The River of Doubt
The River of Doubt
The amazing story of Theodore Roosevelt's death defying trek through the unmapped rivers and jungles of the Amazon River basin
Introduction
The early years of the twentieth century must have been a fascinating time to be alive. In the major cities of the developed world, many of the comforts that we take for granted today had already taken firm hold. Electricity was becoming a standard part of American life, the automobile was quickly displacing horse-drawn carriages, and the Wright Brothers finally proved that mankind could take to the skies. Railroads crisscrossed the continent making travel faster and safer than ever before, and telegraph, telephones, and radio revolutionized communications.
The rise of modernity up to the present day is best thought of as the product of two centuries of human progress, a point made by Charlie Munger in his final interview:
“… You can argue that about 90% of the progress of man that’s happened in civilization has occurred in the last two centuries and that I lived in the immediate aftermath of one. Because in that century, we figured out so very, very much that was quite important as a start. If you stop to think about the technical revolution, it happened in that century. That’s when they, you know, when all these goldmines, and created all these steam engines, and so on. … That’s what brought the economic system up, so man had enough leisure, had enough time to think when he wasn’t getting enough food to eat.”
By the 1910s, the world had progressed in important ways in wealthy countries but there were still vast regions across the globe that were yet to be explored and mapped. There were still human populations living as they had been for thousands of years, yet to experience any contact with modernity . The age of discovering unknown territory and unknown people was coming to a close, but not quite yet.
I recently wrote about Earnest Shackleton’s voyage to Antarctica on the Endurance which took place between late 1914 and mid 1916. Shackleton and his crew were traveling to a frigidly cold part of the world where they would be cut off from civilization, as they were when their ship was lost. They had to make it out on their own and, through great leadership and a considerable amount of luck, they prevailed.
A few months before Shackleton embarked on his voyage, another great explorer had just finished a grand adventure of his own, one that also almost cost him his life. This great explorer’s adventure was in a climate almost exactly the opposite of the Antarctic — the wild unmapped Amazonian Basin of Brazil. But just like Earnest Shackleton, this explorer was totally cut off from civilization with no hope of rescue. If things went wrong, he would have to get out on his own, with the help of his crew.
And things went wrong, badly wrong, terribly wrong for Theodore Roosevelt.
Defeat
In 1858, Theodore Roosevelt was born into a world that had already seen amazing progress since the days of the Founding Fathers. By the time he died in 1919, the modern world was firmly established and he had played a leading role in its progress, most notably serving as President from 1901 to 1909.
Roosevelt was one of the most colorful Presidents and one can only imagine the havoc that would result if he lived during our times with access to the internet and social media. He was widely admired for, and indeed defined by, his physical bravery and penchant for exploration, the more dangerous and exotic, the better. As he aged, he never allowed himself to slow down for an instant. He needed to take risks as much as he needed to draw breath. This part of his persona was not an act.
After leaving the Presidency in 1909, Roosevelt soon became disenchanted with President Taft, the successor he had supported in the 1908 election. When Roosevelt failed to secure the Republican nomination for President in 1912, he founded the Progressive, or “Bull Moose” Party to challenge Taft in the November election.
Roosevelt’s challenge to Taft had the effect of splitting the Republican vote and handing the election to Woodrow Wilson in an electoral landslide. Roosevelt was blamed for turning the Presidency over to the Democrats. He needed a grand new adventure to avoid falling into self-pity and depression, as Candice Millard points out in her book, The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey:
“If rejection was new to Roosevelt, loss and disappointment were not. Although he was only fifty-four years old, he had already lived an extraordinarily full life. Perhaps even more striking than the peaks and valleys of Roosevelt’s life was the clear relationship between those extremes — the ex-president’s habit of seeking solace from heartbreak and frustration by striking out on even more difficult and unfamiliar terrain, and finding redemption by pushing himself to his outermost limits. When confronted with sadness or setbacks that were beyond his power to overcome, Roosevelt instinctively sought out still greater tests, losing himself in punishing physical hardship and danger — experiences that came to shape his personality and inform his most impressive achievements.”
