Mearns, Edgar Alexander, 1856-1916

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edward North Buxton

President Roosevelt is grateful for Edward North Buxton’s letters, especially in regard to the reserves. He discusses his plans for shipping money and supplies to Africa for his trip. Roosevelt notes that he intends to hire an Englishman to manage the caravan because he will be too busy hunting and working with field taxidermists to manage it himself. Roosevelt also discusses several places he would like to visit and hunt in, including German territory.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-12

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Annie Montague Alexander

President Roosevelt inquires if Annie Montague Alexander will allow Edmund Heller to accompany him on his African safari. Roosevelt intends to make the trip a scientific one and collect samples for the United States National Museum.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-08

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Northrup McMillan

President Roosevelt thanks William Northrup McMillan for the invitation to stay at the farm in Nairobi, and says he will likely come after staying with Alfred E. Pease and before taking the trip McMillan suggested. Roosevelt will be joined by Kermit Roosevelt and General Edgar Alexander Mearns, and he will be shooting specimens for the National Museum. For further planning Roosevelt asks McMillan to be in contact with Edward North Buxton, Frederick Courteney Selous, and Pease. After going through British East Africa Roosevelt will go on to the Nile and meet Sirdar F. R. Wingate and Leigh S. J. Hunt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-25

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Caspar Whitney

President Roosevelt thanks Caspar Whitney for the salve and the advice. Unfortunately he will not be able to participate in the Roosevelt night at the Canadian Camp Club. He does not want to celebrate the African safari before going, in case it brings bad luck or seems foolish after the fact.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-11

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frank Ross McCoy

President Roosevelt is glad to hear from Captain McCoy and learn about the camp at Fort Riley. He is uncertain if he can obtain the copy of Major George M. Barber’s journal notes McCoy requests. Instead, he sends an edition of Rough Riders for reference. As a member of the campaign in question, Roosevelt wants to know who takes exception to Captain Herbert H. Sargent’s account and why.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-27

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edward North Buxton

President Roosevelt asks Edward North Buxton if his letter to Alfred E. Pease was clear on specific points relating to his Africa trip. He has been advised to hire an Englishman but would rather have a native guide. Roosevelt continues to gather supplies and equipment, agreeing that footwear is too important to consider the expense. He shares his travel plans and ideas with Buxton.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-20

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frederick Courteney Selous

President Roosevelt encloses the revised lists of supplies for Frederick Courteney Selous. He discusses his reasoning behind the revisions and provides Selous with his travel itinerary. Gerrit Forbes recently visited Roosevelt and recounted his recent hunt in Africa. Roosevelt is reluctant to hire a white man for the trip but will do so if Selous suggests it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Leonard Wood

President Roosevelt values Leonard Wood’s suggestions but is unsure how to convey them in a message to Congress. Additionally, he is not sure it is wise to ask for both a reorganization and enlargement of the army. Since becoming President, he gets enough exercise to stay healthy but is not in condition for hard work. Roosevelt will go easy in Africa and avoid mountaineering and similar activities.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to W. C. H. Grimmer

Theodore Roosevelt writes to New Brunswick Surveyor-General W. C. H. Grimmer to petition that his son, Kermit Roosevelt, be granted a permit to collect specimens of moose, caribou, and beaver for the United States National Museum. Kermit was asked to take on this task by the National Museum because of his work collecting specimens in East Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to A. K. Fisher

Theodore Roosevelt is pleased to send A. K. Fisher the book, and recalls how, while in Africa, he frequently heard Edgar Alexander Mearns and J. Alden Loring speaking about Fisher. Roosevelt recently wrote a pamphlet for the American Museum of Natural History on protective coloration, and hopes Fisher will read it when it comes out.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-13

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry L. Stimson

Theodore Roosevelt forwards Secretary of War Stimson a letter from Edgar Alexander Mearns. Roosevelt previously showed the letter to General Leonard Wood, who vouched for the man about whom Mearns writes.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-07

