Theodore Roosevelt and Six Friends of the Indian

by William Thomas Hagan

In Theodore Roosevelt and Six Friends of the Indian, William T. Hagan describes the efforts by six prominent individuals and two institutions to influence the conduct of Indian affairs during the administrations of President Theodore Roosevelt. The institutions are the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions and the Indian Rights Association. The six men are Francis E. Leupp, Herbert Welsh, C. Hart Merriam, George Bird Grinnell, Charles F. Lummis, and Hamlin Garland. Each of these men attempted to influence the implementation of Indian policy. All had had some contact with Roosevelt prior to his presidency, and some had sought his intercession on Indian affairs when he served as Civil Service commissioner, governor of New York, and U.S. vice president. As a result of these contacts, Roosevelt entered the White House relatively well informed on tribal affairs. As president he proved remarkably responsive to the six men's views, even when it brought him into conflict with members of his own c