Theodore Roosevelt Announces That He Will Try the New Winchester Rifle, the Future Weapon of the Officers of the Rough Riders

Theodore Roosevelt loved the outdoor life, and felt the most alive when out in the open air of the wilderness. Born with physical ailments, he saw these as a challenge. His son Kermit tells of TR’s trips with his children, in which he would challenge them to get from point A to point B moving only in a straight line, going around nothing, not even a river or mountain, to arrive at the destination.  In crucial moments of his life, he sought the solace of the outdoors.  When his wife and mother died, he looked to a rancher’s life in the West.  And when the tumult of politics was over and his second presidential term had passed, he again turned to the outdoors and hunting for reinvigoration.

Though an avid hunter, Roosevelt was actually a poor shot due to trouble with eyesight, which spectacles could only partially help. When a rifle was needed for hunting, the repeating-action Winchester was his choice.

The Winchester 1876 (45-75) was Roosevelt’s first hunting rifle, which he purchased for himself at the age of 22.  By the year of 1887, when Roosevelt actually received his 1886 Winchester Model (45-90), Roosevelt had become a household name, especially among hunters. The 45-90 packed a bit more punch than his 1876 45-75. This rifle may have saved his life.  One of Roosevelt’s greatest hunting stories is of him, this rifle, and a grizzly bear.

When the Rough Riders formed in 1898, Roosevelt made sure the officers were outfitted with the 1895 Winchester (303), the same cartridge used by the noncommissioned officers for their Springfields. Roosevelt would have been pictured with his 1895 Winchester in the famous picture atop San Juan Hill, had he not given it to another soldier who arrived late to the troop and was without a rifle.

Col. William Cary Sanger was a New York State Assemblyman. Sanger served in the State Assembly from 1895 to 1897.  Like Roosevelt, he served in the Spanish American War, and later was appointed Inspector by Governor Theodore Roosevelt at the end of 1899.  Sanger was appointed Assistant Secretary of War by President William McKinley in 1901, and continued under McKinley’s successor, Roosevelt, until 1903.

In 1895, Roosevelt became president of the board of the New York City Police Commissioners and remained there for two years.

Typed letter signed, on Police Department letterhead, New York, June 2, 1896, to Col. Sanger.  “My dear Col. Sanger – The weapon that I have used for the last ten years is a 45.90 Winchester. It is a good weapon, though I was never able to do quite enough good shooting with it as with the old 45.75; but I myself think of getting this year one of the new .303 Winchesters, with a half-jacket bullet, that is the outside coat of hard metal stripped off the front half of the bullet.  I am informed by a Colorado friend that this weapon is a great improvement on the old style, especially for antelope and elk.  I wish you luck on your hunting trip.”