The River of Doubt – Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard, historian and former writer and editor for National Geographic, was originally published in hardcover by Doubleday in 2005. The paperback edition shown in the photo above was published by Broadway Books, an imprint of The Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
101 years ago today, on February 27, 1914, former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt stepped into one of 7 heavy dugout canoes in the jungles of Brazil and set out to explore a river known only to native tribes, the Rio da Duvida (River of Doubt). It was a little over a year since his stinging election defeat seeking a 3rd term as U.S. President in the fall of 1912, this time as the candidate of the newly formed Bull Moose (Progressive) Party.
The great Age of Exploration was virtually over. In 1909, American Robert Perry had reached the North Pole. In late December, 1911, Norwegian Roald Amundsen had beaten the ill-fated British explorer and hero Robert Scott to the South Pole. Yet Roosevelt, famous for his daring, energy, and vitality, still dreamed of completing a journey of scientific and geographic importance.
Accompanying Roosevelt were 3 Brazilians, 2 Americans, and a workforce of 16 Brazilian camaradas. The Brazilian explorers included co-commander Colonel Candido Mareno da Silva Rondon, heroic commander of Brazil’s Strategic Telegraph Commission; military engineer and surveyor Lieutenant Joao Salustiano Lyra; and Dr. Jose Cajazeira. The Americans included naturalist George Cherrie and Roosevelt’s own son, Kermit Roosevelt.
Colonel Rondon had discovered and named the Rio da Duvida 5 years earlier, when he had stumbled onto its source while on a telegraph line expedition in the Brazilian highlands. Even he had no clear idea where the river went. He suspected it might flow into the Madeira, the principal tributary of the Amazon. The Madeira itself is 2,000 miles long and has a flow equal to that of the Congo, the 2nd largest river in the world by volume. If Rondon was right, Roosevelt’s expedition would place on the Brazilian map a river nearly 1,000 miles long through a huge mysterious and hitherto uncharted region.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to envision any modern high-ranking American official, much less a President, having the desire or will to undertake such an arduous and perilous journey. Teddy Roosevelt’s expedition faced rapids, waterfalls, wild animals, tropical diseases, potentially hostile natives, deadly in-fighting, exhaustion and starvation. All these dangers were personally braved by each and every member of the expedition for 2 entire months while completely cut off from any contact with, or hope of assistance from, the outside world.
Candice Millard’s book is an exciting, fast-paced read. The River of Doubt is also well-documented, beautifully written, and full of surprising information. I had never heard anything about this expedition before. The most disappointing thing about The River of Doubt was how quickly it was over. In the end, it was a bold, adventurous, but also sad tale that left me wanting more. Five stars and two thumbs up! – SPHP
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