is the last speaking trip he will take. He encloses letters from safari agency owner Leslie J. Tarlton and Alfred E. Pease. Roosevelt is concerned at how sick Tarlton and his partner V. M. Newland were and he wants Kermit to write to Tarlton.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1911-04-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Amidst America’s noblest scenery – President Roosevelt on Glacier Point,Yosemite Valley, California

President Roosevelt sitting on the edge of a cliff

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1904-11-08

Creator(s)

Underwood & Underwood

President Roosevelt’s choicest recreation – amid nature’s rugged grandeur on Glacier Point, Yosemite

President Roosevelt in hiking attire standing on Glacier Point, Yosemite.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-07-18

Creator(s)

Underwood & Underwood

President Roosevelt’s choicest recreation – amid nature’s rugged grandeur on Glacier Point, Yosemite

Theodore Roosevelt in hiking attire standing on Glacier Point, Yosemite

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-07-18

Creator(s)

Underwood & Underwood

Memorandum from Ray H. Mattison to Allyn F. Hanks

Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park Historian Ray H. Mattison would like Regional Director Lawrence C. Merriam and Historian Olaf T. Hagen to verify statements made by Benton C. Bird regarding Theodore Roosevelt’s visit to Yosemite National Park.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Creation Date

1949-07-01

Creator(s)

Mattison, Ray H., 1903-1980

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Alfred E. Pease

Theodore Roosevelt received Alfred E. Pease’s letter, as he had hoped. He is currently visiting Theodore “Ted” Roosevelt and comments that the happiness of his children is his greatest concern. He recounts hunting bongos with George Grey in Africa and bird watching with his brother, Edward Grey, in England. The news of George Grey’s death by a lion saddened him, and he considers the dangers of lion hunting. Roosevelt discusses his family and their recent trip. While happy at home, Roosevelt would consider another scientific expedition through Asia.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Stewart Edward White

President Roosevelt thanks Stewart Edward White for sending him two books. Roosevelt is particularly excited to read White’s novel Arizona Nights, and compares White’s writing favorably to the author William J. Long, who was embroiled in the “Nature Fakers” controversy. Roosevelt has also requested that White be given permission to watch target practice by the USS Maryland.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Thomas Ryan

President Roosevelt believes that Frank A. Miller, owner of a successful hotel in Riverside, California, should be granted a lease for a new hotel in Yosemite National Park, and supplies many letters of reference. Roosevelt tells Assistant Secretary of the Interior Ryan that the rail lines to the park will soon reach completion, and the and the increase in park visitors this will bring necessitates a hotel.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-06

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George C. Perkins

President Roosevelt believes it would be a shame if Congress adjourns without taking action on the gift of Yosemite Park by California, and asks Senator Perkins what the status of the matter is. He asks Perkins to speak with Senator Frank P. Flint on the matter.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-05

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

President Roosevelt examined San Francisco’s application for permission to obtain its water supply from Yosemite National Park. He wants Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock’s thoughts on using other water sources.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-02-08

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Stewart Edward White

President Roosevelt is frustrated with Californians requesting statements on his policy and improvement plans for Yosemite, and says that “the matter must rest on the general proposition that we will treat it as we have treated the Yellowstone.” He asks Stewart Edward White to inquire what Joseph LeConte expects him to say.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to James Carson Needham

President Roosevelt informs Representative Needham he cannot sign his bill because it is possible that the Tuolumne groves and the sugar pine forest may be destroyed. Roosevelt states, “The only lands that can with my consent be excluded from the Yosemite National Park are those recommended by [the] commission” which has been investigating the matter.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-04

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Muir

Theodore Roosevelt is pleased that John Muir thinks their time in Yosemite was as pleasant as any part of his travels. Roosevelt is not sure how the election is going, but he has nothing to regret.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-03

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

President Roosevelt wishes to speak with Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock regarding conditions at Yosemite National Park.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-05-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Roger S. Baldwin

President Roosevelt asks if Roger S. Baldwin could start a petition that would justify Roosevelt saying that there was a movement in California to have forest rangers made game wardens. Roosevelt would also like to place Yosemite under national control but until there is strong sentiment favoring such a move he fears that his support would only create hostility.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-13

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919