Teddy Roosevelt’s $50,000 Snake

Or, Why It’s So Hard to Measure a Snake.

Way back at the beginning of Twentieth Century, before there were any world wars — not even a great one — President Theodore Roosevelt wanted to buy a snake. But it couldn’t be just any snake. It had to be alive and in good health — but most importantly — it had to be 30 feet or more in length. That would make it the longest snake ever found.

Teddy Roosevelt was willing to pay $1,000 for this snake — about twice as much as a brand new Model T at the time. For all his travels into the deepest corners of the jungle and his pursuit of Big Game on the African plains, he had never captured a snake of that size. No one had. There had been plenty of rumors of course. Tales of truly massive snakes out there somewhere, waiting to be discovered, but nothing scientifically verified. Now Teddy Roosevelt was at the end of his life. Soon he would lose his bid for a third presidential term. During that campaign, he would survive an assassination attempt only to nearly die during an exploration of the Amazon basin a few years later. That would be his last expedition. The former president knew he would not be the one to find a giant snake. So he offered a cash reward for anyone who could bring it to him. No one would claim that prize within his lifetime, but the reward would outlive him.