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In Washington, D. C., President Roosevelt tells Board of Indian Commissioners member Charles J. Bonaparte, “Now Bonaparte, go right now and stop that,” pointing to an “official land shark” in Indian Territory who holds a “perpetual lease” and tells a Native American, “All you have to do is sign this lease.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-09
President Roosevelt read Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Young’s report and sent the papers to Representative William Bourke Cockran. Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield agrees with Roosevelt concerning E. C. Waters, whose lease has been canceled and will not be renewed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-29
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.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-06
President Roosevelt requests Alban B. Butler review the Department of the Interior’s form of lease to see if the complaints against it are warranted.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-15
President Roosevelt sends Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock a letter he received on behalf of Theodore N. Barnsdall regarding the leasing of oil and gas lands in Indian Territory and Oklahoma. As Roosevelt is not especially familiar with the issue, he asks Hitchcock for his opinion on the matter, and will likely solicit opinions from other members of the cabinet as well. Roosevelt outlines the various leases, sub-leases, and agreements Barnsdall entered into in involvement in the oil and gas trade. Roosevelt asks for detailed comments on the various points of the letter so that he will be able to respond knowledgeably. In a postscript, he also asks Hitchcock to send a copy of this letter to Alban B. Butler for his commentary, as he is a reputable, independent oil operator who can offer his knowledge of the issues.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-18
President Roosevelt has been discussing potential land leases at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation and is concerned that the leases will become “more than temporary expedients.” Roosevelt’s ultimate goal is to have Native Americans be “productive occupiers of their own lands.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-01-30
William T. Hornaday writes to inform Theodore Roosevelt of his opposition to the proposed lease of Stinking Lake, New Mexico, to a sportsman’s club looking to “turn the finest wild-fowl bredding ground in New Mexico into a duck “preserve.”” Hornaday believes that Stinking lake should be designated as a national bird preserve.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1917-12-10
James M. Marvin sends Theodore Roosevelt the lease for #41 Claverly Hall, which Kermit Roosevelt will be using for the next college year at Harvard University.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-13
Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC) Stevens has received a telegram from ICC Chairman Shonts, presumably prompted by an article by Poultney Bigelow in the Cosmopolitan, asking whether employees of the Panama Railroad Company or Canal officials own land in Colón. Stevens asks William Grant Bierd, General Manager of the Panama Railroad Company, for a list of those who own land in this town and if any leases have been made within the last year so that he can advise Shonts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-06
Fred Leavitt and Waldo Peirce send President Roosevelt a copy of the lease for Ted Roosevelt’s suite in Dunster Hall.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-24
Fred Leavitt and Waldo Peirce write to President Roosevelt in order to gain his signature for surety on Ted Roosevelt’s lease of Suite #20 Dunster Hall at Harvard.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-16
Charles H. Thurston encloses the lease for the property President Roosevelt’s son, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., will occupy for the college term 1905-1906.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-02-16
William F. King asks President Roosevelt to get an answer from his brother-in-law, Douglas Robinson, on whether or not he will allow a building to be leased for campaign purposes.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-09
Freiherr Sternburg encloses a clipping from the New York Sun that he believes will interest President Roosevelt. The article is based on Roosevelt’s remarks concerning “the Far East after the war,” most likely referring to the Russo-Japanese War. Sternburg notes that the Chinese minister in London informed the Peking Government that England had asked for the lease of the Chusan (also known as Zhoushan) Archipelago for use as a naval base.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-12
Senator Quay suggests, now that the Indian bill is “practically through,” that President Roosevelt meet with a member of the Delaware tribe regarding his leases, about which Quay speak with Roosevelt recently. Quay argues that the matter of the leases is between this man and his tribesmen and that “the Secretary of the Interior ought not to interfere as long as the terms are just.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-04-04
Acting Secretary of State Loomis informs President Roosevelt that the naval and coaling station lease and the Isle of Pines treaty were signed this morning at Oyster Bay.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-02
Inspector Nesler is traveling to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation at the insistence of Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock, to investigate unfair land leases that have been forced upon the Indians. George Kennan suggests to President Roosevelt several knowledgeable people Nesler ought to consult in his investigation. The names provided include white missionaries and government officials and leading members of the Standing Rock community.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-04-27
Senator Kittredge previously asked President Roosevelt whether the lease of W. I. Walker of Standing Rock Indian Reservation could be executed, and Roosevelt asked him to respond to an article that had appeared in The Outlook about such leases. Kittredge now encloses Walker’s reply to the article by George Kennan on the leases at Standing Rock.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-04-23
George Kennan encloses a copy of the Russian folk tale “Napoleander” and writes with information from Mary C. Collins, a missionary at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, about the mishandling of land leases by Agent Bingenheimer. Bingenheimer argued to the Indians that the Commissioner forced him to act in this manner and that the leases were drawn up in Washington before the Indians met. Bingenhiemer said that if he had been allowed to speak freely before a Senate hearing, he would have given more information.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-04-23
Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock has an inspector at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation to look into the controversy pertaining to land leases. He encloses a letter from George Kennan regarding these leases and asks President Roosevelt for a detailed answer as to what needs to be done. He argues that an investigation needs to be held related to the leases of Indian land.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-04-23