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The enduring friendship between President and Portrait literary naturalist John Burroughs was rooted in both men’s deep love of a and respect for nature. FrieNdship BY EDWARD J. RENEHAN, JR.

Near the end of February, 1919, The Century Association of held a memorial meet- Ning to honor Theodore Roosevelt, the recently deceased former president. Former Secretary of State Elihu Root addressed the gathering, as did explorer Carl Akeley and other dignitaries. Publisher George Haven Putnam presided, and in that capacity read letters sent by several close Roosevelt associates, among them Senator Henry Cabot Lodge and the octogenarian literary naturalist John Burroughs. “Never before in my life has it been so hard for me to accept the death of any man…” Burroughs wrote. “…Roosevelt was a many-sided man, and every side was like an electric battery.” Burroughs had been fifty-one, and Roosevelt just thirty, when the two met at a New York club in early 1889. Late in his life, Burroughs would still recall Roosevelt’s tight, energetic

AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY HISTORY AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL handshake and the crisp staccato of his voice as John Burroughs (left) joined President Theodore he praised Burroughs’ recent books Pepacton Roosevelt (center) on an inspection tour of (1881), Fresh Fields (1884), and Signs and Seasons Yellowstone Park in 1903. (1886). After that meeting, a correspondence

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blossomed. Before long, the younger Roosevelt took to employing the Dutch expression for uncle— Oom—as a mark of his affectionate respect for “Oom John.” A Friendship of Contrasts United by their love for nature, Burroughs and Roosevelt could not have otherwise been more different. Burroughs came from an undistin- guished family, had been raised in the rural , and was largely self-educated. While writing books filled with artful, unscientific appre- LIBRARY COLLEGE HARVARD COLLECTION, THEODORE ROOSEVELT ciations of birds and wildflowers, he made ends (1895–97), assistant secretary of the Navy To Theodore and meet by running a fruit farm on the banks of (1897–98), commander of the , the Hudson River at Esopus, New York. Personally (1898), (1898–1900), the flying squirrels he was shy, reticent, and soft-spoken—more at U.S. vice president (1900), and finally president in , their home with birds and books than with people. of the United States for nearly two terms Virginia cabin, In contrast, the Harvard-trained Roosevelt (1901–09), following the assassination of were charming. exuded the self-confidence one would expect To John Burroughs, President William McKinley. from a scion of New York’s Knickerbocker they were pests. aristocracy. His grandfather, C.V.S. Roosevelt, had The Homebody and the Adventurer owned much of Manhattan. His father, Theodore Burroughs admired Thoreau, of whom it was Roosevelt Sr., gained fame as a philanthropist. said that he’d “traveled widely in Concord.” And an uncle, Robert B. Roosevelt (whose books Inspired by a similar instinct, Burroughs rarely included The Game Birds of North America, strayed far from the sixty-square-mile region published in 1866), enjoyed prominence as one embracing his Ulster County farm (which of the country’s earliest and most eloquent President Roosevelt visited in the summer of conservationists. Like his “Uncle Rob,” and unlike 1903) and his ancestral lands in the Catskills the apolitical Burroughs, young TR boasted a near Roxbury, New York. Only occasionally strong track record as an could he be lured away for activist in the fight for wildlife extended periods—usually and wildlands preservation. when wealthy and powerful Indeed, he had helped found United by their love friends beckoned. In 1899, America’s first true conserva- for nature, the railway mogul E.H. tion organization, The Boone Harriman enticed Burroughs and Crockett Club, in 1887. Burroughs and to join his well-appointed As of 1889, Burroughs and expedition to Alaska. Four Roosevelt had written nine Roosevelt could not years later, TR insisted he come and eight books respectively. have otherwise been along on a presidential But in addition to creating inspection tour of Yellowstone literature, TR put in three more different. Park. Finally, starting in the terms (1882–84) as a New early teens of the twentieth York State assemblyman century, automaker (during one of which he became minority talked Burroughs into several junkets, during leader), served as a New York delegate to the which the two, accompanied by 1884 Republican Convention, and ran for and Harvey Firestone, hopscotched the forests mayor of in 1886. He joined the of New England, the Smoky Mountains, and the U.S. Civil Service Commission (1889–95) before Adirondacks in a fleet of Ford touring cars. becoming New York City’s police commissioner Burroughs‘ plush explorations with Harriman

