River of Doubt South American Expedition
One of Theodore Roosevelt's most popular books, Through the Brazilian Wilderness, recounted the father-and-son expedition into the Amazon Basin Brazilian jungle in 1913–14. Father and son went on what would become known as the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, exploring the Brazilian jungle with explorer Colonel Cândido Rondon. During this expedition, they explored the River of Doubt, later renamed Rio Roosevelt in honor of the President, as well as a branch of that river named the Rio Kermit in his honor. The source of the river had been discovered by Rondon earlier, but it had never been fully explored or mapped.
At the time of the expedition, Roosevelt was newly engaged to Belle Willard, daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Spain. His mother Edith was concerned about her husband's health and the difficulties of a new expedition, and asked the younger Roosevelt to accompany his father. He did so, reluctantly delaying his marriage.
The scope of the expedition expanded beyond the original plans, leaving the participants inadequately prepared for a trip tracing the River of Doubt from its source through hundreds of kilometers of uncharted rainforest. The climate and terrain, inadequate gear and food, and two deaths (one drowning, the other murder) turned a scientific expedition into an ordeal. Roosevelt's father contracted malaria and a serious infection resulting from a minor leg wound, weakening him to the point that he considered taking a fatal dose of morphine rather than being a burden to his companions. Roosevelt told his father that he was bringing him back literally "dead or alive" and if he died, he would be an even bigger burden to the expedition. Although Roosevelt contracted malaria as well, he downplayed his sickness to save quinine for his father, nearly dying himself before the physician insisted on giving him the medication by injection. Roosevelt's determination, and his rope and canoe-handling skills were instrumental in saving his father's life. Nonetheless, his father would be plagued by flareups of malaria and inflammation so severe that they would require hospitalization.
Besides the newly-named Rio Roosevelt, one branch of the river was named the Rio Kermit in his honor. Today, the Rio Roosevelt is commonly called the Rio Teodoro by Portuguese-speaking Brazilians because of pronunciation difficulties they have with the name 'Roosevelt'.
Although Roosevelt and his father faced skepticism about their claims of navigating a completely uncharted river over 1000 km long, they eventually silenced their critics through the elder Roosevelt's oratory and his one of his most popular books, Through the Brazilian Wilderness. The 1913–14 expedition would later be recounted in The River of Doubt by Candice Millard (Doubleday 2005).
Read more about this topic: Kermit Roosevelt
Famous quotes containing the words river, doubt, south, american and/or expedition:
“The river’s tent is broken; the last fingers of leaf
Clutch and sink into the wet bank. The wind
Crosses the brown land, unheard. The nymphs are departed.
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
The river bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers,
Silk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes, cigarette ends
Or other testimony of summer nights.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand:
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
“If this were only cleared away,”
They said, “it would be grand!”
“If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year,
Do you suppose,” the Walrus said,
“That they could get it clear?”
“I doubt it,” said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“... while the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted.”
—Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964)
“‘Tis the gift to be simple ‘tis the gift to be free
‘Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.”
—Unknown. ‘Tis the Gift to Be Simple.
AH. American Hymns Old and New, Vols. I–II. Vol. I, with music; Vol. II, notes on the hymns and biographies of the authors and composers. Albert Christ-Janer, Charles W. Hughes, and Carleton Sprague Smith, eds. (1980)
“It is a sort of ranger service. Arnold’s expedition is a daily experience with these settlers. They can prove that they were out at almost any time; and I think that all the first generation of them deserve a pension more than any that went to the Mexican war.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)