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President Roosevelt congratulates District Attorney Rasch for his handling of the Carroll Fencing case. Roosevelt appreciates Rasch’s point that a stronger penalty would have hurt the government’s cause “where public sentiment is only beginning to come around to the side of the law.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-03
President Roosevelt has met with New Mexico Territory Governor George Curry and shares his findings with Assistant Attorney General McHarg. Roosevelt says Curry can be trusted absolutely, and that he will aid McHarg in any possible way in his investigation of political and judicial corruption in New Mexico. Roosevelt warns McHarg that Curry’s predecessor, Herbert J. Hagerman, and his associates will do everything possible to turn him against Curry. In a postscript, Roosevelt sends a report from Bernard Shandon Rodey regarding Hagerman’s father, James John Hagerman, and his alleged corrupt practices. Roosevelt asks McHarg to visit him after his preliminary investigation of the situation but before he “probes…to the bottom.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-31
This article praises President Theodore Roosevelt for his conservationist efforts, and as a result, protecting western forest lands from politicians such as Senator Charles William Fulton of Oregon and Senator Weldon Brinton Heyburn of Idaho. Rich men with interests in the timber industry claim that they oppose forest reserves for the sake of poor settlers needing land, but the forest reserves do not negatively impact settlers.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-06
Lyman Abbott informs President Roosevelt that he will be in Annapolis on April 7, and would like to call on Roosevelt on April 8 or 9, if he has fifteen minutes to spare. Abbott congratulates Roosevelt on his “special message” regarding public lands and is in sympathy with the policy Roosevelt outlined. Abbott also mentions that his daughter is doing well but is still hospitalized.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-16
President Roosevelt informs President Van Hise of the University of Wisconsin-Madison that he has left the matter of phosphate lands in the hands of Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield. Garfield agrees with Van Hise about the matter, and is looking up the legal question of withdrawing the lands. If Roosevelt has the power to do so, he promises to withdraw the lands.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-16
President Roosevelt responds to Senator Carter about the disposal of public lands, and believes that the small man deserves the first chance at them. He will consult with Secretary of Interior Garfield when he returns from the West.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-01
President Roosevelt does not believe Herbert J. Hagerman, Governor of the Territory of New Mexico, to be corrupt, but he cannot allow him to remain in office after being involved with ratifying a “grossly improper acquisition of public land.” Roosevelt will nominate Captain George Curry to replace Hagerman. A New Mexico adherent of Hagerman’s wrote Roosevelt that Hagerman made many mistakes because he is ignorant of life in New Mexico and sought to act in office as only he saw fit. Roosevelt agrees with this assessment.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-16
President Roosevelt asks Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock to have his department report as soon as possible on the lands that should be withdrawn from settlement because of the coal veins they contain. Roosevelt does not consider this necessary where the veins are small, but when they “are of such character and amount as to make mines of real value,” he wants them withdrawn.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-29
President Roosevelt remarks to Philip Battell Stewart that it is difficult for him to tell what actions he takes will cause him trouble. Roosevelt has been subject to much criticism for his action in discontinuing a suit by Attorney General William H. Moody regarding allowing a railroad to travel through Gore Canyon instead of reserving it for the Reclamation Service. Roosevelt asks Stewart to write him a letter of clarification on a number of matters, as Stewart had previously informed Roosevelt that the sentiment in Colorado was that the railroad should be granted the right of passage in order to open northwestern Colorado for settlement. He was also under the impression that the Reclamation Service was not active in Gore Canyon. Roosevelt would like to make a strong statement showing that his action in this instance was proper.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-17