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and Ford were elaborate catered affairs much to United States that he placed under federal pro- his liking, for the ostensibly woodsy Burroughs tection totals approximately 230 million acres. did not do well when traveling without his crea- Amid all this conservation activity, Roosevelt ture comforts. Roosevelt, on the other hand, continued to distinguish himself as one of the disdained soft living and embraced the hard- country’s leading observers of birds and other ships of life afield. Thus, during their two-week wildlife, a dexterity to which Burroughs often— trip to Yellowstone, TR was not receptive when though not always—bowed. “The one subject Burroughs complained about long horseback I…know,” Burroughs confessed in 1919, “and rides across snow-packed mountains, sparse ought to know, is the birds. It has been one of tenting accommodations, and unpredictable the main studies of a long life. [But Roosevelt scheduling of meals. He wished as well that TR understood ornithology] as well as I did, while would simply slow down: “We saw no birds,” he knew with the same thoroughness scores of he moaned three years later after yet another other subjects of which I am entirely ignorant.” excursion with Roosevelt, a Nevertheless, Burroughs hike along Rock Creek in sometimes questioned TR’s Washington, D.C. “They ornithological infallibility. In could not keep up with us. Roosevelt took to February, 1906 at a I haven’t walked at such a luncheon, Roosevelt turned to pace in years.” employing the Dutch Burroughs and said, “Oom During 1908, when expression for uncle— John, this morning I heard a Burroughs joined Theodore chippy sparrow and he sang, and Edith Roosevelt for a OOM—as a mark of his ‘twee, twee,’ right in my ear.” weekend at their rural Burroughs shook his head. Virginia cabin called Pine affectionate respect “Mr. President, you must be Knot, he once again found for Burroughs. mistaken. It was not a chippy the Rooseveltian lifestyle sparrow if it sang, ‘twee, twee.’ too hardy and close to the The note of the chippy spar- NEW YORK STATE ARCHIVES NEW YORK STATE bone. By TR’s account, row is ‘twee, twee, twee.’” John Burroughs fell into “disgrace” one night when According to a witness, from that moment on the Burroughs he accosted some flying squirrels ensconced in president of the United States and his friend the cabin’s uninsulated and largely unfurnished ignored all others at the table and launched into sleeping space. “Mother and I do not mind [the an argument, loud and protracted, as to squirrels] at all, and indeed rather like to hear whether the chipping sparrow’s song consisted them scrambling about…” TR wrote his son of two notes or three. Archie. “But [Burroughs] spent a misguided Burroughs and Roosevelt found themselves hour hunting for the nest…” Burroughs and TR in complete agreement, however, when Burroughs enjoyed themselves nonetheless, identifying published his article “Real and Sham Natural seventy-five different birds in the course of their History” in the May, 1903 Atlantic Monthly. The Pine Knot weekend. piece criticized (author of Wild Animals I Have Known) and the Rev. Attacking the “Nature Fakers” William J. Long (whose books included School After his rise to the White House in 1901, TR of the Woods) for misstating established facts established fifty-one bird reserves, four game of nature in order to achieve literary effect. preserves, and 150 national forests. He also Roosevelt subsequently joined the attack in launched the U.S. Forest Service, created five 1907 when he helped orchestrate a symposium national parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities titled “Real Naturalists on Nature Faking,” which Act, under which he proclaimed no less than was published in the September issue of eighteen national monuments. The area of the Everybody’s Magazine. In his own contribution

