United States. Department of the Interior

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Thomas Ryan

President Roosevelt believes that Frank A. Miller, owner of a successful hotel in Riverside, California, should be granted a lease for a new hotel in Yosemite National Park, and supplies many letters of reference. Roosevelt tells Assistant Secretary of the Interior Ryan that the rail lines to the park will soon reach completion, and the and the increase in park visitors this will bring necessitates a hotel.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-06

Telegram from Theodore Roosevelt to Thomas Ryan

President Roosevelt informs Acting Secretary of the Interior Ryan that the three men are considered suspended until he decides on the investigation. He instructs Ryan to notify Commissioner Alford Warriner Cooley and have him consult with Stewart. Additionally, Roosevelt requests an explanation concerning Edward B. Linnen’s involvement with the investigation considering his previous conduct.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-14

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Alban B. Butler

President Roosevelt requests Alban B. Butler review the Department of the Interior’s form of lease to see if the complaints against it are warranted.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-15

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

President Roosevelt sends Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock a letter from Attorney General William H. Moody regarding the accusations against US District Attorney for Wyoming Timothy F. Burke. He also details plans for aiding in Governor of Oklahoma Territory Frank C. Frantz’s case.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-15

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

President Roosevelt sends Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock a statement from agent William E. Jenison concerning charges by an Interior Department official against other government officers. Unless the Interior Department objects, Roosevelt wants the letters returned so he can submit them to the Department of Justice with instructions to collect District Attorney Timothy F. Burke’s statement.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-24

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John B. Goff

President Roosevelt is concerned by John B. Goff’s letter and is sorry he decided to resign. He will discuss Forest Reserve Superintendent W. H. Pearce’s actions with the Department of the Interior and hopes Goff will now have regular customers. Roosevelt sends his regards to Goff’s family.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-25

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

President Roosevelt sends Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock letters from Representative J. S. Sherman and Fulton and requests Hitchcock provide a statement about the Cherokee payment. He chastises Hitchcock and Governor Frank Wayland Higgins for publishing his correspondence with them and discusses the potential political fallout.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-27

Report upon the organization of the Department of the Interior

Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Keep, Comptroller of Currency Murray, and Chief Forester Pinchot provide President Roosevelt with a detailed report of the organization and operations of the Department of the Interior. The report highlights “grave defects” in the structure of the Department such as redundant job functions, an “abuse of letter writing” that impedes public business, and rampant inefficiency. The report recommends the dissolution of several divisions.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-22

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

President Roosevelt sends Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock a letter he received on behalf of Theodore N. Barnsdall regarding the leasing of oil and gas lands in Indian Territory and Oklahoma. As Roosevelt is not especially familiar with the issue, he asks Hitchcock for his opinion on the matter, and will likely solicit opinions from other members of the cabinet as well. Roosevelt outlines the various leases, sub-leases, and agreements Barnsdall entered into in involvement in the oil and gas trade. Roosevelt asks for detailed comments on the various points of the letter so that he will be able to respond knowledgeably. In a postscript, he also asks Hitchcock to send a copy of this letter to Alban B. Butler for his commentary, as he is a reputable, independent oil operator who can offer his knowledge of the issues.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-18

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles J. Bonaparte

President Roosevelt tells Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte that he has had to refuse both invitations, and remarks that he “shuddered slightly at the usual ‘Excellency’ in the Mayor’s letter.” Secretary of State Elihu Root has given Roosevelt details about the running of the Department of State for the next several months, but Roosevelt has not heard from any other Cabinet members apart from Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-05

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Moody

President Roosevelt asks Attorney General Moody if it would be possible to send some people to Alaska to investigate North Dakota Senator Porter J. McCumber’s allegations against Alaska District Judge James Wickersham. Roosevelt mentions he may also ask Moody to send some men to Oklahoma to investigate the situation there, as Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock has taken a disliking to Oklahoma Governor Frank C. Frantz and has sent an agent to investigate him who in the past has made a “yellow-magazine report.” He does not wish these sorts of investigations to become over-zealous. Roosevelt does not wish to interrupt Moody’s vacation, but asks him to find out about these two matters.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-06

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

President Roosevelt informs Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock that he has asked Commissioner of Labor Charles Patrick Neill to look into complaints alleging violations of the eight-hour law, and has directed him to communicate directly with various Departments and Bureaus he needs information from in order to save time and minimize correspondence. Roosevelt directs Hitchcock to give Neill any information he may request promptly in order to facilitate his work.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-28

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

President Roosevelt asks Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock to have his department report as soon as possible on the lands that should be withdrawn from settlement because of the coal veins they contain. Roosevelt does not consider this necessary where the veins are small, but when they “are of such character and amount as to make mines of real value,” he wants them withdrawn.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-29

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

President Roosevelt chastises Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock for his recent message saying that the Indian bill should have been vetoed. Roosevelt had previously spoken to Hitchcock about the bill several times, and directed him to investigate several matters relating to it, and had been told by Hitchcock each time that the bill ought to be signed. If there were portions of the bill that should have prevented Roosevelt from signing the bill, the Department of the Interior should have caught them earlier.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-22

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Joseph M. Dixon

President Roosevelt does not feel that he would be able to sign Representative Dixon’s act opening the Blackfoot Reservation in Montana for settlement because it does not adequately protect the water rights of the Blackfoot people. If Dixon withdraws the bill for now, Roosevelt promises to discuss it with him and Senator Thomas Henry Carter as soon as Congress convenes in December, and after he has received a report from Commissioner of Indian Affairs Francis E. Leupp. If the bill is passed in its current form, however, Roosevelt feels that he will have to veto it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-26

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

President Roosevelt returns Inspector James McLaughlin’s communication, as requested by Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock. In light of the statement, Roosevelt tells Hitchcock that all new appointments in Oklahoma will be suspended pending an investigation, and that Dr. Roger L. Hall will be required to substantiate his charges to an officer of the Department of the Interior. If Hall’s allegations are true, Oklahoma Governor Frank C. Frantz should be removed, but if they are false, Hall himself should have charges brought against him. Roosevelt also comments about allegations made against Cassius M. Cade, and says that if there are no objections to him other than those that have been disproved, he will remove his objections. The anonymous letter McLaughlin reported contain allegations against Frantz similar to ones previously made and then dropped against him by Dennis T. Flynn.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-27

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles Hallam Keep

President Roosevelt has heard about US Geological Survey Director Charles D. Walcott’s difficulties publishing with the Interior Department, and asks Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Keep to give the matter special attention as he examines the organization of the Department of the Interior. Roosevelt also asks Keep to consider the question of scientific publications of the government more generally, in case more is needed than the the committee Keep already recommended.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-19

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

Following the report from Burns, President Roosevelt notified Attorney General William H. Moody that he would appoint Grosvenor A. Porter to succeed Benjamin H. Colbert as United States marshal in Indian Territory. Roosevelt asks Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock to have his department make specific recommendations for actions that should be taken regarding the matters discussed in Burns’s report.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-23

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

President Roosevelt forwards Attorney General William H. Moody’s views on the Burns report to Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock. Roosevelt believes that Burns should supplement his report by specifically stating specifics about the wrongdoings of the people mentioned in it so that he can assess what actions should be taken, and by which departments.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-26

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

President Roosevelt encloses a letter from North Dakota rancher Henry S. Boice for Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock. Boice was indicted for having fences without prior notice, which Roosevelt believes is against the typical department practice.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-26