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An exceptional find from the 1909 Smithsonian Africa Expedition.
I love the stories about the safari with Teddy and am very happy to have got hold of this original piece.
Greetings from Germany
Stefan
I have a modest collection of TR memorabilia, prints, photos, nick-nacks (all of which were produced in vast numbers, such was his popularity), but nothing so unique as this. Very nicely framed, too. (Best thing I have is probably one of his book-plates.) Looks like this dinner was given on his way to Africa, as the next port of call was in Italy, thence I’d guess to Suez.
Have you heard about the shocking, criminal, & utterly unbelievable fate of the greatest monument to TR ever constructed, other than Mt. Rushmore? I mean the magnificent bronze statue that used to stand at the entrance to the American Museum of Natural History in NYC (which his father had been instrumental in establishing), removed to placate the Burn, Loot, & Murder mobs two yrs ago. Only in Biden’s America could such a hateful crime be conceived & executed.
clarence said
Have you heard about the shocking, criminal, & utterly unbelievable fate of the greatest monument to TR ever constructed, other than Mt. Rushmore? I mean the magnificent bronze statue that used to stand at the entrance to the American Museum of Natural History in NYC (which his father had been instrumental in establishing), removed to placate the Burn, Loot, & Murder mobs two yrs ago. Only in Biden’s America could such a hateful crime be conceived & executed.
Go and crawl back under a rock Clarence. You are a disgrace to WACA and the collecting community
Micheal
Model 1892 / Model 61 Collector, Research, Valuation
twobit said
Go and crawl back under a rock Clarence. You are a disgrace to WACA and the collecting community
Micheal
Please identify any part of my statement that’s untrue. I know scores of folks in the collecting community, not ONE of whom would take issue with any word I said. On the other hand, I have to admit they may be prejudiced–not one Biden supporter among them. But I understand your sentiments…you must be feeling especially low after Beto’s defeat.
We collectors in particular must be aware that the world is constantly changing. What was socially normal 100 years ago is rightly frowned upon today. We are always evolving, mostly for the better.
But please don’t hijack my topic with today’s politics.
steff said
We collectors in particular must be aware that the world is constantly changing. What was socially normal 100 years ago is rightly frowned upon today. We are always evolving, mostly for the better.But please don’t hijack my topic with today’s politics.
Your topic was TR memorabilia, one of the most magnificent examples of which was vandalized by a rampaging mob, then removed altogether. That fact isn’t relevant? Or do you agree (as it appears you do) that it was “mostly for the better” to “evolve” it out of the place of honor it had occupied for nearly a century?
steff said
An exceptional find from the 1909 Smithsonian Africa Expedition.
I love the stories about the safari with Teddy and am very happy to have got hold of this original piece.
Greetings from Germany
Stefan
Back to the main topic… Very cool piece of history–congrats on a great find! Teddy Roosevelt ranks as one of the finest U.S. presidents in my opinion. He was a true sportsman with like-minded values. Sadly not a trait held by most of today’s politicians. If someone invents a time machine, I would be first in line and never come back!
Don
steff said
We collectors in particular must be aware that the world is constantly changing. What was socially normal 100 years ago is rightly frowned upon today. We are always evolving, mostly for the better.But please don’t hijack my topic with today’s politics.
Sorry Steff.
Post deleted.
You are right Bert. I apologize. Not for what I said but for putting it on here.
deerhunter said
Teddy Roosevelt ranks as one of the finest U.S. presidents in my opinion.
First President to invite a black man to the White House (Booker T. Washington), who always wrote respectfully about his African guides & trackers, & whose “big stick” metaphor was adopted (as he always acknowledged) from an African proverb.
Gentlemen;
Just as a friendly reminder, No personal attacks are acceptable on the WACA forums. Keep it friendly, and respect the written views of others whether you agree with them or not.
Bert – Admin
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
clarence said
deerhunter said
Teddy Roosevelt ranks as one of the finest U.S. presidents in my opinion.
First President to invite a black man to the White House (Booker T. Washington), who always wrote respectfully about his African guides & trackers, & whose “big stick” metaphor was adopted (as he always acknowledged) from an African proverb.
I have a great deal of respect for T.R. and it is a shame that so many of the monuments and statues of respected historical figures have been destroyed or removed and hidden away. The same thing is happening in Canada and I guess in most western countries where a small minority of people seemingly are allowed to vandalize public property and rewrite history without objectively studying the times and the mores of society in which these people lived. By the standards of today they are judged not by the standards of the times. Changes come slowly and even in our own times what was considered acceptable is no longer tolerated, nor should it be but we can’t condemn our ancestors because they didn’t live by our standards of what is right while ignoring the good that they accomplished. Sorry for the rant.
I do believe that Abraham Lincoln met with Frederick Douglass on several occasions and Douglass was at Lincoln’s second inauguration and Lincoln shook his hand in the Capital rotundra but I don’t know of any president prior to Lincoln who did or if Douglass went to the White House. I recently read about him and about his relationship with Lincoln.
Dave K. said
I have a great deal of respect for T.R. and it is a shame that so many of the monuments and statues of respected historical figures have been destroyed or removed and hidden away. The same thing is happening in Canada and I guess in most western countries where a small minority of people seemingly are allowed to vandalize public property and rewrite history without objectively studying the times and the mores of society in which these people lived. By the standards of today they are judged not by the standards of the times. Changes come slowly and even in our own times what was considered acceptable is no longer tolerated, nor should it be but we can’t condemn our ancestors because they didn’t live by our standards of what is right while ignoring the good that they accomplished. Sorry for the rant.
