The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey

To Kermit and Cherrie’s Cherrie, Dark Trails.

  The young man lay Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Lectures Delivered on the 5th, 7th, and 9th of October, 1915 (Rio de Janeiro, 1916).

  Julio had shot Theodore Roosevelt, Through the Brazilian Wilderness (New York, 1914).

  “My eyes are better” Ibid.

  It had taken Lyra Rondon, Lectures.

  “in a blind rage” Kermit Roosevelt, Diary, April 7, 1914, KBRP.

  “When I met him” Esther de Viveiros, Rondon: Conta Sua Vida (Rio de Janeiro, 1958).

  “that the evil doer” Amilcar Botelho de Magalhães, Impressão da Comissão Rondon.

  As they argued Viveiros, Rondon.

  The two camaradas Cherrie, Dark Trails.

  “Perhaps hearing” Ibid.

  “His murderous hatred” Ibid.

  “the poor body” Ibid.

  “the bad destiny” Rondon, Lectures.

  While the officers stood Cherrie, Dark Trails.

  “reverently and carefully” Cherrie, Diary, April 3, 1914, AMNH.

  Together they laid Rondon, Lectures.

  “Then we left him” TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  One man was stationed Cherrie, Diary, April 3, 1914, AMNH.

  Since they could not risk Cherrie, Dark Trails

  As his chest heaved Rondon, Lectures.

  “As he and I went” Cherrie, Dark Trails.

  Kermit was acutely aware KR, Diary, April 2, 1914, KBRP.

  “There were a good many” George Cherrie, Memorial Meeting, March 1, 1919, TRC.

  “with the fire of decision” Cherrie, Dark Trails.

  So closely did Cajazeira, Relatório, Museo do Índio, Rio de Janeiro.

  As an added precaution Cherrie, Diary, April 4, 1914, AMNH.

  Cajazeira wrapped Roosevelt Cajazeira, Relatório.

  Roosevelt’s condition Ibid.

  Every six hours Exhibit, Relatório Geral, Museu de Republic.

  “only a few fractions” Cajazeira, Relatório.

  As his temperature Kermit Roosevelt, The Long Trail (New York, 1921).

  At about 2:00 a.m., Viveiros, Rondon. Rondon tried to reason with Roosevelt, but he was, the Brazilian colonel would later write, “restless and irritated by my resistance.” Finally, Rondon pointed out to Roosevelt that the expedition had both of their names on it. “For that reason,” the Brazilian said, “it is impossible for us to be separate.” (Viveiros, Rondon.)

  Rondon immediately ordered Rondon, Lectures.

  Cajazeira planned Cajazeira, Relatório.

  “I have fever” KR, Diary, April 5, 1914, KBRP.

  Later, when Antonio Cherrie, Diary, April 5, 1914, AMNH.

  Notwithstanding the monkeys’ TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  “I found” KR, Diary, April 5, 1914, KBRP.

  “The fresh meat” Cherrie, Dark Trails.

  “For the most part” Cherrie, Diary, April 6, 1914, AMNH.

  “Senhor Coronel!” Viveiros, Rondon.

  Rondon looked up Rondon, Lectures.

  CHAPTER 26: Judgment

  “imploring for mercy” Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Lectures Delivered on the 5th, 7th, and 9th of October, 1915 (Rio de Janeiro, 1916).

  “an arrant craven” Theodore Roosevelt, Through the Brazilian Wilderness (New York, 1914).

  “It is not possible” Esther de Viveiros, Rondon: Conta Sua Vida (Rio de Janeiro, 1958).

  Having said all Amilcar Botelho de Magalhães, Impressão da Commissão Rondon.

  They refused to look TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  Seated in different dugouts Rondon named the tributary the Rio Capitão Cardoso, in honor of one of his most valued soldiers, the man who had died from beriberi just before the expedition had reached the telegraph station at Cáceres. It was, he wrote, “a modest homage of the gratitude … which I owe to an old and constant companion in my work in the wilderness.” (Rondon, Lectures.)

  “Rondon,” Kermit wrote Kermit Roosevelt, Diary, April 6, 1914, KBRP.

  “the duty of a Brazilian officer” Rondon, Lectures.

  “What was our astonishment” George Cherrie, Diary, April 7, 1914, AMNH.

  “the clash was tremendous” Viveiros, Rondon.

  “could not legally” Ibid.

  “He, Colonel Rondon” TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  “To take the greatest advantage” Rondon, Lectures.

