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President Roosevelt tells Percy C. Madeira that he plans to bring four pairs of khaki trousers and two jackets on his safari, and asks Madeira if he thinks that will be sufficient.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-16
President Roosevelt has just spoken with Billy Hofer, who suggested that the Winchester Repeating Arms Company may have shipped hollow-point bullets for Roosevelt to use during his safari. Roosevelt does not remember ordering hollow-point bullets, and would like to receive a full accounting of this claim. Roosevelt also asks the Winchester Repeating Arms Company to make a duplicate of his present .405 rifle. He inquires of the possibility of sending materials to Khartoum rather than Mombasa, and asks to be notified when the current shipment reaches Mombasa.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-16
President Roosevelt is pleased about Robert Bridges’ decision. He felt like he should present the issue to Bridges, as William T. Hornaday felt strongly about it, but Roosevelt did not wish to bring an additional person along on his safari, and believes that Kermit Roosevelt and J. Alden Loring will be able to produce satisfactory photographs. Roosevelt encourages Bridges to consider avoiding the inclusion of photographs in the book, and instead having some pictures based on photographs.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-17
President Roosevelt thanks Henry Fairfield Osborn for the notes and suggestions, and is sure that he will incorporate them into his lecture. He wishes that Osborn and his wife, Lucretia Thatcher Perry Osborn could attend an upcoming gathering, but is glad that two of Osborn’s children, Fairfield Osborn and Josephine Adams Osborn, will be there. Roosevelt suggests several options of people who could deliver Osborn’s address on conservation, including Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota and Senator William Edgar Borah of Idaho. He suggests writing to Chief Forester Gifford Pinchot for further suggestions. Roosevelt understands what Osborn says about Carl Ethan Akeley’s trip, and says that if he can meet him without disrupting his own safari plans, he would like to do so.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-17
President Roosevelt agrees with Edward North Buxton regarding the cartridge size, and thinks Buxton is correct about sending him the rifle to try. Roosevelt sends Buxton his head measurements for a pith helmet, and asks him to order various other necessary supplies to have sent to Mombasa. Roosevelt recently spoke with Francis Richard Charles Guy Greville, Lord Warwick, who seemed to be “a good fellow.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-26
President Roosevelt is concerned about what Sir Alfred E. Pease tells him, because he had previously received a letter from the National Bank of India, and he does not understand “where the hitch came in.” Roosevelt and his son Kermit Roosevelt think they may be somewhat out of practice at shooting when they first arrive in Africa. Leopold Guy Francis Maynard Greville, Lord Warwick, recently dined with Roosevelt, and told him about his recent trip to Africa. Roosevelt asks Pease if there is anything he can do to help secure horses, as he believes he will need one in order to have a chance at shooting a lion.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-12
President Roosevelt is very pleased by the .405 rifles that the Winchester Repeating Arms Company sent him, and would like to order a third rifle of the same type as a backup to bring on his safari. Roosevelt also asks how long it would take to get extra cartridges, should he need them, and wonders if the cartridges that have already been sent have reached Mombasa yet.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-13
President Roosevelt is beginning to think that Kermit Roosevelt will be able to take photographs of high enough quality for Robert Bridges. If Bridges is open to it, Roosevelt would rather have Kermit do the photography and not take another person along on his safari, but he thought he would present the matter to Bridges.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-05
President Roosevelt tells Melville Elijah Stone that “all that can be done against my will” is for the correspondents to go to Mombasa or Nairobi with Roosevelt, and then meet him again at Khartoum. Roosevelt is not particularly bothered by this, but it is a minor inconvenience. He does not want any reporters with him on his actual safari.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-05
President Roosevelt tells F. R. Wingate, British Governor General of the Sudan, that he is very interested in F. A. Dickinson’s report concerning where to find white rhinoceros. He will try hunting at both locations that Dickinson advises. Roosevelt maintains that he has never been a lucky hunter, but eventually gets game by allowing plenty of time to find it. He does not want to “make a record bag,” but would like to hunt a variety of species to get examples to donate to the National Museum in Washington, D.C.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-07
President Roosevelt tells Edward North Buxton that with the election of president-elect William H. Taft successfully concluded he can go abroad with “a clear conscience and an easy heart.” Roosevelt sends Buxton a copy of a letter he received, and asks for Buxton’s opinion on several matters raised by the author of the letter, primarily in reference to the sorts of guns and traveling supplies Roosevelt will bring with him on safari. Roosevelt asks Buxton to procure some of the mentioned supplies.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-01
