Rhinoceroses

Theodore Roosevelt informs W. Robert Foran he has received the cables. Roosevelt provides a statement in support of Robert E. Peary’s expedition success to be published if the reports of his success in the North Pole is true. Roosevelt is confused by the cable about Frederick Albert Cook because he is unaware of who the man is or what he has accomplished. He informs Foran he and Kermit Roosevelt have had success hunting elephants and rhinoceros together, but they will soon separate to travel and hunt separately.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-09-12

Theodore Roosevelt informs W. Robert Foran he has received the cables. Roosevelt provides a statement in support of Robert E. Peary’s expedition success to be published if the reports of his success in the North Pole is true. Roosevelt is confused by the cable about Frederick Albert Cook because he is unaware of who the man is or what he has accomplished. He informs Foran he and Kermit Roosevelt have had success hunting elephants and rhinoceros together, but they will soon separate to travel and hunt separately.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-09-12

President Roosevelt has heard that William Northrup McMillan is one of the best resources in East Africa for hunters. He describes his plan to hunt for six or seven months in British East Africa, starting next April, killing only specimens for the National Museum and meat. Roosevelt would greatly appreciate if McMillan could advise him on where he can, with certainty, obtain lion, elephant, buffalo, and eland. He hopes his inquiries do not bother McMillan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-19

President Roosevelt is on the hunt as a bear, a sheep labeled “the weakling,” and a rhinoceros labeled “new finance” run away while an octopus wrapped in a tree and a bull stay out of the way. In the background is a “muck rake” and a goat labeled “E.H.H.” on a mountain, “reserved for scape-goats.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

W. A. Rogers is a singular figure in American political cartooning. He never was a facile cartoonist or caricaturist, and his concepts seldom were persuasive; that is, the cartoons only mildly attacked or supported men and movements. For the most part he was more an editorial cartoonist, illustrating events and situations rather than attempting persuasion. This is one reason his cartoons illustrate more reference works today than many of his fellows. Yet he was highly regarded in his day, and worked for years at Harper’s Weekly and the New York Herald, substantial publications.

Part of “Theodore Roosevelt: His Life Reviewed in Pictures,” this photo shows Theodore Roosevelt posing with a dead rhinoceros during his post-presidential safari. Caption on verso summarizes how Roosevelt became president and lists some of his accomplishments.

Collection

Dickinson State University

Creation Date

1909-1910

Theodore Roosevelt wishes he could see the group of hartebeests before they leave James L. Clark’s shop but will have to wait and see them at the National Museum of Natural History. He is glad Clark is working on the white rhinoceros.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-10

Theodore Roosevelt sends C. H. Stigand a pamphlet he wrote on protective coloration in animals. He hopes Stigand enjoyed his trip with Frederick Courteney Selous and that the latter got good specimens of the giant eland. He discusses the differences between the ordinary eland and the giant eland and contemplates the coloration of Mrs. Gray’s waterbuck. Roosevelt makes “a special plea” to Stigand, asking him to write another book that includes his personal experiences, such as the time a lion mauled him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-08-15

Theodore Roosevelt found R. J. Cuninghame’s recent letter “extremely interesting” and was particularly amused at the Swedish scientists’ decision to leave the elephants alone. The description of elephant behavior was intriguing. He is glad the Holland rifle worked and hopes Cuninghame likes Stewart Edward White. Edmund Heller recently wrote about Paul James Rainey’s success hunting lions with dogs and sent his pamphlet about white rhinoceros. However, Roosevelt is irritated that Heller did not describe the giant eland specimens. Roosevelt sends his pamphlet on animal coloration and expresses concern about Leslie J. Tarlton’s and V. M. Newland’s health. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-08-11

Theodore Roosevelt is obliged to Edmund Heller for the interesting letter. Roosevelt discusses the hunting abilities and experience of Charles Jesse Jones, Paul James Rainey, and R. J. Cunninghame. Roosevelt also discusses his article Concealing and Revealing Coloration in Birds and Mammals.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-28

Theodore Roosevelt sends Charles Hammond a buffalo foot and a rhinoceros tail to give to the “Hammond boys,” cousins or nephews of Hammond’s, who had given Roosevelt a Navajo head star when they met in Los Angeles.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-28

Theodore Roosevelt wishes that he could have been with Lucie McMillan in Africa, if Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt would have accompanied him on the journey. Roosevelt fears he will not make another trip to Africa because his wife will not go and, if she did, she would be “quite needlessly” fearful for his safety while he was out hunting lions. Roosevelt congratulates McMillan on obtaining a rhino with twenty-inch horns and expresses his sympathy concerning George Grey’s death. McMillan and her husband, William Northrup McMillan, are invited by both Roosevelt and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt to spend the night with them should they ever visit the area.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-02

Theodore Roosevelt sends a memento made from the skin of a rhinoceros he shot in Africa to Robert Harry Munro Ferguson. Roosevelt jokes about skunks suffering from hydrophobia in Arizona and New Mexico.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-02

On behalf of Theodore Roosevelt, his secretary thanks Bernard A. Quaritch for the broad-sheet on a rhinoceros.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-01-24

Theodore Roosevelt writes to Edmund Heller to discuss big game hunting in Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-01-20

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary thanks James L. Clark for his letter to Roosevelt. Roosevelt would like suggestions about the rhino horn.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-01-20

Theodore Roosevelt was very interested to hear what Edmund Heller had to say of the square nosed rhinoceroses, and agrees that sometimes pamphlets should be published before larger works come out. He grants Heller permission to use information from his works about the habits of rhinos, and makes suggestions about where the rhino skins from his safari should be sent.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1910-09-23

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt tells J. H. Patterson that he will likely be able to make the hunting trip in Africa. He describes the guns he hopes to bring, outlines tentative travel plans, and discusses the game he would like to shoot. He asks Patterson to advise him “in rough fashion” about his plan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-05-11

President Roosevelt tells his son, Kermit Roosevelt, that he has tried the double-barreled Holland elephant rifle and is very impressed. However, the rifle’s recoil is powerful and he wants Kermit to practice shooting it in Africa before they begin hunting. It will be the best weapon for large game. W. S. Rainsford has warned him that hunting lions, elephants, buffalo, and rhinos is particularly dangerous and they should “take every precaution.” Roosevelt takes this advice seriously.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-31

President Roosevelt thanks Sir William Northrup McMillan for his letter, and the invitation to stay at his ranch while on safari in British East Africa. Roosevelt outlines his initial travel plans and arrangements, and believes he will stay with McMillan after he visits Alfred E. Pease’s ranch. He discusses the different types of big game he would like himself and his son Kermit to shoot, but clarifies that his intent is to collect specimens for the National Museum, rather than to butcher game.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-02

President Roosevelt sends Ambassador Reid details about his plans for his African safari. Roosevelt discusses the timing and route of his trip, as well as his plans for hunting and gathering scientific specimens for the United States National Museum. Roosevelt is “delighted beyond all measure” that Sir F. R. Wingate has opened the reserves under his command to Roosevelt’s expedition. He assures Reid that he will not take too many trophies or slaughter game without cause. Roosevelt asks Reid to pass along this information to Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes in the hopes that he will open the reserves in British East Africa, Uganda, and Sudan, as well as to relieve the minds of other East African provincial officials about the nature of Roosevelt’s trip. Roosevelt would also like to visit Italy, France, and England on the way home from his safari, but does not want to place undue burden on the governments of those nations. He does not wish for official state functions, but to visit old friends with his family.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-20