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt to William S. Lockert

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary apologizes to William S. Lockert that Roosevelt cannot comply with his request as the medicine chest from his African safari belongs to Edgar Alexander Mearns.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-19

Creator(s)

Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles Jesse Jones

Theodore Roosevelt regretfully informs Charles Jesse Jones that he will be unable to come to his Sportsmen’s Show. His son Kermit is also currently at school and cannot leave his studies. He would like to see Jones at the offices of the Outlook to discuss putting an account of Jones’s trip to Africa in a Boone and Crockett Club volume. Roosevelt understands that Jones’s moving pictures make him money, but he believes that a printed volume would be a more permanent record.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-10

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt to Paul W. Harrison

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary informs Paul W. Harrison that it is currently impossible to communicate with Roosevelt because he is currently traveling down the Nile. However, he notes that Major Edgar Alexander Mearns is in charge of the medical equipment on the trip and is unlikely to want to part with it when he returns.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-12-30

Creator(s)

Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edward North Buxton

President Roosevelt discusses various matters regarding provisions, hunting rifles, and ammunition for his upcoming African safari. He would like them to be sent to Mombasa and Alfred E. Pease’s ranch for him to pick up when he arrives. Roosevelt informs Edward North Buxton that he has decided to take Frederick Courteney Selous’s advice and hire a white man to manage his caravan; this will allow Roosevelt to focus on hunting and not on the logistics of the caravan. While Roosevelt and his son Kermit are staying with Pease, the manager and taxidermists and naturalists that are coming along can stay nearby. Roosevelt discusses the areas he would like to hunt and the animals that he hopes to shoot.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-12

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frederick Courteney Selous

President Roosevelt discusses the various supplies, including food and drink, that he should bring on his safari. He tells Frederick Courteney Selous that he does not want the trip to be too luxurious, and does not want to bring very much alcohol. He also discusses the type of guns he should use and when he intends to leave for Africa. Selous’s friend Charles Sheldon recently visited Roosevelt and told about his hunting experiences in Alaska. Roosevelt has been invited to give the Romanes lecture in Oxford in 1910, and will be going to England after he leaves Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edward North Buxton

President Roosevelt discusses whether to employ locals or Englishmen as safari guides on his upcoming trip. He has started engaging shikaris, and notes that he would rather not employ white guides unless absolutely necessary. Roosevelt has amended the list of supplies that Frederick Courteney Selous suggested he bring, cutting down on alcohol and luxuries. He discuses the itinerary and logistics of the trip, particularly in relation to ensuring that he is able to shoot good specimens for the Smithsonian Institute, which can easily be transported.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-20

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edward North Buxton

President Roosevelt discusses the naturalists and taxidermists, including Edgar Alexander Mearns, who will accompany him on his African safari. He assures Edward North Buxton that he will make it clear that neither the white safari guide, nor the other white naturalists on the trip will do any hunting. He and Kermit will be the only two guns. He hopes that if they can get some samples close to the railway lines, the naturalists can take the trophies to Nairobi and preserve them there, while Roosevelt and Kermit take a longer trip, similar to J. H. Patterson’s, by themselves. Roosevelt is concerned that he will not be in good enough physical condition to have a successful trip.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-23

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to F. R. Wingate

President Roosevelt informs F. R. Wingate of his plans to go on safari in the British territories in Africa. He lists the places he intends to visit and the animals he intends to shoot. Most of the specimens will be donated to the Smithsonian Institute, although Roosevelt and his son Kermit may keep a few trophies for themselves. Roosevelt assures Wingate that he intends to travel as a private citizen, and does not want the leaders of any of the territories making special arrangements for him. He adds that he is interested to see how Wingate and others have managed the British possessions in Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-29

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Alfred E. Pease

President Roosevelt informs Alfred E. Pease that he expects to be in Mombasa around April 22 and 23, and would like to accept the invitation to hunt on his ranch during the rainy season. Roosevelt is out of shape and hopes to become more fit at Pease’s ranch. He asks for advice about how much money to send for horses and supplies, which saddle to get, and which guns will be the best.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919