President Roosevelt does not want John C. Hemment as a photographer on his safari, as he prefers an American–possibly Ernest F. Keller. He explains to Robert Bridges, editor of Scribner’s, that he raised the question of bringing a photographer to support the publication of his articles with pictures of scenery and animals on game reserves. Roosevelt does not plan to bring the photographer along on longer hunting trips, where his son, Kermit Roosevelt, will be able to supplement with some pictures of his own.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-02
President Roosevelt was glad to read what his son, Theodore Roosevelt, wrote about his brother Kermit Roosevelt. He sympathizes with Ted’s opinion about work, and says that he will eventually reach the point where he can have both work and leisure, but agrees that having only leisure would be worse than only work. Roosevelt had received a copy of Wind in the Willows, but had not read it yet. He plans to do so now, based on Ted’s recommendation. Roosevelt’s schedule is as busy as ever, both with his usual presidential work, as well as his preparations for his safari and the lectures he will be giving abroad. Roosevelt hopes to be able to save the money he makes by writing after leaving the presidency to help his children until they are all able to earn their own livings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-03, 1908-12-06
President Roosevelt was proud to hear that his son, Kermit Roosevelt, visited Robert Harry Munro Ferguson and Isabella Ferguson, and is concerned about their situation. Roosevelt has been enjoying the fall weather at the White House, and updates Kermit on some family matters, including that he has sold a horse. Preparations for Roosevelt’s African safari are proceeding, with many officials and friends coming together to help ensure that they are able to find the animals that Roosevelt wishes to hunt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-27
President Roosevelt attempts to assuage F. R. Wingate’s embarrassment about previously addressing him by the wrong title, saying that “not one in ten” Americans know his proper title. Roosevelt is touched by the effort so many English people have made to help with preparations for his safari, both his friends and also various officials he is not acquainted with. He sympathizes with Wingate’s feeling about the lack of development in the Sudan, comparing it to American improvements in the Philippines, where ambitions were high, but a lack of funds disrupted the projects. Roosevelt will communicate with Wingate from Nairobi, and relates his plans for traveling and hunting. Roosevelt reflects that he “ought to feel melancholy over leaving the Presidency,” but the excitement of his upcoming safari dwarfs any such feelings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-27
President Roosevelt was very interested in John St. Loe Strachey’s article about American ex-Presidents, although he is not sure if he entirely agrees with him about his own particular position. After leaving the presidency Roosevelt is looking forward to being an entirely private citizen once more, and says it would be “an unpleasant thing to be pensioned and given some honorary position.” He plans to go on a hunting safari in Africa, write for The Outlook, and, in the case of war, would like to serve in another volunteer cavalry division if he is still physically fit. Roosevelt does acknowledge, however, that his position is somewhat unique, and that the issue of how to support ex-presidents still stands in the abstract. He hopes to see Strachey sometime when he visits England, as well as Evelyn Baring Cromer and Frederick Courteney Selous.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-28
President Roosevelt thanks William Stamps Cherry for the letter and talisman of hair from an elephant’s tail. Roosevelt will hunt elephant in Uganda and British East Africa, and he is sure that the talisman will “take off the curse of being a tenderfoot at once.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-30
President Roosevelt thanks Leslie Simson for the advice he gave regarding the types of firearms Roosevelt should bring along with him on his safari. Roosevelt wishes he could visit South Africa, but it is not possible.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-30
President Roosevelt returns the papers of the “personal outfit.” He has not made any more changes except to change to eight one-pound tins of Vaseline. He is glad that he will have ample stores. Roosevelt thanks Frederick Courteney Selous for insisting he hire a man to manage the caravan. Roosevelt thinks that R. J. Cunninghame is the perfect man for the job.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-21
President Roosevelt returns the letter from Frederick John Jackson to Percy C. Madeira. Roosevelt is concerned about a newspaper getting together a caravan to follow him on his African safari, and asks if Jackson or the British authorities could deny them permits to travel. He tells Madeira that he intends to follow Jackson’s plan, with the modification that he will take a shorter loop to go through J. H. Patterson’s hunting ground. He is touched to find that Jackson is one of the people who has given him an elephant gun. Roosevelt intends mostly to use his Winchester 405 on the trip.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-25