Never apologize for speaking the plain truth; especially when you’ll NEVER hear it mentioned in the main-stream media. “Allowed” is the operative term–in most cases the vandalism & destruction occurred not because the police were overwhelmed & unable to prevent it, but because liberal city mayors & other officials had ordered them not to interfere with the “rights” of the rioters to “express” themselves. As for the arrant stupidity of applying contemporary standards to the past, there’s a name for that, but don’t expect to hear it on PBS, CBC, BBC, etc.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presentism_(literary_and_historical_analysis)
G. W. Carver was the first to visit the White House, a major news story at the time, & condemned by TR’s political enemies.
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Vinny Martin
WACA President
November 7, 2015
Online
I imagine TR would have been quite the firearms enthusiast if he wasn’t more interested in flora and fauna. He had an incredible eye for detail as evidenced by his writings. Maybe I need to finish reading his “Ranchman” book this weekend.
Mike
TXGunNut said
I imagine TR would have been quite the firearms enthusiast if he wasn’t more interested in flora and fauna. He had an incredible eye for detail as evidenced by his writings. Maybe I need to finish reading his “Ranchman” book this weekend.
Mike
It’s true his interest in flora and fauna was a lifelong obsession (wrote the first published bird survey of the Adirondack Mts, my snowy abode, while still a Harvard freshman, & once corrected his friend John Burroughs, foremost bird authority of the time, on a point of bird identification), but that didn’t stop him from being “quite the firearms enthusiast.” He was a vocal & lifelong proponent of Winchester rifles, but his personal “enthusiasm” is best demonstrated by his design of what can be considered the first modern bolt-action sporter to achieve wide popularity in this country, his custom 1903 Springfield built in 1904. I’m not forgetting the Lee Sporter, but it died on the vine in this country, whereas TR’s prototype inspired the creation of tens of thousands of improved ’03 sporters, even one built by Winchester, the so-called “Sniper Rifle” of 1922, which in turn led to the Model 54.
November 7, 2015
Online
Thanks, Clarence. Wasn’t aware of his work with the 1903. I knew he was familiar with Winchester rifles and have spent a few hours in Cody’s TR room but the few of his books I’ve read include only passing references to rifles. My copy of “Ranchman” includes his book “The Wilderness Hunter” and I have my great-great-grandfather’s 1909 copy of Miller’s “Hunting Big Game in the Wilds of Africa”. It seems I have my homework assignment!
Mike
TXGunNut said
Thanks, Clarence. Wasn’t aware of his work with the 1903. I knew he was familiar with Winchester rifles and have spent a few hours in Cody’s TR room but the few of his books I’ve read include only passing references to rifles. My copy of “Ranchman” includes his book “The Wilderness Hunter” and I have my great-great-grandfather’s 1909 copy of Miller’s “Hunting Big Game in the Wilds of Africa”. It seems I have my homework assignment!
Mike
TR certainly liked his Winchesters, but he also liked his Bullard 
TXGunNut said
Thanks, Clarence. Wasn’t aware of his work with the 1903. I knew he was familiar with Winchester rifles and have spent a few hours in Cody’s TR room but the few of his books I’ve read include only passing references to rifles.
I’m afraid “passing references” are the rule & not the exception in all his books. I made a quick check of African Game Trails to see if it might contain more detail, but he describes his African battery in one sentence: his ’03, .405, & double-rifle. (Whereas he devotes 6 pages to discussing the books he brought with him, his famous “Pigskin Library”!) At another point he mentions that the ’03 was the lightest & handiest of his rifles, but confined its use to long range antelopes & such like. (Although Hemingway repeatedly took on lions with his similar ’03.) There are more brief comments of the kind scattered throughout this thick book, but nothing such as Whelen or Crossman might have written. Nor would there have been time for more extended gun-talk, as every page of the book is filled with observations on the geography, native customs, & of course the flora & fauna, no bird too small to escape his notice.
November 7, 2015
Online
Just finished re-reading the first chapter of “Ranchman” and enjoyed a little bit of writing about his favorite Winchester of the time (1885), a repeater in 45-75. I think we can safely assume it was a Model 1876 even though I didn’t find where he mentioned the actual model. Apparently it wasn’t necessary. His shotguns were likely custom built by artisans back east and he barely mentioned his Bullard. Through a happy accident of losing my bookmark I elected to start over on this book and the first chapter provided an interesting historian’s perspective on the “settling” of the West. TR’s description of the Bad Lands is a work of art rivaling Remington and Russell.
According to Ambrose in his introduction TR wrote 42 books. Add to that the hundreds of articles and shorter works and it can be a little mind-boggling.
Mike
Just finished re-reading the first chapter of “Ranchman” and enjoyed a little bit of writing about his favorite Winchester of the time (1885), a repeater in 45-75. I think we can safely assume it was a Model 1876 even though I didn’t find where he mentioned the actual model.
TXGunNut said
Sure, haven’t you seen that famous photo of him posing with his super-deluxe ’76, dressed in a massive overcoat? It’s almost as tall as he is. You can probably find it with an internet search.
Considering everything else he was occupied with during his busy lifetime, not least the time he lavished on his children, his literary output was mind-boggling. Somewhere I read that he wrote quickly, seldom making revisions; that’s done, what’s next?
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