RD GRINNELL.

NEW YORK, April 2, 1904.

American Big Game in Its Haunts

[Illustration: Theodore Roosevelt]

[Illustration: President Roosevelt and Major Pitcher]

FOUNDER OF THE BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB.

It was at a dinner given to a few friends, who were also big-game
hunters, at his New York house, in December, 1887, that Theodore
Roosevelt first suggested the formation of the Boone and Crockett
Club. The association was to be made up of men using the rifle in
big-game hunting, who should meet from time to time to discuss subjects
of interest to hunters. The idea was received with enthusiasm, and the
purposes and plans of the club were outlined at this dinner.

Mr. Roosevelt was then eight years out of college, and had already made
a local name for himself. Soon after graduation he had begun to display
that energy which is now so well known; he had entered the political
field, and been elected member of the New York Legislature, where he
served from 1882 to 1884. His honesty and courage made his term of
service one long battle, in which he fought with equal zeal the unworthy
measures championed by his own and the opposing political party. In 1886
he had been an unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of New York, being
defeated by Abram S. Hewitt.

Up to the time of the formation of the Boone and Crockett Club, the
political affairs with which Mr. Roosevelt had concerned himself had
been of local importance, but none the less in the line of training for
more important work; but his activities were soon to have a wider range.

In 1889 the President of the United States appointed him member of the
Civil Service Commission, where he served until 1895. In 1895 he was
appointed one of the Board of Police Commissioners of New York City, and
became President of the Board, serving here until 1897. In 1897 he was
appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and served for about a year,
resigning in 1898 to raise the First United States Volunteer
Cavalry. The service done by the regiment--popularly called Roosevelt's
Rough Riders--is sufficiently well known, and Mr. Roosevelt was promoted
to a Colonelcy for conspicuous gallantry at the battle of Las
Guasimas. At the close of the war with Spain, Mr. Roosevelt became
candidate for Governor of New York. He was elected, and served until
December 31, 1900. In that year he was elected Vice-President of the
United States on the ticket with Mr. McKinley, and on the death of