Your TR Source
President Roosevelt looks forward to seeing the lion photograph Arthur W. Lewis mentions. He will discuss with C. Hart Merriam the possibility of passing legislation regarding the preservation of elk.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-04
The British Lion, the Russian Bear, a cat labeled Austria, and three dogs labeled “France, Italy, [and] Germany” gather around a table for Thanksgiving dinner. The British Lion is holding a large knife labeled “Dismemberment of Turkey,” but the platter is empty. Looking in from the left is a turkey wearing a fez labeled “Turkey.” Caption: Turkey — Ha! Ha! How disappointed they look! Now I have lots to be thankful for.
In cartoonist Pughe’s drawing the only thing that the symbol of Turkey, the turkey in the doorway, can really be happy about is the frustration on the faces of those neighboring powers who were prepared to gobble it up. The once-mighty Ottoman Empire, reduced to the country of Turkey but slowly chipped away, province by province, people by people, tribe by tribe, for more than a century.
In 1813 the Serbs begun their revolts, ultimately a successful secession. In 1821, Greece declared independence, formalized in 1832. In 1830 Algeria had been ceded to France; in 1831 a war for independence commenced with Egypt. In 1853 the Crimean war began, formally against Russia but, famously, with British participation (“Charge of the Light Brigade”). In rapid succession, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, and Cyprus slip from control of the Ottoman Empire, scarcely an empire any more. In the days before the Great War, Turkey declared itself a nation (although not an independent Republic until 1923 under Ataturk), and quickly, as “the Sick man of Europe,” lost Libya in Africa, and Albania; and all of its lands in continental Europe except for the city of Constantinople, now Istanbul.
Rudyard Kipling holds a pen labeled “Criticism” which he is using as a prod to get the British Lion moving in a particular direction. Caption: The British Lion [“]I didn’t mind the others, Rudyard; but I never thought you’d be prodding me!”
Rudyard Kipling likely was the prototypical British colonial advocate in literature and in public affairs of his day. His feelings were heavily tempered by realism and a recognition that England was overreaching on the world stage, and in good part by faulty administration and training of its military. Toward the end of the Boer War his statements and short stories addressed the weak premises and performances of South African policies. In 1902, three short stories in particular gave voice to his revisionist thinking: “The Captive,” “The Islanders,” and “The Comprehension of Private Copper.” Kipling’s legacy in history does not always reflect his maturing attitudes. It is interesting to note that his friend Theodore Roosevelt, after emerging from the African jungles and a safari of almost a year, delivered his first major speech of several in Africa and Europe, on precisely these points: it was somewhat startling at the time. In Cairo, he lectured British colonial personnel about what he saw as flawed administration; he said, in effect, that England should administer its colonies well, including more to the benefit of the occupied lands, or withdraw.
Illustration showing the British Lion, wearing a military uniform, aghast by the tattered look of a female figure labeled “Peace,” her clothing torn, head and left arm bandaged, and walking with a crutch, the dove at her feet looks plucked. In the background is a sign stating “The last Boer ditch” stuck in ground labeled “South Africa.” Caption: Great Britain. — Didn’t you tell them the war was over? Peace. — “Yes; – and they immediately filled me full of lead; – said it was only a rumor of war!
