Uganda

Letter from Edward North Buxton to Theodore Roosevelt

Edward North Buxton provides President Roosevelt with more information about a proposed itinerary for his upcoming safari to Africa. He sends maps of Uganda and British East Africa, marked with potential routes and areas that are the best for hunting big game. Buxton is glad that Kermit Roosevelt is coming along, and asks Roosevelt to pass along his regards to Leigh S. J. Hunt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-05-10

Letter from Edward North Buxton to Theodore Roosevelt

Edward North Buxton is pleased that President Roosevelt is beginning to get excited about his coming trip to Africa. He discusses recommendations for the timing and route of the trip, and mentions people who may help along the way. Buxton is also pleased to hear that Secretary of War William H. Taft will likely become the Republican nominee. He encloses an article by Winston Churchill.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-28

Letter from Edward North Buxton to Theodore Roosevelt

Edward North Buxton encloses an old map of Africa highlighting the areas from the Cape to Cairo that President Roosevelt may want to visit on his safari. He discusses the merits of several different routes and the best time of year to visit each place.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-15

Letter from Edward North Buxton to Theodore Roosevelt

Edward North Buxton sends President Roosevelt communication from Alfred E. Pease, who owns an ostrich farm in British East Africa to get him excited for his upcoming safari. Buxton details several travel plans and recommendations to Roosevelt, citing the weather and transportation options of various routes.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-08

Letter from Frederick Courteney Selous to Theodore Roosevelt

Frederick Courteney Selous provides President Roosevelt with information that will give insight into the cost and planning of his hunting trip to Africa. He advises on the time of year to travel, the route he should take, the supplies he should need and outfitter he should use, as well as the costs of hunting licenses, supplies, and travel.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-03

Letter from James Bryant Lindley to Theodore Roosevelt

James Bryant Lindley encloses a note from the Duke of Westminster, as he saw from newspapers that President Roosevelt would be going on a hunting trip soon. Lindley asks Roosevelt to let him know if he does plan on taking the trip, and he will ask Westminster to put him up. Lindley notes that he wishes Elliott Roosevelt were alive to rejoice in all the good President Roosevelt has done.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-09

Letter from Frederick Courteney Selous to Theodore Roosevelt

Frederick Courteney Selous hopes that President Roosevelt received the copy of Colonel Swayne’s Through the Highlands of Siberia which Selous sent to him. Selous is also sending Roosevelt two issues of The Wide World Magazine, with accounts of the Tsavo man-eating lions written by Colonel J. H. Patterson, and several articles written by Selous.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-29

Theodore Roosevelt with nuns, clerics, and officials in Uganda

Photograph showing left to right on front row: Embogo, Brother of King Matesa, Mother Mary Paul, Sister Capistran, Theodore Roosevelt, King Dandi of Uganda, and Prince Joseph; back of Roosevelt: Sir Apollo Kegan, K.M.C.G., Prime Minister and First Regent, Kisingiri, Second Regent, Stanislaus Ugwanya, a native Catholic Regent and Chief Justice of the kingdom.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910

Letter from Frederick Courteney Selous to Theodore Roosevelt

Frederick Courteney Selous assures President Roosevelt that, in spite of the advice he has heard from Hubert Silberrad and Mr. Buchon, R. J. Cunninghame and William Northrup McMillan will be able to provide him with very good Somali hunters, trackers, and gunbearers for the trip. Buchon and Silberrad had suggested that Roosevelt should use natives who are familiar with the area, but Selous believes that the native tribes in British East Africa are not good hunters and trackers. Selous also suggests storing Roosevelt’s provisions and camp gear in Nairobi while he and Kermit are staying at Alfred Pease’s ranch.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-03

British East Africa

This travel magazine provides information about planning a trip to British East Africa, including booking a trip, scheduling shipments, game laws, transportation, and all other details associated with a trip to Africa. The magazine includes pictures from British East Africa and a list of game animals in the area.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07

