Vtg Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher - Timothy Egan [Paperback] Timothy Egan by Egan Timothy

Author:Egan, Timothy [Egan, Timothy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Biography, Art
Amazon: B0BN6HV2Y2
Goodreads: 150878910
Publisher: Generic
Published: 2011-09-01T07:00:00+00:00

In the last full month of Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency, Curtis was invited to Washington for an informal sit-down with the writer-politician who had done so much for an unknown man from Seattle. Curtis raised an improbable idea with Upshaw: why not go with him to the White House? There, he could argue his people’s case.

In late February of 1909, Washington society opened its doors to the Shadow Catcher and his Indian friend. The president was the subject of much speculation over whether he would try to return to power in four years. Not a chance—he was off to Africa, he insisted, done with politics. The balloon figure of William Howard Taft, a walrus-mustachioed midwesterner given to long naps and multiple-course early-bird dinners, would soon be president. For Roosevelt, it was time to play again. He asked Curtis, who’d been such a kinetic companion at Teddy’s Sagamore Hill home, if he wanted to come along as photographer of his upcoming African safari. Curtis was flattered, but had no time for a yearlong diversion.

Exhibitions at galleries, clubs and the homes of political elites filled the Curtis calendar for the first few days in Washington. He was honored at a reception attended by Roosevelt and Taft, by ambassadors, counts, foreign ministers and “a score of the most prominent people in Washington’s social and scientific circles,” the Post reported. In its pages, Curtis was described as “perhaps the greatest living authority on Indian lore and Indian life in general.” Despite such accolades, he had yet to snag a subscription from the Smithsonian. While in the East, he did manage to get Andrew Carnegie to sign on for a single set of the books, and he used the praise from prominent figures to add an additional few to his list. The checks passed quickly through Curtis’s account and into those of Hodge, Myers, Upshaw, the printers in Boston and other creditors.

Curtis and the Crow native walked into the White House on the afternoon of February 25. Roosevelt was hearty in his greeting and open to hearing Upshaw’s case, at least for a few moments. That was all well and good, he said quickly, but the Indian should take up his grievances with the new man, Taft. They toured the White House, they shared a meal, they talked of mountain ranges and rivers in the West and of wild creatures on the Dakota plains. Such lovely country, all of it. And the work of Curtis—it was bully! Curtis thanked him again for his contribution to The North American Indian, and Roosevelt said it was nothing; he was humbled to be a part of something so monumental.

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