As Roosevelt nursed his electoral wounds in 1913, an opportunity came up to embark on a tour of South America. In the days before aviation became mainstream, such an undertaking was not a matter of boarding a plane and making appearances over a week or two and then heading back home. Roosevelt would be in South America for several months. Although he would have to meet leaders and make appearances as an elder statesman, Roosevelt craved adventure and had no difficulty attracting experts to plan an expedition to the Amazon Basin. If Roosevelt had kept to the plan that was carefully crafted for him, the trip would have most likely been uneventful, but anyone who knew the man should have anticipated what would happen.
Change of Plans
The plan developed for Roosevelt’s adventure was meant to be strenuous but not excessively dangerous. The plan called for exploration of a route that was already mapped and relatively well known. After all, the expedition was to be undertaken by a former President of the United States and all efforts were made to ensure that he would not only be safe but very comfortable. The expedition was outfitted with all of the luxuries available for an extended wilderness trek, all meant to satisfy Roosevelt’s urge for adventure without making it seem like he was being coddled.
Roosevelt had no interest in tourism and even less interest in being coddled. He wanted a grand adventure with a side of scientific exploration thrown in for good measure. If he wanted credit for taking the trip, he would have to take his own risks, not be carried through Brazil like a piece of luggage:
“The ordinary traveller, who never goes off the beaten route and who on this beaten route is carried by others, without himself doing anything or risking anything, does not need to show much more initiative and intelligence than an express package. He does nothing; others do all the work, show all the forethought, take all the risk — and are entitled to all the credit. He and his valise are carried in practically the same fashion; and for each the achievement stands about on the same plane.”
Roosevelt sought to convey his views on adventure to his children. He arranged to go on the trip with his twenty-four year old son, Kermit, who had also accompanied Roosevelt on his tour of Africa a few years before. Kermit might have thought that he had a duty to accompany his father and ensure his safety. Roosevelt likely viewed himself as the protector, but his son would certainly not be coddled in any way.
Rather than embarking on a river trip to a location that was mapped and relatively safe, Roosevelt changed the plan once he arrived in Brazil. Cândido Rondon was a Brazilian military office with long experience in the Amazon building telegraph lines and exploring rivers. Rondon proposed five alternate trips to Roosevelt with the descent of the River of Doubt being the most challenging. Of course, Roosevelt chose the most difficult trip — the exploration of a river that was completely unknown even to Rondon. Although it was assumed that the River of Doubt would join the Amazon River eventually, no one even knew where it would emerge from the jungle.
The unknown was not an impediment for Roosevelt. It was the primary attraction.
Into the Wild
Merely getting to the headwaters of the River of Doubt was an adventure requiring more than two months. From December 12, 1913 to February 25, 1914, Roosevelt’s group, under the direction of Rondon, traveled to increasingly remote locations along the telegraph lines that Rondon had installed in recent years. The roads through this region were primitive to non-existent and the settlements were increasingly sparse. Although Rondon had taken many steps to establish good relations with the native tribes of the region, conflict was still common and travel was dangerous.
It did not help that the equipment and supplies provisioned for Roosevelt’s original trip were wildly excessive and inappropriate for exploring totally unknown territory. One wonders whether the people outfitting the original expedition understood Roosevelt at all since he did not seem to care very much about creature comforts or luxurious foods. The modern boats that were purchased for the expedition had to be abandoned on the long overland trip to reach the headwaters of the River of Doubt. Rondon arranged to buy seven primitive dugout canoes from the Nhambiquara tribe.
The expedition launched their heavily overloaded canoes on February 27, 1914. When the descent of the River of Doubt ended two months later, all but three of the men emerged from the wilderness. Roosevelt was near death at several points during the trip. At one point that he told his son that the expedition should carry on without him. It was only due to Kermit’s insistence that Theodore Roosevelt survived the trip, albeit in a diminished physical condition that would last for the rest of his life.
