Your TR Source
Theodore Roosevelt sends C. Hart Merriam the injured skull of a male wolf he caught in Montana in 1889. The specimen may be of no value.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-27
Charles D. Walcott acknowledges a letter from Theodore Roosevelt from earlier in the month regarding collections from Roosevelt’s African safari and the American Museum of Natural History, addressing some of his questions and concerns specifically about white rhinoceros specimens and a research paper on giant elands. Walcott agrees with Roosevelt that the collections should be used by the museum and may send Waldron DeWitt Miller to discuss things with Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-13
One of Theodore Roosevelt’s sons shot a hawk at Pine Knot. The hawk had recently eaten a pine mouse, beetle, and four grasshoppers.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-31
Theodore Roosevelt overestimated the weight of the grizzly bear and explains this to J. Alden Loring.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-19
Theodore Roosevelt sends C. Hart Merriam a list of deer specimens. Roosevelt had arranged for the skulls to be kept with the skins and is sorry that this was not done. The specimens were obtained twenty miles from Frederick, Oklahoma.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-05-31
Theodore Roosevelt is interested in the squirrels and makes observations about their size and coloration.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-05-18
Theodore Roosevelt is interested in all of the skins C. Hart Merriam sent. He has seen squirrels larger and lighter than the pine squirrel Merriam shared with him. Roosevelt would like to be reminded what kind of vole he sent Merriam from Yellowstone Park.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-05-15
Edgar Alexander Mearns has known Theodore Roosevelt since 1874. They collected natural history specimens on the Hudson River. Mearns and Roosevelt had a “speaking acquaintance” when Roosevelt was civil service commissioner. This document is a fragment.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1913-05
President Roosevelt is enjoying his time in Yellowstone with John Burroughs and encloses a skin and skull of a male microtus with measurements. Roosevelt encourages Dr. Merriam to “write the great monumental work on the mammals of North America.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-04-22
Theodore Roosevelt tells C. Hart Merriam that the five bobcat skulls are Merriam’s to keep. Merriam has given Roosevelt the information he wanted about deer. Roosevelt wishes that he had known that Merriam wanted blacktail deer specimens. He could have gotten these from the Little Missouri.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-05-29
Theodore Roosevelt has sent the missing mountain lion skull to C. Hart Merriam. This was the only cougar Roosevelt shot in the head, “I hung over a cliff by moonlight and brained it as it lay on a ledge below me.” Roosevelt used a 30-30 Winchester to shoot the mountain lion. He fears it will be of little use except for the teeth. Roosevelt asks Merriam for any pamphlets about deer in the U.S.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-05-14
Vice President Roosevelt will quote five or six of C. Hart Merriam’s lines in his article. Roosevelt has found his twelfth skull and asks if he should send it onto Merriam. Roosevelt would also like to know if the skulls should be kept in the skins or not. Roosevelt asks Merriam what he found out about the bobcat skulls.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-05-06
Theodore Roosevelt asks C. Hart Merriam if he has received the skulls, skins, and Roosevelt’s note on them. Roosevelt is eager to send his article on the hunt to Scribner’s.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-05-04
Theodore Roosevelt writes to C. Hart Merriam about the meaning of the word “species.” He feels the use of the word is simply a question of terminology. Roosevelt also recalls an argument between himself and Merriam about the connection between coyotes and wolves. Roosevelt also anticipates a delivery of lynx skins and skulls, as well as cougar skulls.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-04-08
If Theodore Roosevelt writes anything, George Bird Grinnell may also be able to get Elihu Root to contribute. Roosevelt will send the mountain lion skulls to Hart Merriam for examination.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-03-13
C. Hart Merriam thanks Theodore Roosevelt for the skin and skeleton of the dark-colored wolf from north of Quebec. This is the first skin from eastern Canada.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1917-01-19
Charles D. Walcott signed a letter to Henry Fairfield Osborn notifying him of the transfer of two white rhinoceros skins that Theodore Roosevelt collected. He was sorry to hear of Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt’s accident and hopes she is recovering, especially as he knows what it is like to have someone close experience a serious accident. Childs Frick and Edmund Heller are in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) to augment the specimens collected while on safari with Roosevelt. Walcott will soon be in New York City and hopes to see Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-03
R. J. Cuninghame thanks Theodore Roosevelt for the letter and pamphlet on animal coloration. He reports the success of several safaris and gives updates on some of their friends and fellow hunters.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-26
William Beebe is asking for Theodore Roosevelt’s help in obtaining permission from the Government in New York to send a man to the lighthouse and catch a bird specimen for research. Beebe also tells Roosevelt a little bit about his current research.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-05
Consul Mitchell notes that the post at Apia, Samoa, is not included in the bill currently before Congress regarding reorganizing the consular service. Personal reasons aside, he discusses why he believes this decision is unwise. He includes photographs of the takins he has presented to various museums. After turning fifty years old, Mitchell finds it important to exercise, especially in tropical climates.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-31