Your TR Source
Theodore Roosevelt does not remember accepting a position in the American Game Protection Association and asks George Bird Grinnell for information on this.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1917-07-11
President Roosevelt tells Richard Kearton that he is looking forward to seeing him and his photographs of birds. Roosevelt also mentions how good the work of Herbert Keightley Job and George Shiras is as well. The president plans to introduce Kearton to Shiras when he comes to Washington, D.C.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-14
President Roosevelt again encourages Caspar Whitney to consult George Shiras before he publishes an extract of Shiras’s comments on the nature fakers controversy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-23
President Roosevelt suggests to Caspar Whitney that he write directly to George Shiras before using his comments.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-22
Caspar Whitney informs President Roosevelt that he had received four letters where people had made fun of him for taking up “cudgels for Roosevelt” although Whitney was not included in the roll of honor in the September issue of Everybody’s magazine. Whitney tells Roosevelt that his “interest in life is not to be reckoned on rolls of honor,” but the letters have made him wonder if the absence of his name from the rolls meant more than he originally thought. Whitney would like to know where he stands with the president.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-07
Theodore Roosevelt has not heard from Frederick Courteney Selous for some time and wants to hear how his safari in the Lado Enclave went. He hopes Selous killed a giraffe as he is curious about what species is in the area and that he solved the questions of Mrs. Grey’s waterbuck. Roosevelt encourages Selous to write a book on his experiences and praises his previous works, especially as other hunter-naturalists’ books are “utterly dry.” He sends a copy of his pamphlet on protective coloration in animals and his follow-up article. Kermit Roosevelt misses Africa and is currently hunting in Mexico, with a trip to New Brunswick planned for September. Roosevelt wants Selous and his wife, Marie Catherine Gladys Selous, to visit him at Sagamore Hill.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-15
Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary suggests B. S. Beasley contact George Shiras of Marquette, Michigan, to discover the information he seeks.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-12
President Roosevelt thanks J. H. Patterson for the letter, saying that it told him exactly what he wanted to know. Roosevelt is very excited about his upcoming safari in Africa, and says he will follow Patterson’s advice to make his main trip British East Africa, and describes his plans there. Much of his hunting will be done for the Smithsonian Institution, with whom he is partnering for the trip, although he would like to take two or three trophies for his own use, if it is permitted. Roosevelt would be very glad if Patterson would be able to visit him at the White House before he leaves office, and describes a visit he had with some other people.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-06
President Roosevelt writes to Edward North Buxton about his upcoming safari, including details about the outfitting of his trip, as well as his travel plans. Roosevelt will accept Alfred E. Pease’s invitation to visit his ranch to begin his journey and get acclimated. He then plans to make several trips from the railway to get into good game-country. Roosevelt plans to get Kermit Roosevelt a camera to do photography on the trip, and hopes to have a couple field taxidermists accompany him as well, as the trip will have a naturalist purpose behind it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-25
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Charles C. Adams for the review of Life Histories of African Game Animals, which Roosevelt co-authored with Edmund Heller. Roosevelt acknowledges Adams’s criticism and admits he should have read the two books on elephants which Adams named. His only defense is that someone who could have written a better book – in this case, Carl Ethan Akeley – did not do so, so Roosevelt was compelled to write, even though he did not have sufficient time to devote to the work.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-03-18
Theodore Roosevelt tells Tracy I. Storer, assistant curator of birds at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at Berkeley, that he thinks Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Vernon Bailey, Florence Merriam Bailey, George Shiras, and Edward William Nelson could write a “monumental” and “genuine” natural history of land vertebrates in North America.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-02-06
President Roosevelt thanks J. H. Patterson for the letter, saying that it told him exactly what he wanted to know. Roosevelt is very excited about his upcoming safari in Africa, and says he will follow Patterson’s advice to make his main trip British East Africa, and describes his plans there. Much of his hunting will be done for the Smithsonian Institution, with whom he is partnering for the trip, although he would like to take two or three trophies for his own use, if it is permitted. Roosevelt would be very glad if Patterson would be able to visit him at the White House before he leaves office, and describes a visit he had with some other people.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-06
President Roosevelt cheers Winifred Buck Abbott for the birth of her son, Lyman Abbott. He comments that “[t]he pains of childbirth render all men the debtors of all women” and ranks mothers above solders. Roosevelt tells Lawrence F. Abbott that he regrets getting involved in the nature faker controversy, but explains that he finds it difficult to avoid work outside of the Presidency. He felt compelled to review poet Edwin Arlington Robinson for The Outlook because Robinson “merited more consideration” and to condemn naturalist William J. Long because “he is so impudent and so shameless an imposter.” Roosevelt encloses clippings of other’s opinions on Long.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-08
President Roosevelt sends Caspar Whitney, editor of Outing, a text from wildlife photographer George Shiras which can be cut for publication if necessary. Roosevelt thanks Whitney for disputing the opinions of William J. Long in the nature fakers controversy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-29
President Roosevelt describes the purple finches and black-throated green warblers he has observed near his home in Oyster Bay, and invites Frank M. Chapman to visit him and identify the bird songs there.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-17
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 thanks Director Hornaday for his letter and the articles he sent. He laments that he gave writer William Joseph Long any press, even if it was to draw attention to his inaccuracies. His stories are complete fabrications, but “he says they are true simple because it pays better.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-02
President Roosevelt thanks Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, editor of National Geographic Magazine for the letter and copy of the magazine. Roosevelt has been encouraging George Shiras to write a full book to preserve his photographs and observations of wildlife in a more permanent manner.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-15
George Bird Grinnell lets Theodore Roosevelt know that the American Game Protective Association is all right. Everyone is doing what they can to forward “the cause of game protection and good sportsmanship.” Grinnell does not feel that Roosevelt should have any “uneasiness” about the endorsement he is giving the American Game Protective Association.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1917-08-27
Edward Cave encloses an article by James A. Coll and a resolution by the Douglas, Arizona, Chamber of Commerce and Mines for Theodore Roosevelt. He explains that he wanted to speak with Roosevelt to get his suggestions about how to proceed in getting protection for antelope in Arizona. They will go extinct soon if not protected by law.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-02-03