Your TR Source
President Roosevelt enjoyed reading George Shiras’s article but has not been able to arrange for its publication. Caspar Whitney may publish part of Shiras’s letter in Outing magazine. Roosevelt also asks Shiras to write a statement regarding William J. Long for inclusion in a piece Roosevelt is preparing for Everybody’s Magazine.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-11
President Roosevelt provides details about his experience as a hunter and a naturalist for Caspar Whitney, editor of The Outing Magazine, for his upcoming article on the nature fakers controversy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-04
President Roosevelt responds to a letter from Douglas W. Clinch, sharing his opinion that Charles G. D. Roberts and William J. Long write fiction in regards to nature matters.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-06
Theodore Roosevelt thinks it is extraordinary that any human being can believe William J. Long, stating that they “ought to have some sense.” This is in reference to the “nature fakers” controversy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-09
President Roosevelt cheers Winifred Buck Abbott for the birth of her son, Lyman Abbott. He comments that “[t]he pains of childbirth render all men the debtors of all women” and ranks mothers above solders. Roosevelt tells Lawrence F. Abbott that he regrets getting involved in the nature faker controversy, but explains that he finds it difficult to avoid work outside of the Presidency. He felt compelled to review poet Edwin Arlington Robinson for The Outlook because Robinson “merited more consideration” and to condemn naturalist William J. Long because “he is so impudent and so shameless an imposter.” Roosevelt encloses clippings of other’s opinions on Long.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-08
President Roosevelt addresses the entire editorial board of The Outlook, as he is unsure which particular editor “had his mind all turned askew” by the writings of William J. Long. Roosevelt appreciates The Outlook’s coverage of topics such as the Brownsville Incident, race relations in San Francisco, and railroad rate legislation, but he takes strong exception to The Outlook describing his distaste for Long’s writing a “controversy.” Roosevelt condems Long’s writings and describes him as a “cheap imposter” who does not observe nature but fabricates nature stories that could not possibly happen. Roosevelt takes issue with The Oulook’s assertions about his comments on Long’s writing, and discusses in detail the “mechanical”—not “mathematical”—impossibility of a wolf killing a caribou with a single bite as Long describes. Roosevelt suggests several naturalists in New York the editors can consult in matters of “nature fakers,” and offers to go page by page through one of Long’s books with The Outlook special nature editor.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-03
President Roosevelt sends Caspar Whitney, editor of Outing, a text from wildlife photographer George Shiras which can be cut for publication if necessary. Roosevelt thanks Whitney for disputing the opinions of William J. Long in the nature fakers controversy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-29
Theodore Roosevelt is delighted with John Burroughs’ article, but thinks Burroughs overstates Roosevelt’s own powers of observations. Roosevelt made two or three corrections to the article. He also believes that there is no purpose in further alluding to William J. Long and the “nature faker” controversy. Roosevelt asks Burroughs if he saw an article in the American Magazine where Whitman made a friendly allusion to Roosevelt’s ranch sketches in 1888.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-29
President Roosevelt thanks George W. Spratt for an editorial he sent, saying the author knows what he’s talking about, unlike nature fakers like William J. Long or Jack London.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-19
Theodore Roosevelt is glad that John Burroughs wrote to The Outlook about the “nature faker” controversy. The quarrel with William J. Long is that he “invents the facts.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-15
President Roosevelt thanks John M. Phillips for sending him a letter from R. M. Norboe. He further commends Phillips for his disapproval of the “nature faker” William J. Long.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-11
President Roosevelt expresses his pleasure with Myrtle Reed’s The Book of Clever Beasts. Some of her characters seem more probable than William J. Long’s.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-09
President Roosevelt thanks Director Hornaday for his letter and the articles he sent. He laments that he gave writer William Joseph Long any press, even if it was to draw attention to his inaccuracies. His stories are complete fabrications, but “he says they are true simple because it pays better.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-02
President Roosevelt agrees with Reuben Myron Strong and believes the movement for popularizing science is too important to “fall into the hands of such outrageous fakers as” William J. Long.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-03
President Roosevelt has never read nor heard of Briar Patch Philosophy. If Clark wishes to write a letter, Roosevelt wants it to be clear he is not responsible for what Dr. Merriam has said, and the only part of the offending article he corrected were the quotes from his interview. He will republish his article on Nature Fakers in his next volume, directly attacking Reverend Long.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-04
President Roosevelt is discouraged that honest, intelligent people are taken in by “so shameless a faker” as William J. Long. He is further convinced of the need for George Shiras’ writing.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-07
Theodore Roosevelt believes he was correct about the passenger pigeons he saw. He includes evidence in the form of a letter written by Joseph Wilmer, whose place Plain Dealing is near Roosevelt’s Pine Knot. Roosevelt also includes an excerpt from George Shiras discussing various topics, including the timber wolf and how lynx hunt, and disagreeing with William J. Long’s texts on the subjects.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-08
Theodore Roosevelt would like additional information on passenger pigeons. He cannot afford to make an error in observation in the midst of the “nature faker” controversy. Roosevelt has destroyed William J. Long’s credit with “all decent men of even moderate intelligence.” Roosevelt writes of Long’s use of affidavits to back up impossible claims.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-02
President Roosevelt thanks John Madden for the copy of his book, Forest Friends; the Woodland Adventures of a Boy Pioneer. He agrees with Madden on writer William Long, saying that Long has no interest in reflecting the truth in his writing.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-01
President Roosevelt asks if John Burroughs has seen Everybody’s Magazine. He could not help taking a “smash” at William J. Long. Roosevelt has just returned from Pine Knot in Albemarle County, Virginia, and claims to have seen a small group of “wild pigeons,” meaning passenger pigeons. He had not seen these pigeons for twenty five years.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-23