Did you know a sword could be used to build relations between countries?

King Mongkut ruled Siam (now Thailand) from 1851 to 1868 and enjoyed good relations with American Presidents, as seen in letters preserved by the National Archives.

In a gesture of friendliness between the two countries, King Mongkut sent two gifts to President Buchanan during the last month of his administration: a Siamese sword and a photograph of the King with one of his children.

King Mongkut also wrote that he had heard the U.S. had no elephants. He offered a gift of elephants that could be "turned loose in forests and increase till [sic] there be large herds since elephants being animals of great size and strength can bear burdens and travel through uncleared woods and matted jungles where no carriage and cart roads have yet been made."

President Buchanan's successor, Abraham Lincoln, responded to the extraordinary offer. In a letter dated February 3, 1862, he graciously accepted the sword and photograph from the King but politely declined the elephants, explaining that the geography and climate of the United States do not "favor the multiplication of the elephant." You can read King Mongkut’s letter in our Catalog, National Archives Identifier 6923530.

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: Siamese sword with scabbard, c. February 14, 1861. National Archives Identifier: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5923141

: A list of presents sent to President Franklin Pierce by King Mongkut of Siam, including a royal portrait of King Mongkut and Princess Ramphoei Phamaraphirom, weapons, tobacco implements, and instruments. National Archives Identifier: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6923527

: Daguerreotype of the King and his daughter, Somdetch ChowFaying, February 14, 1861. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5918073
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