Oregon

Isaac W. Heysinger sends Theodore Roosevelt an excerpt from The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Vol. XXXVI: Popular Tribunals, Vol. I describing a case of judicial recall that occurred in Oregon in 1852. The excerpt includes direct quotes from the book as well as portions summarized by Heysinger. The case involved the fight of two miners, Spenger and Sims, over the rights to a mining claim following an accident that left Sprenger crippled. After Justice Rogers ruled in favor of Sims, a popular tribunal was convened, reopening the case and charging Rogers with malfeasance. The people decided that Sprenger’s rights would be reinstated, and Rogers would have to resign.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-01-06

Magazine article featuring a letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Hay recounting his trip west in 1903.

Collection

Grand Canyon National Park

Creation Date

1951-12-10

Senator Lodge agrees with President Roosevelt that the outcomes in Illinois and Oregon were better than expected, showing that the Republican vote is strong in the northwest. Lodge asks if Roosevelt spoke to Henry C. Payne about becoming chairman, and notes that it would be awkward to turn down now that the matter has gone so far. He would like to see Roosevelt in June, either in Oyster Bay or Washington. In a handwritten postscript, Lodge notes that it will be a shame to lose Philander C. Knox as Attorney General, but Knox’s becoming Senator is a good thing.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-06-10

South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman holds an open knapsack and a pitchfork as President Roosevelt holds up a trophy: “Oregon land correspondence.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

The source of this cartoon is as interesting to historians as the event it pictures.

President Roosevelt sits on a rock holding his big stick and watches South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman marching toward him with a paper that reads, “Oregon land grab charge by T. R.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

As the controversy over expansion of the Secret Service raged — or dragged — on, President Roosevelt defended himself from charges aimed by Congress and Congressmen in their self-defense, responding to charges the president made, or intimated, in his Annual Message five weeks prior to the publication this Edward Joseph McBride cartoon.

President Roosevelt crosses out names for the appointment of the U.S. Attorney for Oregon, as a number of men, including Francis J. Heney, Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte, Oregon Senator Jonathan Bourne, and Senator Charles William Fulton, look on.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Harry Daniel Murphy, the most modest of political cartoonists (at this stage of career he signed his with almost microscopic initials, compensating with huge, flourishing signatures when he drew for Los Angeles newspapers) correctly depicted the position of President Roosevelt regarding the United States Attorney position in the Eastern Oregon office in 1908.

President Roosevelt holds a rifle as he and Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock, who holds a “U.S. game bag,” walk on the “Oregon Hunting Grounds” toward the “big game section.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-02

Alton B. Parker sits at a desk and reads a letter reading “My Dear Alton, so far there IS NOT much doing here.” He is surrounded by “returns” from Maine, Arkansas, Oregon, and Vermont detailing poll numbers in those states.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-13

This article lists the leadership of the Roosevelt League of Oregon, and presents the text of an address by Henry Waldo Coe. Coe praises President Roosevelt and exhorts people to vote for him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-09

This portion of the Congressional Record reports proceedings of the United States Senate in which Senator Benjamin R. Tillman calls attention to a circular going around that is using his name to spread a land grant scheme. Tillman wants to publicize this fraud so that people are not drawn in by it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-19

Senator Charles William Fulton, of Oregon, proposes an amendment authorizing and instructing Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte to begin suits in Oregon relating to the present land grant cases. While Bonaparte may have already had the authority to do this without such a resolution, passing such a resolution assuages some of the worries of the Justice Department regarding its ability to prosecute such suits. Debate on this resolution centered around whether such a resolution was necessary, and around some of the facts of the land grant cases.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-18

The Congressional Record reports a portion of a conversation between several senators regarding railroad grant lands owned by the Northern Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads. Congress granted the railroads lands with the condition that they would sell them to settlers, but the companies have not been holding up their end of the bargain. The Department of Justice is taking the matter under investigation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-01-31

An article in the Oregonian describes a panther attack on two women in Meadows, Oregon, which they managed to escape from when one of the potential victims threw her laundry to distract the panther. This was close to the location of a panther attack the previous year, in which the panther was driven off with a shotgun.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-10-27

Secretary of War Taft responds to President Roosevelt’s letter regarding the candidacies of different Republican Party candidates. Taft thanks Roosevelt for talking to Secretary of the Treasury George B. Cortelyou and believes that Philander C. Knox would be a more independent president than his supporters believe. Taft believes Charles Evans Hughes is likely to be the man in the field against him and observes that he has received many expressions of good will while traveling across the continent. Taft mentions that he will set sail for the Pacific tomorrow and encloses a clipping on his speech in Seattle regarding capital and labor.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-11

A letter from the child labor committee of the Iowa Federation of Women’s Clubs asks that the enclosures concerning child labor be presented to members of other regional clubs. The General Federation of Women’s Clubs has asked that regional members report back. The letter discusses child labor laws and compulsory education laws in Iowa as well as in other states and emphasizes the importance of the Beveridge Child Labor Bill. The club asks that members write letters to senators and representatives, and that they ask their local ministers to preach on the topic. The letter is signed by club president Gertrude C. Russell Nash and other members.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-05

Senator Bourne apologizes for bothering President Roosevelt with the political matters of his state. To support Roosevelt and ensure the best civil servants are appointed, Bourne may have to “play politics,” and asks Roosevelt to advise. He encloses a clipping and some letters that may interest Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-23

Senator Jonathan Bourne of Oregon is a strong supporter of a “second elective term” for President Roosevelt, and says that if nominated, Roosevelt must accept and run for president in 1908. Bourne understands Roosevelt’s desire to leave matters of state behind, but the will of the people is more important than an individual’s desires. Roosevelt must stay the course in order to finish enacting the policies he began.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-13

President Roosevelt asks Seth Low to give the enclosed letter to the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, Abbot Low Mills. Roosevelt says that the situation in Oregon justifies extreme measures, and believes United States Marshal Walter F. Matthews will have to be removed from office.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-02-24

Brown postcard featuring a caricature of Theodore Roosevelt declaring, “spel az yu pleez.” The message accompanying Roosevelt’s image is deliberately misspelled, referencing Theodore Roosevelt’s support for the spelling modifications proposed by the Simplified Spelling Board.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site

Creation Date

1906-12-07

Index of President Roosevelt’s speeches from May 14 to June 1, 1903, during his tour to the Pacific Coast. Includes speeches in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-05-14