20. Thomas Jefferson’s Nutty Quest for a Giant Moose
Thomas Jefferson showed up at Count Georges-Louis Leclerc Buffon’s home, ready for a confrontation. The Frenchman diplomatically put off his nutty guest, and delayed the debate for another time. However, halfway through the dinner, somebody mentioned the North American moose. Buffon declared that an animal of such size could not possibly exist in the continent’s poor environment. A furious Jefferson sent a flurry of letters to America, and begged that somebody, anybody, kill the biggest moose they could find, and ship it to him in Paris.
Finally, New Hampshire’s governor sent out hunters in the dead of winter to shoot the biggest moose they could bag. They did, then dragged it back to civilization for two weeks through heavy snow. A taxidermist stuffed it, before it was shipped to France. However, the taxidermist was inept, and the moose arrived in Paris in 1787 as a putrid mess. A triumphant Jefferson immediately sent the fetid carcass to Buffon, with a letter that told him to picture it with more fur and antlers. Unfortunately, Jefferson never got a retraction from Buffon: the Count died before he could publicly disavow his claims.