Safaris

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Arthur Hamilton Lee

President Roosevelt thanks Arthur Hamilton Lee for the painting, saying he is overwhelmed by Lee’s kindness and generosity, and the way in which he has read Roosevelt’s thoughts about the painting. Roosevelt mentions that Admiral William S. Cowles, Anna Roosevelt Cowles, and Vice-President Charles W. Fairbanks recently attended the tricentennial celebrations in Québec, emphasizing the “hearty friendship” between the United States and England. Roosevelt thinks the British fleet should be kept up to the highest standards for the “peace of the world,” though he would like to limit the size of ships. Roosevelt’s African safari is coming up, and he hopes he can travel as a private person, but will pay his respects to various important personages along the way if need be.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-07

Letter from Gerard Hudson Gurney to Margaret Jane Gurney

Gerard Hudson Gurney writes to his mother over a period of about two weeks with updates on his safari hunting endeavors. Gurney discusses the animals he has seen and those he has shot, some of which he is collecting as specimens for studies in natural history. Gurney is traveling with Sir Edmund Giles Loder and he enjoys being away from civilization and seeing animals in their natural environment.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-26

Theodore Roosevelt in Africa

Film includes scenes of African peoples and of Theodore Roosevelt’s safari party, all probably filmed in British East Africa (Kenya) in 1909. It appears to be a fragment of the production, Roosevelt in Africa, which was released on April 18, 1910. Photographer – Cherry Kearton.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1909

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frederick Courteney Selous

In this carbon copy of the original, Theodore Roosevelt writes his friend explorer Frederick Courteney Selous regarding Selous’ upcoming hunting safari in the Sudan. He asks him to kill and investigate certain animals including a Lado giraffe and a whiteheaded cob. He updates him on some of their friends and says Edmund Heller is going back to Africa. He thanks Selous for his words about Roosevelt’s defeat in the last Presidential election.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1911-02-02

Extract from Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Corinne Roosevelt Robinson

Theodore Roosevelt writes to his sister Corinne Roosevelt Robinson of his satisfaction with the safari and how he has collected many scientific specimens for the museum. The letter is incomplete.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1910-01-21

Theodore Roosevelt posing with a dead hippopotamus

Theodore Roosevelt and an unidentified man posing with a dead hippopotamus during Roosevelt’s post-presidential safari.

Collection

Dickinson State University

Creation Date

1909-1910

Dining tent, showing interior

Dining tent used during Theodore Roosevelt’s post-presidential African safari.

Collection

Dickinson State University

Creation Date

1909-1910

Theodore Roosevelt posing with a dead rhinoceros

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 and hunting party

Theodore Roosevelt and members of the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition.

Collection

Dickinson State University

Creation Date

1909-1910

Theodore Roosevelt posing with a dead lion

Theodore Roosevelt posing with a dead lion during his post-presidential safari.

Collection

Dickinson State University

Creation Date

1909-1910

Roosevelt’s and Kermit’s Four Gun-Bearers

Postcard featuring four gun bearers; Gouvimale, Bakhari, Johari, and Kasiturah; employed during Theodore and Kermit Roosevelt’s African safari. Kermit Roosevelt is standing in the background.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Creation Date

1910

Letter from Edward North Buxton to Theodore Roosevelt

Edward North Buxton gives President Roosevelt advice about his upcoming safari, including where he should go and what he should bring. Buxton encourages Roosevelt to pay close attention to the time tables of T. Broadwood Johnson, a missionary in Uganda, as well as follow the advice of Johnson and Alfred E. Pease, who are familiar with the area.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07

Letter from Edmund Heller to Theodore Roosevelt

Edmund Heller spoke with Charles D. Walcott, Secretary of the Smithsonian, and decided at the last minute to join Paul James Rainey’s expedition to Africa on behalf of the National Museum. He did not realize that Theodore Roosevelt had intended to write to Walcott requesting that Heller not go so that he could focus on writing reports on the specimens collected from his own African expedition. Heller explains that no other qualified man is available to go, and lists the ways that this expedition will assist him in finishing his work with Roosevelt’s collection. The paper on the white rhinoceros will be published before Heller goes, and he assures Roosevelt of his dedication to the work.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-09

Letter from Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt to Robert Glendinning

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary informs Robert Glendinning that Theodore Roosevelt’s African Game Trails contains an appendix that lists the books he took on safari.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-12-11

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Stewart Edward White

Theodore Roosevelt shares with Stewart Edward White the complimentary words that R. J. Cuninghame wrote about White. He hopes to see White’s wife, Elizabeth Colvert Grant White, the next time they come out East.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-24

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Woodbury

Theodore Roosevelt recounts for John Woodbury what he has done since ending his presidential administration, including his African safari, European tour, and tenure as the Associate Editor of The Outlook. He is happy and enjoyed the last year.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-22

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Lionel E. Darell

Theodore Roosevelt thanks Lionel E. Darell for the diary and congratulates him.  Duma was part of Roosevelt’s safari, but he was not a gun carrier. He “never enjoyed anything more than my African trip.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-21

Letter from Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt to James D. Stearnes

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary does not believe Frederick Courteney Selous has written a book about his time on Roosevelt’s safari. However, Selous has previously written “one of the best informed hunter-naturalist books,” which James D. Stearnes could obtain from a library or bookseller.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-13

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Robert S. LaFollette

Theodore Roosevelt suggests his “young friend” Robert S. La Follette have his father get a copy of his book African Game Trails to see pictures of the animals he saw in Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-08

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles D. Walcott

Theodore Roosevelt asks Charles D. Walcott if he knows when Edmund Heller is set to publish a certain study based on what the group discovered on a recent trip, as Roosevelt is anxious to make a permanent record of their travels. Roosevelt also asks when Walcott will send a pair of rhinoceros to the American Museum of Natural History where they will be displayed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-05