  “Today Col. Rondon” Cherrie, Diary, April 7, 1914, AMNH.

  When the camarada returned George Cherrie, Dark Trails (New York, 1930).

  “It may well be” Cherrie, Diary, April 7, 1914, AMNH.

  However, as well as Ibid.

  Slicing open its belly TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  For the Brazilians, such There is no modern scientific evidence that piraíba are man eaters.

  Cajazeira himself TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  Night had fallen Rondon, Lectures.

  “It was questionable” TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  According to one account Richard Chapelle, Les Hommes à la Ceinture d’Écorce (Paris, 1978).

  CHAPTER 27: The Cauldron

  In a rare moment Anthony Fiala, Appendix B, in Theodore Roosevelt, Through the Brazilian Wilderness (New York, 1914).

  Any hope that George Cherrie, Diary, April 9, 1914, AMNH.

  “On the 10th” TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  “How I longed” Ibid.

  “My supper” Cherrie, Diary, April 8, 1914, AMNH.

  The officers did their best TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  “The lack of” Cherrie, Diary, April 8, 1914, AMNH.

  “A long further delay” TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  “scarce able to stand” Cherrie, Diary, April 9, 1914, AMNH.

  Deeply concerned Kermit Roosevelt, Diary, April 15, 1914, KBRP.

  Kermit was so sick Cherrie, Diary, April 10, 1914, AMNH.

  Kermit had even written KR to Belle Willard, Jan. 2, 1914, KBRP.

  “something began to” Arkaday Fiedler, The River of Singing Fish (London, 1951).

  “The forest of the Amazons” H. M. Tomlinson, The Sea and the Jungle (Evanston, Ill., 1999).

  Cherrie discovered Cherrie, Diary, April 10, 1914, AMNH.

  “No sign of mental depression” Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Lectures Delivered on the 5th, 7th, and 9th of October, 1915 (Rio de Janeiro, 1916).

  For his trip to Africa Kermit Roosevelt, The Long Trail (New York, 1921).

  “The plans for the Brazilian” Ibid.

  Among the books TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  “These and many others” Ibid.

  “The choice from Longfellow’s” KR, The Long Trail.

  “For French verse” Ibid.

  On April 11, he finished KR, Diary, April 11, 1914, KBRP.

  “felt the need of” George Cherrie, Memorial Meeting, March 1, 1919, TRC.

  “Personally I feel” Cherrie, Diary, April 11, 1914, AMNH.

  “A precedence” Ibid.

  While waiting Cherrie, Diary, April 12, 1914, AMNH.

  Not only did the Ibid.

  CHAPTER 28: The Rubber Men

  “It is blasphemous” H. M. Tomlinson, The Sea and the Jungle (Evanston, Ill., 1999).

  “Into this rubbery wilderness” John Muir, John Muir’s Last Journey, Michael P. Branch, ed. (Washington, D.C., 2001).

  Thirty-six years earlier Barbara Weinstein, The Amazon Rubber Boom (Stanford, Calif., 1983).

  Labor in Malaysia Alex Shoumatoff, The Rivers Amazon (San Francisco, 1978).

  Because of the cost It was not until later that scientists realized that rubber tree cultivation would never work in the Amazon because the trees have too many natural enemies. In the wild, they protect themselves as a species by never living in a stand, thus making it difficult for a blight to spread from one tree to another. It is rare to find more than a single rubber tree pe
r acre in the Amazon. (Weinstein, Amazon Rubber Boom.)

  By the time Roosevelt’s Theodore Roosevelt, Through the Brazilian Widerness (New York, 1914).

  “Such a man” Ibid.

  The seringueiro’s day Claude Lévi-Strauss, Tristes Tropiques (New York, 1992).

  By 10:00 a.m. Weinstein, Amazon Rubber Boom; Lévi-Strauss, Tristes Tropiques.

  “red-letter day” TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  After launching their boats Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Lectures Delivered on the 5th, 7th, and 9th of October, 1915 (Rio de Janeiro, 1916).

  An hour later George Cherrie, Diary, April 15, 1914, AMNH.

  The house belonged TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  “So none of the provisions” Cherrie, Diary, April 15, AMNH.

  Little more than a mile Rondon, Lectures.

  When Rondon saw Marques Ibid.

  The former president Cajazeira, Relatório, Museo do Índio, Rio de Janeiro.

  The canvas would have Ibid.

  The skin around his wound Ibid.

