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Circular relating to historic and prehistoric ruins of the American southwest and their preservation under the General Land Office of the Department of the Interior.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1904
Photograph of a section of land being excavated by an archeologist at the Elkhorn Ranch.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
1958
Photograph of multiple areas of land sectioned off with white markers being surveyed for archeological excavation at the Elkhorn Ranch.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
1957
Photograph of two men surveying a portion of land sectioned off with white markers for an archeological excavation at the Elkhorn Ranch.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
1957
Photograph of a section of land, possibly an old building foundation, undergoing archeological excavation at the Elkhorn Ranch.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
1958
Photograph of white markers sectioning off archeological excavation sites at the Elkhorn Ranch.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
1957
Photograph of bones being excavated about 200 yards from the bridge along the scenic loop road near Jones Creek.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
1966-08-24
Photograph of bones being excavated about 200 yards from the bridge along the scenic loop road near Jones Creek.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
1966-08-24
Photograph of Nancy Sewall Cunningham working on an excavation project at the Elkhorn Ranch with her husband, Maurice Vaughn Cunningham (left), and Dr. Dee Calderwood Taylor (right).
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
1959-09-14
Memorandum providing recommendations for how to handle the ruins of John Mason’s mansion on Theodore Roosevelt Island. Stuart M. Barnette and O. F. Northington of the Historical American Buildings Survey recommend that a project be set up to further investigate the ruins. They cite the mansion as an important building in the development of U.S. architecture and provide a method for excavation based on the National Park Service. Barnette and Northington also recommend that a marker detailing the mansion’s place in history be placed near the site of the ruins. Accompanying these recommendations is a drawing depicting a conjecture of how the house may have appeared, a plan of the grounds showing the layout of all the buildings, and several photographs showing the ruins.
Theodore Roosevelt Island National Memorial
1936-03-19
Plaster moulds, brickwork details, and floorplans plans of John Mason’s mansion on Analostan Island, later Theodore Roosevelt Island. In the top middle is a floor plan indicating the locations of plaster moulds found in the burnt remains of Mason’s mansion. The vertical slices of these moulds, shown on the bottom, show the size and shape of the decorations which once adorned that structure. There is a small floor plan and section of the ice house in the top right corner. In the left corner is a discussion of how the brickwork would have originally looked on the building. These details are a recreation based on the burnt remains of Mason’s mansion, photographs, and the style of construction. For more information please see Description of Mason House, THIS_100.
Theodore Roosevelt Island National Memorial
1936
Begins with a brief history of the Mason family including how General John Mason became owner of the estate on Analostan Island, later Theodore Roosevelt Island. It continues with a discussion of the appearance of the mansion built by Mason as well the beauty of the island as taken from accounts by contemporaries collected by Charles Cochran. Following the history is an extensive survey of the burnt remains of mansion by Stuart M. Barnette, an architect in the Park Service working for the Historical American Building Survey. Using photographs, observations of the site, and architectural drawings made by himself, Barnette discusses how the mansion might have appeared during Mason’s occupancy and points out the Classical Revival influence in the temple structure of the buildings. Barnette systematically discusses every aspect of the estate describing every room and ancillary building. He particularly focuses on finding an explanation for the incongruous layout of the buildings since according to Classical Revival style the layout would be symmetrical.
Theodore Roosevelt Island National Memorial
1936
President Roosevelt asks Minister of Colonial Affairs Idenburg if the Dutch government would be able to aid Roger S. Warner in an upcoming project. Warner, on behalf of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, hopes to conduct excavations in Java to learn more about its artistic and archaeological history, a venture which Roosevelt supports.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-15
President Roosevelt introduces Oric Bates to Ambassador Leishman and asks that he help Bates and Richard Norton obtain a firman, or permit, to do archaeological digs in Tripoli, Ottoman Empire. Bates and Norton are working for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-21
Cow shed excavations at Elkhorn Ranch site.
1957
Paul L. Beaubien reports on a trip he made to Theodore Roosevelt National Park to try to ascertain where the Elkhorn Ranch had been. He and Ray H. Mattison were able to approximate the location closely by comparing the terrain with photographs taken of the area by Theodore Roosevelt in 1886. While there is no evidence remaining on the surface, Beaubien believes that excavation in the area may reveal artifacts. Beaubien also describes a number of other visits he made to sites in the area, and includes photographs of the Elkhorn Ranch site.
1950-08-25
View of the excavated cow shed at the Elkhorn Ranch site, as seen from the south.
1957
View of the excavated cow shed at the Elkhorn Ranch site, as seen from the south.
1957
Excavated doorway of a dug-out at the Elkhorn Ranch site.
1957
Excavated doorway of a dug-out at the Elkhorn Ranch site.
1957