mccutcheon's adventures included trips to africa to report on the boer war in 1900. he later returned to africa in 1909–10 to take part in big-game hunting and spent some time on safari with theodore roosevelt. in 1914, mccutcheon traveled to mexico, where he met and drew a portrait of pancho villa. during a trip to europe in 1914–16 as a war correspondent, mccutcheon was an eye-witness to the german invasion of belgium at the beginning of world war i. he also covered the war in england and france before returning to his work as a cartoonist in chicago.