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President Roosevelt tells William Wingate Sewall that if he were going to bring anyone, he would be pleased to have Sewall’s son accompany him to Africa. As it stands, however, he is only taking Kermit and two professional naturalists and field taxidermists. There would be nothing for the son to do as the natives provide the physical labor.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-03
President Roosevelt acknowledges photographer and naturalist Cherry Kearton’s kindness, but he has already selected two naturalists and taxidermists to accompany him. They will do their best to take photographs, but their work will not be of the same quality as Kearton’s.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-22
President Roosevelt asks Edward North Buxton if his letter to Alfred E. Pease was clear on specific points relating to his Africa trip. He has been advised to hire an Englishman but would rather have a native guide. Roosevelt continues to gather supplies and equipment, agreeing that footwear is too important to consider the expense. He shares his travel plans and ideas with Buxton.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-20
Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary informs W. Stansburg that Roosevelt will not allow him to attach his name to a lecture. He recommends writing to Colonel Goethals at the Canal Zone for information and refers him to articles in The Outlook. He also recommends talking to a taxidermist for his other questions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-11
President Roosevelt encloses a letter relating to Tibet and India for British Ambassador Bryce to share with the Foreign Office or any other part of the British government he believes appropriate, but that should otherwise be kept in strict confidence. Roosevelt believes William H. Taft will be elected president, but it is too early to be certain. Roosevelt tells Bryce about his plans for his African safari.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-02
President Roosevelt tells General Wood about the plans for his African safari, and asks if Wood might release Edgar Alexander Mearns to go. Mearns is an army surgeon who promised to accompany Wood wherever he was posted, but Mearns’s skill as a surgeon and a naturalist would be great additions to the expedition. Roosevelt thinks Wood will have a friend in Secretary of War Luke E. Wright.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-16
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.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-20
President Roosevelt sends Charles D. Walcott an enclosed letter from Frank M. Chapman. Roosevelt thinks it may be good if he is able to get a taxidermist who has been to Africa before, and wonders if it would be possible to get the man whom Chapman mentions. It would be nice to get a taxidermist who knows something about medicine as well, but Roosevelt is not sure of the chance of that.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-07
President Roosevelt writes to Charles D. Walcott, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, to explain his plans for his African safari. Roosevelt plans to depart around April 1, which he says will put him in Mombasa by May 1. He plans to spend about ten months in Africa, and hopes to collect specimens for the Smithsonian Institution, not only of big game animals, but also of birds and smaller game. Roosevelt will make arrangements to publish a book chronicling his travels which should pay for his travels, but he would also like to bring along field taxidermists and naturalists to assist with the collection of animals, and he does not have the means to pay the way for their accompaniment. Roosevelt wonders if the Smithsonian would be able to hire the services of a field taxidermist. If it will not, Roosevelt says, he may be able to try to get a congressional appropriation, or see if the Carnegie Institute would be able to help.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-20
President Roosevelt thanks William T. Hornaday for the recommendation on a taxidermist. Roosevelt wishes he knew about Hornaday’s experience with the buck before the book was published.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-16
Cyrus Adler, acting secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, would prefer if the final decision of who is to accompany President Roosevelt on his safari could be delayed until fall when Charles D. Walcott, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, will be back from the field and could confer directly with Roosevelt. Adler suggests that Roosevelt consider taking Edgar Alexander Mearns as a naturalist who is also trained in medicine, and mentions Edmund Heller as someone to consider for the role of taxidermist. Adler does not presently think the arrangement suggested by Frank M. Chapman is a good one.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-09
Taxidermist William W. Hart tells President Roosevelt that his skins were damaged in shipment. Hart has restored them, though he would not have done so except for Roosevelt. He thanks Roosevelt for the new job of a wolf head.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-08
Publisher Samuel Hubbard tells President Roosevelt that he spoke with his correspondent Wheeler and learned more regarding a deer that seemed to have been attacked by a cougar. Hubbard had been investigating what happened to the deer, which had been taken to a taxidermist. Hubbard then asks for Roosevelt’s permission to have their correspondence published in Sunset Magazine. (Page 3 of the letter is missing.)
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-24
If Vice President Theodore Roosevelt is looking to mount a cougar skin, William T. Hornaday recommends J. William Critchley. If he needs a rug made, Hornaday advises sending them to C. G. Gunther’s Sons.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-03-01
William T. Hornaday corrects information he previously gave to Vice President Roosevelt regarding taxidermist J. William Critchley. Critchley is now located in a New York City firm, Murgatroyd & Critchley.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-03-13
Hermann Speck von Sternburg thanks Theodore Roosevelt for his thoughtful Christmas gift and discusses hunting for antelope in Northern China. He describes his life in China and notes that he hopes to visit Japan and Korea in the fall, before returning home via the United States to deal with his affairs there next year.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1893-06-01