Among the notable articles in the present volume, one of the most important is Mr. Roosevelt’s account of his visit to the Yellowstone National Park in April, 1903.  The Park is an object lesson, showing very clearly what complete game protection will do to perpetuate species, and Mr. Roosevelt’s account of what may be seen there is so convincing that all who read it, and appreciate the importance of preserving our large mammals, must become advocates of the forest reserve game refuge system.

Quite as interesting, in a different way, is Mr. Brown’s contribution to the definition and the history of our larger North American mammals.  To characterize these creatures in language “understanded of the people” is not easy, but Mr. Brown has made clear the zoological affinities of the species, and has pointed out their probable origin.

This is the fourth of the Boone and Crockett Club’s books, and the first to be signed by a single member of the editorial committee, one name which usually appears on the title page having been omitted for obvious reasons.  The preceding volume—­Trail and Camp Fire—­was published in 1897.

George bird 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.