Why Thomas Jefferson Once Requested A Dead Moose Be Sent To Him

In his book “Wild Ones,” which describes Jefferson’s moose-hunting journey, Jon Mooallem says the story exemplifies the persistent, pride-obsessed American trope, almost like “an early American Costanza” from “Seinfeld” (via NPR). But did Jefferson’s efforts pay off, and did he successfully change the mind of European elitists like Buffon? 

It would be nice to think so, but unfortunately this sort of degeneracy theory persisted politically, while also appearing in literature and philosophy. For example, this idea was prevalent in the philosophies of Immanuel Kant, as well as the writings of John Keats, who wrote that America was the place where “great unerring Nature once seems wrong” (via “Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose: Natural History in Early America“).

According to American Scientist, we do know that the seven-foot moose was successfully delivered to Buffon’s doorstep in October 1787. However, Buffon was sick and away at the time, and although he allegedly promised to “set these things right” in his next naturalist volume, he wasn’t able to do so before he died (via American Scientist).

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