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R. J. Cuninghame thanks Theodore Roosevelt for the letter and pamphlet on animal coloration. He reports the success of several safaris and gives updates on some of their friends and fellow hunters.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-26
Leslie J. Tarlton updates Theodore Roosevelt on his much better health condition since his last letter and on the safari trip that he took in Nairobi, Kenya. Carlton describes lion hunting and appreciates Roosevelt for his gifts that he sent to him and others. Carlton then seeks Roosevelt’s advice regarding his coming to America and hopes he can direct him any way.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-20
W. R. E. King asks Theodore Roosevelt for a pair of claws from a lion he killed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-03-03
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-02-27
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
English
Harry Johnston thanks President Roosevelt for facilitating a warm reception when he visited the Panama Canal construction site, where he met president-elect William H. Taft. Johnston then wrote a letter to Taft on his return to Colòn about the city’s appalling hotel and infrastructure. He now worries that this was inappropriate. If Taft is angry, he asks Roosevelt to “placate his wrath.” Johnston also wonders why Roosevelt is going hunting in Africa instead of somewhere in South America, Central America, or the Antilles. He shares his address in England, and hopes that United States Minister to Haiti H. W. Furniss will retain his position in the new administration.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-03
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.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-03
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.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-07
J. H. Patterson comments that a letter he sent seems to have crossed one of President Roosevelt’s, and he thinks he already answered many of Roosevelt’s questions. Roosevelt can get most of what he needs in Nairobi, although he must be careful about which agents he uses there. Newland & Tarleton is not as reliable as they once were. Patterson offers to meet with Roosevelt in person to discuss the trip.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-16
The author of this letter describes their time on a safari in Africa in which one of their companions was severely injured in a lion attack. The injured companion was brought to the compound of William Northrup McMillan, an American, where he was able to get medical attention and eventually recover.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-04
George Ward Grazebrook tells John Frecheville Ramsden about his time hunting in British East Africa, and describes an incident where one of his companions was badly wounded by a lion and barely managed to kill it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-02
Frederick Courteney Selous informs William Loeb that he contacted Macmillan and Company Publishers on behalf of President Roosevelt. Macmillan will publish J. H. Patterson’s upcoming book, The Man-eaters of Tsavo, about Patterson’s travels in South Africa and his run-in with some lions, in the fall or winter of that year.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-16
Kermit Roosevelt writes Theodore Roosevelt and exclaims the convention must have been “extraordinary.” He informs Roosevelt that Rudyard Kipling placed a bet on Roosevelt during the Republican primaries against an American who thought he was dead. Kermit Roosevelt and Helen Robinson Roosevelt visited Frederick Courteney Selous and learned his trip to British East Africa was very successful although he had a close call with a buffalo. Kermit tells his father that Edmund Heller is fine and an intelligent progressive.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-1919
Photograph showing Theodore Roosevelt standing next to lion killed on safari.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1919
Photograph showing a male lion shot by Kermit Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1919-05-14
Photograph showing Theodore Roosevelt on horseback watching two African porters bringing the skin of a second big lion to camp.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1909
Postcard is part of the Roosevelt Tour series. Image shows a lion resting in grass. Reverse has the description: “ON THE ALERT. This photograph was taken by a sportsman photographer at close range. Photographers in taking these have many narrow escapes aud [sic] there is a greater element of danger and of chance in photographing than there is in hunting with a rifle. Famous hunters say, however, that the wild dog is a much more dangerous animal in Africa than the lion. Col. Roosevelt killed one of these animals the first day he arrived upon this hunting ground.”
1909
This postcard is part of the Roosevelt Tour series. Image shows the different types of lions. Reverse has the description: “LIONS OF UGANDA. The region of the Uganda railway is a zoological paradise. For a mile on each side of the road, animals are protected by law, and lions, ostriches, hartebeestes, hyenas and many other animals may be seen from the train. Sir Harry Johnston describes the country as the most interesting geographically in the world. Mr. Roosevelt could not have selected a finer region for big game hunting. In the Great Rift Valley, herds of lions of as many as 32 have been seen.”
1909
Postcard is part of the Roosevelt Tour series and depicts a lookout perched in a tree. Reverse contains the description: “LION HUNTER’S LOOKOUT. The king of the African forests and jungles does his hunting for food at night. This view shows a lion hunter’s lookout. It is a platform erected in the branches of a tree, with a roof, and a ladder reaching to the ground. The hunter takes his position there at sunset. Below a kid or calf is tethered as bait. This is one of the favorite methods of lion hunting as used by Col. Roosevelt and party.”
1909
Postcard is number sixteen in a series. Image of Theodore Roosevelt and hunting group standing over a felled lion. Description on reverse: “LION HUNT ON ATHI PLAINS. –Lions abound in great numbers in the Athi District, and carefully organized hunts are of frequent occurrence. The native beaters surround a portion of the plain and then drive the lions toward the hunter. Occasionally a native is forced to engage in a close-range fight with the “King of Beasts,” and is fortunate if he escapes with his life. In this instance, however, the lion was killed instantly, the spear having gone through the chest and out at the side.” Transcription of correspondence: “Hello how are you hope you are better by this time We are all right let me hear from you soon Your Aunts S. M. B. B. Kable.”
1924-10-10
Postcard titled “The Strenuous Life.” Theodore Roosevelt stands over a lion with a hunting rifle in one hand, waving his cap with the other.
1909