Your TR Source
Theodore Roosevelt informs John B. Burnham that he heartily agrees with the aims of the American Game Protective and Propagation Association. He wishes New York was as successful as Maine, and laments the loss of the American wild pigeon. He believes arms manufacturers that do not support conservationism are working against their own future business.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-19
President Roosevelt was greatly interested in the “crutaceous diver” and the photograph of the last wild pigeon.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-02-03
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Dr. Shufeldt for sending his pamphlet on passenger pigeons.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-01-19
President Roosevelt thanks Ruthven Deane for the letter and enclosure, and notes that C. Hart Merriam is “not yet prepared to give up hope that the passenger pigeons have totally disappeared.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-22
President Roosevelt is interested in what Hervie A. Dobson has to say about pigeons. He is also “sure that chipmunks occasionally hibernate,” but concedes that he may be mistaken in saying they do so invariably.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-01
Theodore Roosevelt saw passenger pigeons at Albemarle. It was an “utterly unexpected sight.” Roosevelt has asked for Wm. B. Mershon’s new book on the passenger pigeon.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-22
President Roosevelt invites George Shiras to lunch. Roosevelt is pleased Shiras can make time for some writing, and tells him he wants to discuss something about passenger pigeons.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-09
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
President Roosevelt has found corroborative evidence for his sighting of passenger pigeons at Pine Knot in Albemarle County, Virginia. Dick, the foreman of Joseph Wilmer’s farm, saw two small flocks and his description of the birds match the passenger pigeon described in the fifth volume of Audubon. Roosevelt believes that Dick is reliable and views him as a “singularly close observer.” He requests that John Burroughs write to Lyman Abbott about the Long controversy.
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 shares with Joseph Wilmer that during his recent visit to Pine Knot, he saw a dozen birds that appeared to be passenger pigeons. Dick McDaniel recalled seeing the same birds. Roosevelt requests Wilmer ask Dick for more specific information about the birds.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-27
John Burroughs’s letter has raised some doubt in President Roosevelt regarding his sighting of a small flock of passenger pigeons. However, he saw around a dozen pigeons, both in the air and perched on a tree, with a “characteristically pigeon like attitude.” The other possibility is doves but the birds Roosevelt saw were larger and in a flock. He will write and see if there were other sightings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-27
President Roosevelt describes a dozen passenger pigeons that he saw in Virginia. He did not kill any because he did not have a gun, but nothing could have persuaded him to shoot them anyway.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-23
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
Charles N. Sellers grew up hunting passenger pigeons and thinks he saw some near his home in Colorado. Hearing Theodore Roosevelt wants some, Sellers asks how much he would pay.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-17
Clifton F. Hodge thanks Theodore Roosevelt for his interest in the pigeon work. He sends a bundle of data and asks Roosevelt for permission to publish the last lines of a report and to substitute a word. Hodge shares his idea to have schoolchildren hunt for deer life and evidence of passenger pigeons. Perhaps Roosevelt could offer a financial reward to the first child in New York who finds a pigeon nest.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-08-15
Hervie A. Dobson appreciates President Roosevelt’s magazine article “Small Neighbors,” especially the parts about chipmunks and passenger pigeons. Dobson relates some personal stories about chipmunks and passenger pigeons, and is glad that passenger pigeons have not gone extinct.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-30
C. Hart Merriam thanks Theodore Roosevelt for the letter that came just as he was leaving Washington, D.C., for the west. He appreciated the information about the pigeons and the context for Shiras’ letter. Merriam also describes work that Nelson is doing to collect opinions from well known naturalists.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-04
John Burroughs is glad that President Roosevelt has decided that his sighting of a passenger pigeon was correct. Burroughs recently investigated another sighting and concluded that a large flock of passenger pigeons had been seen. He has written to The Outlook regarding the legitimate use of imagination in nature writing. Burroughs directs Roosevelt to several periodicals where he comments on William J. Long and the nature fakers.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-13
Joseph Wilmer describes what he has learned about the pigeons that “Dick” reported seeing near Wilmer’s home, Plain Dealing, in Virginia. Wilmer believes the birds were in fact passenger pigeons. Wilmer is gratified that President Roosevelt finds relaxation at Pine Knot.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-07