The Descent
Other wild rivers of the Amazon had seen limited exploration before Roosevelt’s expedition, but there was an important difference. The rubber tappers who were usually the first explorers ascended the watersheds of unknown rivers. Roosevelt’s expedition chose to descend the River of Doubt. While they had the advantage of the river’s current in the descent, there was essentially no possibility of retreat once the adventure got underway. The river would carry them deeper into the jungle, past any point of return, and they would either emerge on the other end or not at all.
In addition to navigating the treacherous waters, the expedition had to deal with the threat of predators and other dangers, most of which were hidden from view. The jungle often seemed eerily empty of inhabitants since they were skilled at camouflage and many were nocturnal. Venturing from the safety of the primitive canoes meant risking death in the waters and on land. In addition to the risk of predation, the group was constantly shadowed by the primitive Cinta Larga tribe which had no prior contact with the outside world and could have chosen to attack at any time.
Roosevelt’s decision to change plans had other consequences including a lack of appropriate rations. The luxurious supplies contained foods like olive oil, mustard, stuffed olives, applesauce, and other luxuries that hardly optimized for the realities of the expedition. Any delays would create a risk of starvation unless food could be obtained through hunting or fishing, something that proved to be quite difficult to accomplish in an environment where jungle inhabitants were elusive.
Most of the men, including Roosevelt himself and his son, were frequently affected by the smallest jungle inhabitant: the mosquito. Malaria was a constant problem, with debilitating high fevers making progress difficult. The men had to endure sickness and still exert themselves, especially when it came to dragging the 2,500 pound canoes around portions of the river, such as treacherous rapids, that could not be navigated.
Given the dangers, it is miraculous that there was not more loss of life. One crew member died due to Kermit’s decision to order his canoe to proceed in an unsafe location, disobeying Rondon’s direct orders. Kermit himself nearly drowned. Later in the expedition, one of the men murdered another and escaped into the jungle. When he emerged, he sought help from the crew which refused assistance, leaving him to certain death. This accounts for the three men who failed to survive the journey.
Roosevelt’s Despair
It was a near miracle that Roosevelt himself did not perish on the expedition. Aside from being sick with a malarial fever for much of the trip, Roosevelt’s leg became infected after getting cut in the river. Proper medical treatment was impossible in the jungle and Roosevelt’s condition worsened to the point where he could barely walk. A previous injury to his leg only exacerbated the situation. As the situation deteriorated, Roosevelt worried that his condition might cost other men, including his son, their lives. Delaying progress was an unacceptable risk due to impending starvation.
Roosevelt announced that he would not proceed any further. He had long carried a lethal dose of morphine with him on expeditions and planned to take it, not because he feared pain and discomfort, but to ensure that the expedition would proceed.
“Now, on the River of Doubt, that vial or morphine represented him only chance to avoid becoming a burden to the other men in the expedition, especially his own son. He knew that he could not possibly make it through the dense jungle on his own, and that Kermit and the other men would try to carry him. Simply carrying the provisions that they would need to stay alive would take more strength than they had. Roosevelt refused to slow down the expedition when each man was fighting for his own life. For him, this was not about suicide, it was about doing the right thing.”
Kermit refused to accept this decision and Roosevelt had to back down. Even if he took the lethal dose, Roosevelt knew that Kermit would attempt to carry his body out of the jungle. This would create an even greater obstacle since, while alive, Roosevelt could at least try to help by moving himself to the limits of his strength.
“It came to me, and I saw that if I did end it, that would only make it more sure that Kermit would not get out,” Roosevelt would later confide to a friend. “For I knew that he would not abandon me, but would insist on bringing my body out too. That, of course, would have been impossible. I knew his determination. So there was only one thing for me to do, and that was to come out myself.”
