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Homer Calvin Davenport (March 8, 1867 – May 2, 1912) was a political cartoonist and writer from the United States. He is known for drawings that satirized figures of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, most notably Ohio Senator Mark Hanna. Although Davenport had no formal art training, he became one of the highest paid political cartoonists in the world. Davenport also was one of the first major American breeders of Arabian horses and one of the founders of the Arabian Horse Club of America. A native Oregonian, Davenport developed interests in both art and horses as a young boy. He tried a variety of jobs before gaining employment as a cartoonist, initially working at several newspapers on the West Coast, including ''The San Francisco Examiner'', purchased by William Randolph Hearst. His talent for drawing and interest in Arabian horses dovetailed in 1893 at the ''Chicago Daily Herald'' when he studied and drew the Arabian horses exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition. When Hearst obtained the ''New York Morning Journal'' in 1895, money was no object in his attempt to establish the ''Journal'' as a leading New York newspaper, and Hearst moved Davenport east in 1885 to be part of what is regarded as one of the greatest newspaper staffs ever assembled. Working with columnist Alfred Henry Lewis, Davenport created many cartoons in opposition to the 1896 Republican presidential candidate, former Ohio governor William McKinley, and Hanna, his campaign manager. McKinley was elected and Hanna elevated to the Senate; Davenport continued to draw his sharp cartoons during the 1900 presidential race, though McKinley was again victorious. In 1904, Davenport was hired away from Hearst by the ''New York Evening Mail'', a Republican paper, and there drew a favorable cartoon of President Theodore Roosevelt that boosted Roosevelt's election campaign that year. The President in turn proved helpful to Davenport in 1906 when the cartoonist required diplomatic permission to travel abroad in his quest to purchase pure desertbred Arabian horses. In partnership with millionaire Peter Bradley, Davenport traveled extensively amongst the Anazeh people of Syria and went through a brotherhood ceremony with the Bedouin leader who guided his travels. The 27 horses Davenport purchased and brought to America had a profound and lasting impact on Arabian horse breeding. Davenport's later years were marked by fewer influential cartoons and a troubled personal life; he dedicated much of his time to his animal breeding pursuits, traveled widely, and gave lectures. He was a lifelong lover of animals and of country living; he not only raised horses, but also exotic poultry and other animals. He died in 1912 of pneumonia, which he contracted after going to the docks of New York City to watch and chronicle the arrival of survivors of the ''Titanic''. == Childhood and early career == Davenport was born in 1867 in the Waldo Hills, several miles south of Silverton, Oregon. His parents were Timothy Woodbridge and Florinda Willard (Geer) Davenport.〔 He had an older sister, Orla, and his parents had previously lost two other children in infancy. Timothy Davenport was one of the founders of the Republican Party in Oregon and served as an Oregon state representative, state senator, and an Indian agent. He ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives in 1874.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Guide to the Davenport Family Papers 1848–1966 )〕 Florinda was an admirer of the political cartoons of Thomas Nast that appeared in Harper's Weekly. While pregnant with Homer, she developed a belief, which she viewed as a prophecy, that her child would become as famous a cartoonist as Nast. She was also influenced by the essay "How To Born A Genius," by Russell Trall, and closely followed his recommendations for diet and "concentration" during her pregnancy. She died of smallpox in 1870, when Homer was three years old, and on her deathbed asked her husband to give Homer "every opportunity" to become a cartoonist. Young Davenport was given a box of paints as a Christmas gift. At this stage of his youth, as his father later stated, Homer also had "horse on the brain," and, cooped up inside during the winter of 1870–1871, Timothy told Homer stories of Arab people and their horses. Soon after, at the age of three years and nine months, the boy used his paints to produce an image he called "Arabian horses."〔Davenport, ''Arabian Horse'', pp. 1–2〕 He learned to ride on the family's pet horse, Old John.〔Davenport, ''Country Boy'', p. 27〕 Following his mother's death, both of Davenport's grandmothers helped raise him.〔Davenport, ''Country Boy'', p. 21〕 When he was seven, he and his father moved to Silverton—the cartoonist later recounted that the move to the community, about south of Portland and with a population of 300 at the time, was so he "might live in the Latin Quarter of that village and inhale any artistic atmosphere that was going to waste".〔Whyte, p. 154〕 Homer began to study music,〔Davenport, ''Country Boy'', p. 43〕 and was allowed to help Timothy clerk at the store the elder Davenport purchased when he first moved to Silverton.〔Davenport, ''Country Boy'', p. 40〕 Timothy required Homer to milk the cows, but otherwise Homer was to "study faces and draw."〔 He was well-liked by the villagers, but they considered him shiftless—they did not consider drawing to be real work. He exhibited a love of animals, especially fast horses and fighting cocks.〔 Davenport later wrote that his fascination with Arabian horses was reawakened in his adolescent years with his admiration of a picture of an Arabian-type horse found on an empty can of horse liniment. He carefully cleaned the can and kept it as his "only piece of artistic furniture" for many years until forced to leave it behind when he moved to San Francisco.〔Davenport, ''Arabian Horse'', pp. 2–3〕 He also played in the community band in his formative years, and with that group young Davenport once traveled as far as Portland.〔Davenport, ''Country Boy'', pp. 49–61〕 Davenport's initial jobs were not successful. His first position outside Silverton began when a small circus came to town, and Davenport, in his late teenage years, left with it. He was assigned as a clown and to care for the circus's small herd of horses, which he also sketched. He became disenchanted with the circus when he was told to brush the elephant's entire body with linseed oil, a difficult task. He left the tour and tried to succeed as a jockey, despite being tall. Other early positions included clerking in a store, working as a railway fireman,〔 and being a stoker on the ''Multnomah''. Although his work took him from Silverton, for the remainder of his life, Davenport was often melancholy for his native Oregon, and in writing to relatives there, he repeatedly told them not to send him anything that would remind him of Silverton, because he would be plunged into despair.〔Huot and Powers, pp. 9–10〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Homer Davenport」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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