American Big Game in Its Haunts | Page 4

and not as a
master, which he has never lost; and it is precisely this democratic
spirit which to-day makes him perhaps the most popular man in the
United States at large.
Starting off, then, on some trip of several hundred miles, with a
companion who might be guide, helper, cook, packer, or what
not--sometimes efficient, and the best companion that could be desired,
at others, perhaps, hopelessly lazy and worthless, and even with a stock
of liquor cached somewhere in the packs--Mr. Roosevelt helped to pack
the horses, to bring the wood, to carry the water, to cook the food, to
wrangle the stock, and generally to do the work of the camp, or of the
trail, so long as any of it remained undone. His energy was
indefatigable, and usually he infected his companion with his own
enthusiasm and industry, though at times he might have with him a
man whom nothing could move. It is largely to this energy and this
determination that he owes the good fortune that has usually attended
his hunting trips.
As the years have gone on, fortunes have changed; and as duties of one
kind and another have more and more pressed upon him, Mr. Roosevelt
has done less and less hunting; yet his love for outdoor life is as keen as
ever, and as Vice-President of the United States, he made his
well-remembered trip to Colorado after mountain lions, while more
recently he hunted black bears in the Mississippi Valley, and still more
lately killed a wild boar in the Austin Corbin park in New Hampshire.
Mr. Roosevelt's accession to the Presidential chair has been a great
thing for good sportsmanship in this country. Measures pertaining to
game and forest protection, and matters of sport generally, always have
had, and always will have, his cordial approval and co-operation. He is
heartily in favor of the forest reserves, and of the project for
establishing, within these reserves, game refuges, where no hunting

whatever shall be permitted. Aside from his love for nature, and his
wish to have certain limited areas remain in their natural condition,
absolutely untouched by the ax of the lumberman, and unimproved by
the work of the forester, is that broader sentiment in behalf of humanity
in the United States, which has led him to declare that such refuges
should be established for the benefit of the man of moderate means and
the poor man, whose opportunities to hunt and to see game are few and
far between. In a public speech he has said, in substance, that the rich
and the well-to-do could take care of themselves, buying land, fencing
it, and establishing parks and preserves of their own, where they might
look upon and take pleasure in their own game, but that such a course
was not within the power of the poor man, and that therefore the
Government might fitly intervene and establish refuges, such as
indicated, for the benefit and the pleasure of the whole people.
In April, 1903, the President made a trip to the Yellowstone Park, and
there had an opportunity to see wild game in such a forest refuge, living
free and without fear of molestation. Long before this Mr. Roosevelt
had expressed his approval of the plan, but his own eyes had never
before seen precisely the results accomplished by such a refuge. In
1903 he was able to contrast conditions in the Yellowstone Park with
those of former years when he had passed through it and had hunted on
its borders, and what he saw then more than ever confirmed his
previous conclusions.
Although politics have taken up a large share of Mr. Roosevelt's life,
they represent only one of his many sides. He has won fame as a
historical writer by such books as "The Winning of the West," "Life of
Gouverneur Morris," "Life of Thomas Hart Benton," "The Naval War
of 1812," "History of New York," "American Ideals and Other Essays,"
and "Life of Cromwell." Besides these, he has written "The Strenuous
Life," and in somewhat lighter vein, his "Wilderness Hunter," "Hunting
Trips of a Ranchman," "Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail," and "The
Rough Riders" deal with sport, phases of nature and life in the wild
country. For many years he was on the editorial committee of the
Boone and Crockett Club, and edited its publications, "American Big
Game Hunting," "Hunting in Many Lands," and "Trail and Camp Fire."
Mr. Roosevelt was the first president of the Boone and Crockett Club,
and continues actively interested in its work. He was succeeded in the

presidency of the Club by the late Gen. B.H. Bristow.
[Illustration: Tourists and Bears]

Wilderness Reserves
The practical common sense of the American people has been in no
way made more evident during the last