Everybody’s Africa

In honor of President Roosevelt’s upcoming African safari, C. Bryson Taylor writes about the sights, conditions, hazards, and necessary supplies of a hunting trip in safari. Taylor details the guides, provisions, ammunition, and medicines travelers will need when embarking into the “dark and brooding heart” of Africa. Taylor also weaves in two fictional stories about previous hunting parties, which demonstrate the harshness of the expeditions.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-09

Notes on route from Uganda to Lake Tanganyika

This note describes transportation operations from Uganda to Lake Tanganyika, with some comment on the ease of transport.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908

A fallen monarch

Postcard is part of the Roosevelt Tour series. Image shows a fallen elephant in a forest. Description on the reverse: “A FALLEN MONARCH. The elephants of Africa have not been domesticated to the same extent as those of India. They inhabit the forests of Uganda and other districts in large numbers and immense herds have been seen in the region which will be traversed by the Roosevelt party. The elephants are being protected by the game regulations and there is not much danger of their becoming extinct. The height of the elephant in the picture is 11 feet two inches. The tusks are eight feet ten inches long with a circumference of 19 1/2 inches and a weight of 112 and 115 pounds.”

Collection

Fritz R. Gordner Collection

Creation Date

1909

Lions of Uganda

This postcard is part of the Roosevelt Tour series. Image shows the different types of lions. Reverse has the description: “LIONS OF UGANDA. The region of the Uganda railway is a zoological paradise. For a mile on each side of the road, animals are protected by law, and lions, ostriches, hartebeestes, hyenas and many other animals may be seen from the train. Sir Harry Johnston describes the country as the most interesting geographically in the world. Mr. Roosevelt could not have selected a finer region for big game hunting. In the Great Rift Valley, herds of lions of as many as 32 have been seen.”

Collection

Fritz R. Gordner Collection

Creation Date

1909

A sleeping crocodile

This postcard is part of the Roosevelt Tour series. Image shows a crocodile sleeping on a beach. Reverse has the description: “A SLEEPING CROCODILE. The Crocodile is very common in the head waters of the Nile and in the rivers of Uganda, through which territory the Roosevelt party are now travelling. It attains a length of several feet, and is the highest form of reptilian life. Its back is covered with horny plates within the thick skin, and the massive jaw is firmly set with very strong teeth. It makes its way through the water by a twisting stroke of its powerful tail, and the animals, fish and birds on which it feeds are often brought within reach of its jaws by a twist of the tail. The jaws are rigidly articulated and it frequently has to sink its food until it is sufficiently macerated to be torn to pieces. Crocodile worship is one of the oldest forms of religion in Egypt.”

Collection

Fritz R. Gordner Collection

Creation Date

1909

The tropic jungle

This postcard is part of the Roosevelt Tour series, with an image of a forest on the front. Reverse has the description: “THE TROPIC JUNGLE. This is a characteristic photograph of the jungle lands of the coast country and of Uganda. Col. Roosevelt is doing most of his hunting, however, on the plains of Athi in the Masai country, which is in the belt between. There is not as much big game in the Uganda country owing to the fact that there is a greater native population there. In the central plateau, half the population was decimated in recent years by the sleeping sickness, caused by the deadly tse-tse fly.”

Collection

Fritz R. Gordner Collection

Creation Date

1909

Letter from Kermit Roosevelt to Robert Harry Munro Ferguson

Kermit Roosevelt outlines Robert Harry Munro Ferguson’s upcoming visit. Roosevelt has been busy at school and Theodore Roosevelt is planning for an African safari.

Collection

Arizona Historical Society

Creation Date

1908-06-02

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Mason Mitchell

Theodore Roosevelt thanks Mason Mitchell for the tooth-billed pigeon and for Mitchell’s success in getting the Governor of German Samoa to issue an ordinance. Roosevelt also discusses the Uganda elephant foot that was just about the size of Roosevelt’s biggest bull killed at Mount Kenya.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-05-07