Roosevelt’s Winchester that he took to Africa tells us about his hunting days

“They weren’t thinking about hunting necessarily in the same terms that we might today, but they were thinking of collecting specifics for the natural history museum – really, taxidermy specimens to bring back for education and study purposes,” he said.

One of the firearms Roosevelt used on the trip, an 1895 Winchester lever action rifle, is now on display at the museum. Michael says the highly embellished rifle tells us a bit about who Roosevelt was as a hunter.

“A really Western identified gun in a Winchester lever action, with this idea of a big game cartridge that he used in Africa, with the wear to the artifact itself … There’s all these factors in the object to me that I think are representative of the person who used it,” he said.

Roosevelt is quoted saying the .405 caliber rifle was the “best medicine” for hunting lions. The former president published recollections of his trip in the book “African Game Trails.”