page_title: Homer Davenport
section_title: Desert journey
hierarchical_section_title: Homer Davenport / Arabian horse breeder / Desert journey
caption_attribution_description: English: Wadduda, desertbred Arabian mare, circa 1906. From Davenport's caption, "My Royal Present, Wadduda, the War Mare, with Said Abdullah."
context_page_description: Homer Calvin Davenport 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.
context_section_description: In 1906, Davenport, with Bradley's financial backing, used his political connections, particularly those with President Theodore Roosevelt, to obtain the diplomatic permissions required to travel into the lands controlled by the Ottoman Empire.  Roosevelt himself was interested in breeding quality cavalry horses, had tried but failed to get Congress to fund a government cavalry stud farm, and considered Arabian blood useful for army horses.  Davenport originally intended to travel alone, but was soon joined by two young associates anxious for an adventure in the Middle East: C. A. "Arthur" Moore Jr., and John H. "Jack" Thompson Jr. He traveled throughout what today is Syria and Lebanon, and successfully brought 27 horses to America.
  To travel to the Middle East and purchase horses, Davenport needed to obtain diplomatic permission from the government of the Ottoman Empire, and specifically from Sultan Abdul Hamid II.  In December 1905, Davenport approached President Roosevelt for help, and in January 1906, Roosevelt provided him a letter of support that he was able to present to the Turkish Ambassador to the United States, Chikeb Bey, who contacted the Sultan. To the surprise of both Davenport and the Ambassador, the permit, called an Iradé, was granted, allowing the export of "six or eight" horses.   Davenport and his traveling companions left the United States on July 5, 1906, traveling to France by ship and from there to Constantinople by train.  
  Upon arrival, the Iradé was authenticated, and clarified that Davenport would be allowed to export both mares and stallions. Davenport's accomplishment was notable for several reasons.  It was the first time Arabian horses officially had been allowed to be exported from the Ottoman Empire in 35 years. It was also notable that Davenport not only was able to purchase stallions, which were often available for sale to outsiders,  but also mares, which were treasured by the Bedouin; the best war mares generally were not for sale at any price.
  Before Davenport left Constantinople to travel to Aleppo and then into the desert, he visited the royal stables, and also took advantage of an opportunity to view the Sultan during a public appearance.  He displayed his artistic ability and talent for detail by sketching several portraits of Abdul Hamid II from memory about a half-hour after observing him, as Davenport believed the ruler unwilling to have his image drawn. Davenport's personal impression of the Sultan was sympathetic, viewing him as a frail, elderly man burdened by the weight of his office but kind and fatherly to his children. Davenport compared his appearance as a melding of the late congressman from Maine, Nelson Dingley, with merchant and philanthropist Nathan Straus, commenting of the Sultan, "I thought ... that no matter what crimes had been charged to him, his expressionless soldiers, his army and its leaders were possibly more to blame than he." Believing that he needed to keep his sketches a secret, he carried the sketch book in a hidden pocket throughout his journey, and at customs smuggled it onto the steamer home hidden inside a bale of hay.
  One reason for Davenport's success in obtaining high-quality, pure-blooded Arabian horses was his (possibly accidental) decision to breach protocol and visit Akmet Haffez, a Bedouin who served as a liaison between the Ottoman government and the tribal people of the Anazeh, before calling upon the Governor of Syria, Nazim Pasha.  Haffez considered the timing of Davenport's visit a great honor, and gave Davenport his finest mare, a war mare named *Wadduda.   Not to be outdone, the Pasha gave Davenport the stallion *Haleb, who was a well-respected sire throughout the region, known as the "Pride of the Desert." Haleb had been given to the Pasha as a reward for keeping the camel tax low. Haffez then personally escorted Davenport into the desert, and at one point in the journey the two men took an oath of brotherhood.  Haffez helped arrange for the best-quality horses to be presented, negotiated fair prices, and verified that their p
caption: *Wadduda,[b] the war mare
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