  “We administered the palliative” Ibid.

  “As was only natural” Ibid.

  So sick was the former president Rondon, Lectures.

  Marques, who was among Ibid.

  A frightened seringueiro Ibid.

  From their canoes George Cherrie, Dark Trails (New York, 1930).

  Seeing his opportunity Rondon, Lectures.

  So deep-seated Ibid.

  As soon as she could talk Cherrie, Diary, April 15, 1914, AMNH.

  He and three of his neighbors Cherrie, Dark Trails.

  Honorato began to realize Ibid.

  “most hospitable” TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  “like a dream” Ibid.

  Even the sight Cherrie, Diary, April 15, 1914, AMNH.

  Sitting outside after Ibid.

  From the start Author’s interview with Cinta Larga.

  CHAPTER 29: A Pair of Flags

  According to the expedition’s Theodore Roosevelt, Through the Brazilian Wilderness (New York, 1914).

  “working poorly” Kermit Roosevelt, Diary, April 16, 1914, KBRP.

  “retained their original” TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  Just two days earlier KR, Diary, April 14, 1914, KBRP.

  “in worse shape” TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  “If I am to go” New York Times, Jan. 7, 1919.

  Using only the simplest Cajazeira, Relatório Museo do Índio, Rio de Janeiro,

  As the doctor worked TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  “Father’s courage” Kermit Roosevelt, The Long Trail (New York, 1921).

  “dusky cigar-smoking wife” TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  Although the operation George Cherry, Diary, April 21, 1914, AMNH.

  The bacterial infection Cajazeira, Relatória.

  “He eats very little” Cherry, Diary, April 21, 1914, AMNH.

  They rejoiced when TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  At exorbitant cost Cherry, Diary, April 20, 1914, AMNH.

  “In this land of plenty” TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  The only food Cherrie, Diary, April 23, 1914, AMNH.

  After months of worrying KR, Diary, April 20, 1914, KBRP.

  Concern over Roosevelt’s condition Cherrie, Diary, April 24, 1914, AMNH.

  These falls TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  Men much younger Ibid.

  “the ‘king’” Cherrie, Diary, April 24, 1914, AMNH.

  Caripe was exactly TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  The Carupanan falls demanded KR, Diary, April 25, 1914, KBRP.

  On the afternoon of April 26 TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.

  When the men on the river Ibid.

  EPILOGUE

  On the afternoon of May 19, 1914 New York Times, May 20, 1914.

  “brown as the saddle” New York World, May 20, 1914.

  “wasted to a mere shadow” Leo E. Miller, In the Wilds of South America (New York, 1918).

  For his trip from Manáos New York World, May 20, 1914.

  It was not until New York Times, May 19, 1914.

  Not only did he regain New York Times, May 20, 1914.

  “I am all right” New York Sun, May 20, 1914.

  “certainly is a very remarkable” New York World, May 7, 1914.

  “charlatan” New York World, May 9, 1914.

  “If the Colonel says” New York World, May 8, 1914.

  “unconsciously paid” New York Times, May 14, 1914.

  “a pure fake” TR to Arthur Hamilton Lee, May 23, 1914, TRC. Rondon had traveled with Landor during his visit to Brazil, and he wrote Roosevelt a letter stating that the self-proclaimed explorer had not entered any uncharted territory. Roosevelt later published this letter in Le Matin, one of the largest newspapers in Paris, where Landor was living. “I think that I have definitely put a stop to all serious considerations of his claims as an explorer so far as competent observers and witnesses are concerned,” Roosevelt later wrote to Rondon. (New York Times, June 13, 1914; TR to Rondon, Nov. 5, 1914, TRP.)

  The society, which had fought New York Times, May 27, 1914.

  Following a dinner Gilbert Grosvenor to Melville Grosvenor, Dec. 29, 1962, NGS.

  As Roosevelt entered New York Sun, May 27, 1914.

  “The striking thing” New York World, May 27, 1914.

  Asking the journalists Theodore Roosevelt, Address to National Geographic Society, May 26, 1914, NGS.

  “I sat in the front row” Gilbert Grosvenor to Melville Grosvenor, Dec. 29, 1962, NGS.

  “any doubts that New York Evening Journal, May 27, 1914.

  Roosevelt’s chance Belle had been forced to move her wedding date from April to June because of the late arrival of the expedition, but it still took place in Madrid.

  Outside the front door New York Times, June 17, 1914.