NEW YORK archives • WINTER 2004 NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY when hereceived word ofTR’s deathin1919. and friends,Burroughs sincerely mourned the twooldcomradesremained correspondents promised articlenevermaterialized. get thestory“inshapetosuitme.”But Burroughs replied vaguelythathewouldtryto you andIlookedatbirds together, recorded.” were myguestwhenIwasPresident, andthat wrote in1913,“andIwantthefactthatyou tour. “Iamveryproud ofyou,OomJohn,”he he’d previously documentedtheirYellowstone memoir oftheirweekendatPineKnot,justas r war effort againstGermany. HeaskedBurroughs for preparedness andinterventionintheAllied Doubt” in1914before hometolobby returning took anear-fatal explorationofBrazil’s “Riverof ended indefeat1912.Thereafter, heunder- his doomed“BullMoose”presidential bid,which spent ayearabroad before tomount returning narrated thepair’s adventures atYellowstone. and Tramping withRoosevelt),inwhichhe (expanded andreissued oneyearlateras 1906 volume,CampingwithPresidentRoosevelt Burroughs, pennedathinbutadoring inturn, of anAmericanHuntertoBurroughs in1905. Roosevelt dedicatedhisbookOutdoorPastimes ofDebt A Sense encourage untruth.” entitles themtorespect, yetcondoneand committed byallwho,holdingapositionthat therefore wefeelthatagravewrong is natural historyasmuchinanyother, and deliberate orreckless untruthinthisstoryof to thatenterprise,Rooseveltwrote: “We abhor epeatedly duringthisperiodtocomposea TR washurtbyBurroughs’s reticence. Still, After TRlefttheWhiteHousein1909,he Camping zon ofthisworld.” ed, beyondthehori which weallare head- long trail,thatoneto hike togetheronthe talk rightnowasthey having anexcellent wished. Itrusttheyare dear fathercouldhave good afriendasmy T a manastheycome,” Burroughs’ HudsonRiverfarm. “Hewasasfine latter’s cabin,calledSlabsides,notfarfrom idyllic daysandnightswith“OomJohn”atthe Roosevelt, Jr. Asaboy, Ted hadspentseveral himwasTheodore Among thosewhomourned few daysshortofhiseighty-fourthbirthday. only rarely from asenseofdebt.” son afterhe’dfinishedit.“Goodprose sprouts “Theessayiswanting,”hetoldhis in Virginia. plain, listlessaccountofbirding withRoosevelt few monthslater, Burroughs finallydictateda he wrote, “notallthetimewithdryeyes.”A at thenewgrave.“Spend[sic]ahalfhourthere,” home, ,andalsopaidhisrespects where hevisitedRoosevelt’s widowEdithattheir Burroughs traveledtoOysterBay, LongIsland wrote. Two weeksafterRoosevelt’s passing, “I canhardly speakhisnamewithouttears,”he Albert BergCollection included theHenry& Sources forthisarticle Roosevelt BirthplaceMuseum inManhattan. Historic SiteinOysterBayand theTheodore the collectionsatSagamore HillNational of Burroughs’sonJulian.Also valuablewere State LibraryinAlbany, whichhousesthepapers Roosevelt andBurroughs;theNewYork which containmaterialrelatedtoboth of NaturalHistory, the AmericanMuseum items; thearchivesof many JohnBurroughs Library, whichholds at theNewYork Public Burroughs about his friend Theodore Roosevelt. abouthisfriend Burroughs not ontheplanet, to-day,”if John anadoring wrote manonthecontinent, “He isdoubtlessthemostvital ed wrote, “andas Burroughs diedinthespring of1921,justa ■ - M at Gardiner, Ye to at theentrance Rooseve and Burroughs NEW YORK STATE YORKNEW LIBRARY llowstone Parkllowstone ontana. lt arrive lt arrive www.nysarchives.org 23