1906: For presentation to Teddy Roosevelt
In a previous post, I reported that US President Teddy Roosevelt spoke Chinook.
Here’s a Chinuk Wawa restaurant menu that I’ve managed to write about a couple of times already.
Today I come back to it because I’ve found out that it was going to be presented to T.R. himself!
The HERALD is obliged to Mose Freeland, the popular caterer of Hoquiam, for a copy of his souvenir bill of fare in the Chinook language, which he had printed for presentation to President Roosevelt and the Washington delegation in congress.
— from the Aberdeen (WA) Herald of March 26, 1906, page 5, column 3
This isn’t the only Chinook Jargon item presented to an American president; Taft was the recipient of an invitation to the Seattle Press Club in CJ.
And of course a number of other presidents spoke this language, especially the several who had served in the Army in the Pacific Northwest just before the Civil War.
