Elephant hunting

Writing on behalf of Reverend W. S. Rainsford, John Jay White offers President Roosevelt advice about his upcoming safari. Both White and Rainsford disagree with Roosevelt’s plan to delay the hunting portion of his trip until after the rainy season. In White’s experience, May is the best time to hunt elephant and lion. White recommends several guides, and shares tips for making the safari more comfortable. He would happily talk in person soon.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-03

Creator(s)

White, John Jay, 1860-1923

W. S. Rainsford will leave his guns in Africa for President Roosevelt to use. Rainsford offers recommendations on what kinds of guns and ammunition to use on Roosevelt’s upcoming trip to Africa, cautions Roosevelt on the use and care of telescopes for the rifles, and provides advice on hunting and travel around Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-27

Creator(s)

Rainsford, W. S. (William Stephen), 1850-1933

Alfred E. Pease returns President Roosevelt’s letter to Edward North Buxton. He discusses the locations of different game animals, particularly lions, and is certain of Roosevelt’s prospects for collecting all the specimens he wants. Pease does not personally know the hunter William C. Judd.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-07

Creator(s)

Pease, Alfred E. (Alfred Edward), Sir, 1857-1939

Alfred E. Pease tells President Roosevelt it is a pleasure and an honor to help him with his trip to British East Africa and includes details and recommendations on several topics, including: depositing money into the National Bank of India in Nairobi to purchase horses and saddles; the best binoculars and telescopes; location and types of game; camping equipment, including baths and candles; and how to avoid mosquitoes. Pease assures Roosevelt he need not worry about being out of shape.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-11

Creator(s)

Pease, Alfred E. (Alfred Edward), Sir, 1857-1939

Carl Ethan Akeley, Taxidermist-in-Chief of the Field Museum, sends President Roosevelt a manuscript about an elephant hunt in which he and his wife, Delia J. Akeley, participated. The manuscript is bound in the leather of one of the elephants Mrs. Akeley killed, and Akeley hopes it encourages Roosevelt to take a hunting trip to British East Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-04

Creator(s)

Akeley, Carl Ethan, 1864-1926

Photograph shows Theodore Roosevelt with a dead elephant at Meru, Kenya.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1919-05-14

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Kermit, 1889-1943

Photograph shows Theodore Roosevelt and others including African men with a dead elephant at Meru, Kenya.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1919-05-14

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Kermit, 1889-1943

Photograph showing Theodore Roosevelt and African men with dead elephant.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1919-05-14

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Kermit, 1889-1943

In the “Book Notes” column, John A. Gable reviews Bully: An Adventure With Teddy Roosevelt which consists of the script of the play of the same name, complemented by eight pages of photographs. Gable quotes from a review of the play and from Theodore Roosevelt IV’s introduction to the book. Gable, as he did in the case of the play and film adaptation, praises the book and author Jerome Alden because he “does not tailor T.R. to fit current social or ideological fashions.”

Marvin R. Morrison reviews The End of the Game: The Last Word from Paradise which deals with the plight of the African elephant. Theodore Roosevelt’s hunting and his African safari of 1909 figure in the book and review. Morrison quotes Roosevelt, lists some of his fellow hunters, and argues that hunters are conservationists.  

Edward North Buxton informs President Roosevelt that the elephant rifle is ready, and that he hopes to send it to Roosevelt for any adjustments. Buxton has spoken with Ambassador Whitelaw Reid, who believes he will be able to send the gun as a foreign office parcel. He sends Roosevelt a list of the people who donated to have the gun made for Roosevelt, and says that they all wish Roosevelt a good time on safari in British East Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-20

Creator(s)

Buxton, Edward North, 1840-1924

Postcard is part of the Roosevelt Tour series. Image shows a fallen elephant in a forest. Description on the reverse: “A FALLEN MONARCH. The elephants of Africa have not been domesticated to the same extent as those of India. They inhabit the forests of Uganda and other districts in large numbers and immense herds have been seen in the region which will be traversed by the Roosevelt party. The elephants are being protected by the game regulations and there is not much danger of their becoming extinct. The height of the elephant in the picture is 11 feet two inches. The tusks are eight feet ten inches long with a circumference of 19 1/2 inches and a weight of 112 and 115 pounds.”

Collection

Fritz R. Gordner Collection

Creation Date

1909

Creator(s)

Unknown

Theodore Roosevelt is excited that he will see Ethel Roosevelt in two and a half months. Roosevelt and Kermit Roosevelt have done well and are in excellent health. Kermit has turned into a grownup and is growing a mustache that you must be attentive to see. He is proud of Kermit’s “prowess and hardihood.” Roosevelt wrote to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt about killing a charging elephant and is not sure if she will want him to keep the tusks. The last ten days have been spent traveling from Lake Victoria and Roosevelt has been greeted by the African leaders like a king.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1910-01-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt thanks Mason Mitchell for the tooth-billed pigeon and for Mitchell’s success in getting the Governor of German Samoa to issue an ordinance. Roosevelt also discusses the Uganda elephant foot that was just about the size of Roosevelt’s biggest bull killed at Mount Kenya.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-05-07

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Photograph of Theodore Roosevelt and his African safari guides, R. J. Cuninghame and Leslie J. Tarlton, posing with a dead bull elephant. Cuninghame stands on top, Roosevelt and Tarlton in front.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site

Creation Date

1909

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Kermit, 1889-1943

Theodore Roosevelt tells his son Kermit that he finally got his elephant bull and will leave on a short safari on his own following Kermit’s trail. R. J. Cuninghame will take Kermit to try and get an elephant but he can try for one before that with Leslie J. Tarlton. Item includes a typed transcription of the letter.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1909-08-21

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919