President Roosevelt has looked into the matter of Gore Canyon, and he provides William Eleroy Curtis a thorough accounting for the actions of the government in allowing a railroad to go through there instead of reserving the land for the work of the United States Reclamation Service. Roosevelt was told by many people in Colorado of the importance of a railroad through Gore Canyon in opening up more of the state for settlement and development. Furthermore, the Reclamation Service had not taken and was not in the position to take any steps towards developing Gore Canyon as a reservoir. Although the land had been withdrawn, when a judgement was passed in favor of the railroad, Roosevelt agreed and had Attorney General William H. Moody dismiss the government’s follow-up proceedings. Roosevelt asks Curtis to treat the portions of the letter containing quoted correspondence as private but allows him to use the rest of the letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-19
President Theodore Roosevelt is sending Chief Forester Gifford Pinchot to the meeting in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Roosevelt finds the conflict between forest reserves and public grazing privileges to be an imperative issue to the welfare of the entire West. He believes that those who enjoy protected grazing ranges should contribute towards the expenses of handling forest reserves.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-27
President Roosevelt tells Charles Erskine Scott Wood that he is horrified by the developments in the Oregon Land Fraud case. Roosevelt will veto the bill for a new district court unless the need can be clearly shown.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-02-20
President Roosevelt informs Representative Needham he cannot sign his bill because it is possible that the Tuolumne groves and the sugar pine forest may be destroyed. Roosevelt states, “The only lands that can with my consent be excluded from the Yosemite National Park are those recommended by [the] commission” which has been investigating the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-04
Gifford Pinchot sends Theodore Roosevelt correspondence from Henry Beach Needham about the appointment of a successor to John D. Archbold. Pinchot will look more into pardons made as part of a Nebraska land fraud case.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1913-05-03
Elizabeth Nicolin Bolenbaugh addresses Theodore Roosevelt over her concerns of land dispute involving homestead claim on an island in Long Lake, Thurston County, Washington.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-07
Maurice H. Cole shares his views with Theodore Roosevelt regarding a number of topics, including public lands given to trusts and special interests; progressive reform measures like the initiative, referendum and recall; the influence of Catholics and socialists on the United States; and relations between labor and capital, and how the government can help arbitrate conflicts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-26
Former Assistant United States Attorney William A. Barnhill writes to Theodore Roosevelt hoping to schedule a meeting with his father, Theodore Roosevelt, to discuss the Alaska Coal Land Fraud situation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-26
Edward Moore, on behalf of the Moyer, Haywood and Pettibone Protest Conference of Philadelphia, sends President Roosevelt the resolutions adopted at its meeting of August 4, 1907.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-05
Moyer, Haywood and Pettibone Protest Conference of Philadelphia
Special Assistant Attorney General McHarg updates Attorney General Bonaparte on the legal situation in New Mexico Territory. McHarg asks for permission to hire Mexican nationals to aid in investigations he is conducting. McHarg tells Bonaparte that though Bonaparte believes charges against territorial Attorney General William H. H. Llewellyn will be dropped, his son, Morgan Llewellyn is involved in illegal activity and therefore the elder Llewellyn should be kept from any grand juries. McHarg details several territorial court clerks who have been accused of crimes, saying a thorough investigation of the territorial judiciary must be made at once.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-29
William Allen White of the Emporia Gazette shares his thoughts on William H. Taft’s candidacy for president in the upcoming election and the trial of Idaho Senator William Edgar Borah. White fears that politicians may ruin Taft’s chances in various states, as they would support Roosevelt for a third term, but will give their support to men like Senator Joseph Gurney Cannon or Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks when Roosevelt declines to run. White says the political organization in Colorado is against Taft. S. S. McClure, who was originally prejudiced against Borah, now supports him and asked White to write an article defending him, which White refused both because he is personal friends with Borah, and because he is busy with his own writing. White hired C. P. Connelly, a lawyer, to look into the matter for him, and Connelly told him that he believes Borah to be innocent. White shares his thoughts regarding the impossible situation Borah is in, where a mistrial will be as bad as a conviction for his career. White asks Roosevelt to meet with Borah. In a postscript, White points out that the trial of Charles H. Moyer, which Borah is prosecuting, will take place in the same month as Borah’s own trial, and how disadvantageous this will be for all involved.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-25