  Lifelong members New York Tribune, June 17, 1914.

  Even Lord Earl Grey Times of London, June 17, 1914.

  “All the benches” Ibid.

  In his opening remarks Ibid.

  “stepped briskly” Unnamed newspaper, June 5, 1914, TRC.

  “not in good trim” TR to Arthur Hamilton Lee, June 29, 1914, in Letters, vol. 8.

  “demonstrate his growing skill” Literary Digest, May 23, 1914, TRC.

  Months after the news Kathleen Dalton, Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life (New York, 2002).

  “old Brazilian trouble” TR to KR, Feb. 18, 1917, in Letters, vol. 8.

  “When the young die” TR to Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, Aug. 3, 1918, in Letters, vol. 8.

  “All right!” Quoted in Hermann Hagedorn, The Roosevelt Family of Sagamore Hill (New York, 1954).

  “Never before” John Burroughs, “Theodore Roosevelt,” Journal of the American Museum of Natural History, Jan. 1919, TRC.

  Just three years after Amilcar Botelho de Magalhães, Impressão da Commissão Rondon.

  Albert Zahm became Fred Howard, Wilbur and Orville: A Biography of the Wright Brothers (New York, 1987).

  Father Zahm himself Ralph E. Weber, Notre Dame’s John Zahm (Notre Dame, 1961).

  After his expedition Joseph R. Ornig, My Last Chance to Be a Boy (Mechanicsburg, Pa., 1994).

  He loved fishing Author’s interview with Hubert Cherrie, George and Stella Cherrie’s grandson.

  The same year Todd A. Diacon, Stringing Together a Nation (Durham, N.C., 2004).

  He was hounded Donald F. O’Reilly, “Rondon: Biography of a Brazilian Republican Army Commander,” Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1969.

  When Rondon left Mac Margolis, The Conquest of the Amazon Frontier (New York, 1992).

  He took a job Unnamed newspaper, July 30, 1914, TRC.

  “The bottom has dropped” Quoted in Edward Renehan, The Lion’s Pride (New York, 1998).

  In the 1920s Peter Collier with David Horowitz, The Roosevelts: An Amer
ican Saga (New York, 1994).

  Kermit lost Belle’s Collier with Horowitz, The Roosevelts.

  When Kermit disappeared Ibid.

  At fifty-two Renehan, Lion’s Pride.

  On the night of June 3, 1943 Collier with Horowitz, The Roosevelts; Renehan, Lion’s Pride.

  Not until 1926 New York Times, June 26, 1927.

  By the 1950s W. Jesco von Puttkamer, “Brazil Protects Her Cinta Largas,” National Geographic, Sept. 1971.

  It was not until Initially, FUNAI officials were uncertain how many tribes and sub-tribes lived along the River of Doubt and so classified them all as Cinta Larga. As contact with the tribesmen grew, experts later distinguished between the tribe that lives to the west of the river and the tribe that lives to the east. The former calls itself the Paiter, and is now officially known as the Suruí. The latter refers to itself as the Matétamãe, and is known to the outside world as the Cinta Larga. (For excellent descriptions of FUNAI’s first contact with the Suruí and Cinta Larga, see John Hemming, Die If You Must [London, 2003], and Von Puttkamer, “Brazil Protects Her Cinta Largas.”

  The Indians kept Von Puttkamer, “Brazil Protects Her Cinta Largas”.

  Steps toward pacification Ibid.

  After the exchange Ibid.

  On March 1, 1919 George Cherrie, Memorial Meeting, March 1, 1919, TRC.

  “I have always thought” Ibid.

  SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Abbott, Lawrence F. Impressions of Theodore Roosevelt. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1919.

  Agosta, William. Bombardier Beetles and Fever Trees: A Close-up Look at Chemical Warfare and Signals in Animals and Plants. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1995.

  ______. Thieves, Deceivers and Killers: Tales of Chemistry in Nature. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001.

  Angle, Paul M. Crossroads: 1913. Chicago: Rand McNally & Company, 1963.

  Anthony, H. E. “The Capture and Preservation of Small Mammals for Study.” The American Museum of Natural History, Science Guide No. 61, 1950.

  Appleby, R. Scott. “Between Americanism and Modernism: John Zahm and Theistic Evolution.” Church History, 1987.

  Attenborough, David. The Private Life of Plants. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.

  Ayensu, Edward S. The Life and Mysteries of the Jungle. New York: Crescent Books, 1980.