Your TR Source
Howard H. Gross sends Theodore Roosevelt a booklet on conservation, particularly better soil management, and hopes he will review it in The Outlook.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-25
W. G. Eggleston sends Theodore Roosevelt an editorial from the Oregonian and discusses how the newspaper’s chief owner, H. L. Pittock, is against conservation and has not mentioned the recent movement in the press.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-12
Conrad Siem asks Theodore Roosevelt to bring public attention to the “barbarous spoilation” of Alaska’s salmon fishing resources by the Alaska Packers Association.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-14
Susan F. Stone discusses local efforts to preserve the riverfront of Muscatine, Iowa, as Theodore Roosevelt urged in his speech at St. Paul, Minnesota. Despite the civic outcry, the railroads plan to build a switchyard. Stone asks Roosevelt who to contact in the federal courts if the local efforts fail.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-09
Anna Maynard Butler is contemplating writing a book studying the ways in which the forests of Europe are cultivated and maintained and, as she believes she will need more funding in order to properly complete the work, asks Theodore Roosevelt for recommendations for educational or scientific foundations that may be interested in sponsoring such a project. Butler provides credentials linking her with well-respected German institutions of learning, as well as with prominent people.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-04
David Mendelson wants to apply for a patent for his invention of free electricity. Mendelson insists his invention will bring “prosperity, peace and plenty” to the people of the United States, especially during a time of natural resource conservation efforts. Mendelson asks Roosevelt for advice regarding getting a patent for his invention.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-12
As previously arranged, Richard M. Leavell will call on Theodore Roosevelt at his Outlook office on May 5. He is most anxious for Roosevelt to tell him about the methods of controlling public opinion that he has used in the conservation movement and how the “evaporation of the Solid South” may be brought to pass.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-04
William E. Mason is interested in Howard H. Gross’ plan to secure appropriations from Congress to educate farmers about soil maintenance and conservation and will do what he can to help.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-28
Herbert A. Drake supports everything Theodore Roosevelt had done in his presidential campaign except advocating for Senator Henry Cabot Lodge’s re-election. Having read Woodrow Wilson’s Constitutional Government in the United States, Drake was surprised by its “covert radicalism under the guise of conservatism.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-29
Anna Maynard Butler thanks Theodore Roosevelt for his reply and explains that Andrew Dickson White knows her and that many foundations employ scholars and researchers to write books for them. She was naive to think that Roosevelt’s interest in forest conservation was genuine and intense. Butler clarifies her identity. She hoped Roosevelt would appreciate that any wide-reaching undertaking is more difficult for “a lady-intellectual worker,” especially when money is required.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-08
Charles H. Dwinelle writes to Theodore Roosevelt to express some of his thoughts on the errors in forestry made by the United States government. Dwinelle notes that he knows of Roosevelt’s interest in conservation. Dwinelle reflects on the topic of forest fires, noting that if small fires were prevented, it would eventually produce conditions that could lead to even greater wildfires, causing considerable destruction. Dwinelle surmises that the reason Western forests survived as they did was a policy by Native Americans of allowing smaller fires to clear underbrush–a policy that Dwinelle seems to advocate. European forestry policies, Dwinelle notes, do not transfer well to American forests.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-25
Superintendent Thornbury invites Theodore Roosevelt to visit Eureka, California, and encloses a letter signed by the children of Eureka and the surrounding county. They hope to get Roosevelt’s help in securing the preservation of the California Redwood trees which grow in their area.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-21
Representative Morse asks Theodore Roosevelt to write him an endorsement for a contract with a lecture bureau.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-02-21
Edward Webster Bemis, former Superintendent of Cleveland Water Works, sends Theodore Roosevelt a reprint of his article with an editorial comment. He knows Roosevelt receives a lot to read but hopes he will review his statement on the New York City water department and the improvement made.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-02-20
William Kent asks Theodore Roosevelt to spend some time with him during his upcoming trip to California. He would like to take Roosevelt and Francis J. Heney riding. Kent adds that “the Tahoe matter” “is “thoroughly stirred up in California,” and that President William H. Taft’s putting the deal through will be a show of bad faith and go against his conservation statements.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-02-10
Henry E. Hardtner believes conservation is worth more “than fifty expositions.” He comments that “Taftism” and “Ballingerism” are not popular in the South but are in the Pacific. Therefore, he requests Theodore Roosevelt contact his friends in Congress to vote for New Orleans as the location of the exposition.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-01-31
William Jasper Kerr, President of the Oregon Agricultural College, invites Theodore Roosevelt to speak about conservation at the institution during his Western trip.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-01-30
Thomas R. Shipp sends Theodore Roosevelt an announcement about the National Conservation Association’s new, illustrated monthly magazine. As a prominent conservation advocate, Shipp hopes Roosevelt will write an article for the first issue.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-01-20
John A. Houck informs Theodore Roosevelt of Alaskans’ opinion of Representative James Wickersham and their feelings towards conservation. He asks Roosevelt to bring these issues and that of better lighting for the Alaskan Coast before Congress.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-01-16
Frank W. Owers asks Theodore Roosevelt to review the enclosed pamphlet. He feels “some influence working in the dark” is preventing the opening of the Colorado River Indian Reservation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-01-16