The next few days involved a long portage around a canyon from which they emerged on April 1, 1914. The expedition had only made a total of sixty-eight miles of slow progress during March. They had lost five of the original seven canoes. Including two canoes that they built for themselves, they only had four boats as they resumed the trip on the river on April 3. There was no way to know how many miles remained, how many unnavigable rapids lay ahead, or the River of Doubt’s ultimate destination.
Civilization
On April 11, the men celebrated what might seem like an ordinary sight: a knife-cut vine. They knew that the natives of the region did not have the tools to make such a cut and that it signaled that rubber tappers, known as seringueiros, had made been in the area. On April 15, they encountered a simple house that could not be mistaken for the primitive native huts that they had seen further up the river. They encountered a rubber tapper and secured provisions and a guide to lead them the rest of the way.
On April 26, the expedition saw a “row of neat tents lined up along one of the banks.” It was the camp of a relief party that had been set up at the confluence of the River of Doubt and the Aripuanã River six weeks earlier. They had remained in place even as doubts grew that Roosevelt and his crew would ever emerge from the jungle.
“When the men on the river and the men on the shore finally spotted one another, shouts of joy rang through the forest, and the rifle reports shook the leaves of the sunken trees. Lying under his makeshift tent, Roosevelt pulled himself up with quivering arms to witness his own rescue. What he saw before him were two flags outlined against a sharp blue sky. First, the green, gold, and blue of Rondon’s beloved Republic of Brazil. Then, fluttering beside them, the Stars and Stripes that had for so long driven and defined Roosevelt’s own life, and whose promise stirred him still.”
The Aftermath
Theodore Roosevelt returned to the United States on May 19, 1914. It was a miracle that he survived the trip and he appeared to be in good spirits as his ship arrived in New York Harbor. However, he was greatly diminished physically and his appearance shocked the public. The eight month journey had aged Roosevelt by years and all accounts indicate that he never completely recovered his health.
Roosevelt continued to write and make speeches in the months and years to come and, at times, had to defend his expedition amid doubts that he really traveled through a thousand miles of previously uncharted territory. It helped that Rondon, often to Roosevelt’s annoyance, took the time to measure and document the River of Doubt in much detail even under life threatening circumstances. On May 26, a month after emerging from the wilderness, Roosevelt gave a speech in Washington that “left his detractors mute” even though he was clearly weak and his voice barely audible.
Roosevelt never lost his taste for adventure, even proposing that he would lead a regiment to battle when the United States entered the First World War. Either due to concerns about Roosevelt’s age and condition or for political considerations, President Wilson declined the offer. Roosevelt ended up losing a son in the war, a blow that he never recovered from. Roosevelt turned sixty years old in the fall of 2018, aged far beyond his years, and he died on January 6, 1919.
Great Adventures
Six months after Roosevelt’s triumphant speech in Washington, another grand adventure began when Earnest Shackleton embarked on his ill-fated voyage to begin a Trans-Antarctic expedition. I wrote about Shackleton’s trip in a recent review of Alfred Lansing’s book, Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage.
I’m sure that Theodore Roosevelt must have known of Shackleton’s expedition and admired those men for their bravery and sense of adventure. Shackleton was a man who was willing to take massive risks in pursuit of adventure and knowledge. I suspect that the two men would have liked each other if they ever met.
As I wrote in my review of Endurance, the age of exploration is not totally over. If we do not destroy our civilization through nuclear war, the only real existential threat to mankind, it is only a matter of time before a mission to Mars takes place. The first humans to fly to Mars will have no hope of rescue if things go wrong and will be even more isolated than the Shackleton and Roosevelt expeditions, but at least they will not be cut off from communications.
Stories of grand adventures never get old. I would recommend both Endurance and The River of Doubt for all readers, but particularly for young people who might not yet have developed a love of reading and learning. It would be difficult for anyone to start this book and not feel compelled to finish it.
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What a great review! I think the whole purpose of a book review is to cause the reader to NEED to read the book. Here, you nailed it!! I appreciate you.