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1901-02-20
Theodore Roosevelt expresses to Edmund P. Dole that the lion described is already large enough and suggests reducing its size slightly in both length and weight.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-12
Theodore Roosevelt writes to William Robinson Brown. Roosevelt responds to Brown’s question about a stallion once given to Roosevelt as a gift. Roosevelt elaborates about the procedure of gift receiving.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1914-11-14
President Roosevelt discusses the potential timing of his trip to Africa, the game he would like to shoot, and the guns he plans to bring.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-11
President Roosevelt tells William Sturgis Bigelow the book is the “most interesting present I have received.” Roosevelt especially enjoyed the night photographs of the lions. The president also remarks, “Banzai! How the fur will fly when Nogi joins Ōyama!”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-07
Fred Thompson is sending Theodore Roosevelt a lioness that he no longer has a use for.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-25
Cecil Andrew Lyon forwards Theodore Roosevelt a clipping from R. W. Marshal regarding George Grey’s death following an encounter with a lion.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-01
President Roosevelt misspelled Rebecca W. Heney’s last name as “Heany” on a photograph he presented to her, and she would like a new one. Francis J. Heney has supported Roosevelt’s reformed spelling campaign, but fears his relations in Ireland would resent the reforms. Referring to Roosevelt’s imminent departure for Africa, Heney laments that the country will lose its “most valiant leader and fighter” at its “most critical period.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-12
Frederick Courtney Selous discusses concerns about President Roosevelt’s upcoming trip to Africa. Selous gives his opinions on the provisions, safari guides, equipment porters, and the hunting of big game animals. Selous includes a postscript informing Roosevelt that everything has been shipped and should arrive in Nairobi by early March.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-25
Draft manuscript containing an essay, “The lion,” by Frederick Courteney Selous. Selous recounts many stories of lions attacking people and animals, and of adventures involving lions. He also addresses lions more scientifically, and offers a description of the habits and living conditions of lions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-03
C. Hart Merriam returns the manuscript written by Frederick Courteney Selous with thanks. Merriam found the facts about the cape hunting dog most interesting.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-03
Architect J. Stewart Barney encloses a letter written to Right Reverend Henry Yates Satterlee. Barney needs information for a lectern he is working on and Rev. Dr. Goodwin suggested that he contact President Roosevelt. He encloses a photograph of the model, apologizes for the quality of the photograph, and explains his design that symbolizes “the union of England and America.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-17
William W. Hart tells President Roosevelt that the remounting job is complete and the heads have been re-hung at Sagamore Hill. Hart has enclosed bills for the work and discusses some of the details of the taxidermy labor and mentions other work that could be done. Hart looks forward to receiving more “fresh specimens” from Roosevelt to showcase his art.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-05
President Roosevelt holds hands with a woman clad in the Stars and Stripes. There is a paper on the ground that says, “Africa–$1 per word.” Caption: By-O, Baby Bunting,/Teddy’s goin’ hunting,/To get a nice, big lion skin/To wrap his stern ambition in./Although we balk at nature fakes,/From mouth to mouth it’s flyin’;/The biggest game he’ll ever take’s/The literary lion.
This cartoon was composed by an anonymous cartoonist (who declined to caricature President Roosevelt, although application of a photograph is not jarring), or perhaps the signature was sublimated in the montage.
In the first cartoon, a lion runs toward President Roosevelt writing on a notepad labeled “The African Chickadee ($3.00).” In the second cartoon, the lion gets close to pouncing on Roosevelt who holds a paper. In the third cartoon, Roosevelt opens the paper and shows the lion what it says: “Secret Service Report on Lions (To be given to the press in case I am attacked) (Copy).” In the fourth cartoon, Roosevelt runs toward the lion.
Chicago cartoonist Ralph Wilder, the stylistic disciple of John T. McCutcheon, combined two thematic preoccupations of the day’s news, attempting a new treatment of both. The imbroglio between the White House and Capitol Hill over the president’s request to expand the role of the Secret Service was already months old when this cartoon was drawn.
Rear Admiral Presley Marion Rixey looks on as President Roosevelt fires at two targets shaped like a lion and elephant with the names “Foraker” and “Tillman” respectively on them. Two rabbits–“Mellen” and “Paul Morton–as well as a wolf–“E. H. Gary” also watch. Beside them is “the spear that knows no brother.” Caption: Prepare targets similar to those shown above, lead the Faunal Naturalist to the rifle range and he will do the rest.
McKee Barclay’s drawing represents, in cartooning terms, a mixed metaphor, calling upon several thematic and political threads in one image. President Roosevelt appears to be readying himself for his upcoming African safari by target practice; yet he concentrates by labelling two of targets with the names of two of the most persistent of the president’s critics, Senators Joseph Benson Foraker and “Pitchfork” Benjamin R. Tillman.
President Roosevelt fires his “no. 2 for birds” shotgun at a “Panama lyre-bird” (Joseph Pulitzer) in the African wilderness. Meanwhile, a “Congress” lion and “Foraker & Brownsville” hippopotamus stay in the background. Roosevelt is surrounded by his big stick–“for fighting at close quarters”–a typewriter, a notebook, a wireless box, a camera, a “no. 6 for lions etc.” gun, a toothbrush, and a book entitled “Wild Animals and Their Habits.”
This cartoon represents a fair summary of Theodore Roosevelt’s last months in office. He was wildly popular throughout the country, and by common consensus he could have been renominated by the Republican Party if he had not renounced interest on election night of 1904. And even as some Democrats urged him to run again, and recognized that their platforms and Roosevelt’s policies were consanguine, he could have been confident of reelection.