The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey

Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858, in New York City to an affluent family. His father, also named Theodore, worked at the family business Roosevelt & Son and was known for his philanthropic support of both charities and cultural initiatives. Roosevelt battled ill health throughout his childhood but became interested in physical activities, such as hiking and boxing, in an effort to strengthen himself physically.

Roosevelt was homeschooled throughout his youth and went on to study at Harvard, graduating in 1880. He then attended Columbia Law School but found practicing law an unattractive career prospect. Instead, he grew interested in politics, joining the Republican Party while still a student. Roosevelt also maintained a personal interest in history, publishing The Naval War of 1812 in 1882 to critical acclaim. He would go on to publish 18 books during his lifetime, including a four-volume history of the American frontier.

Roosevelt began serving in the New York State Assembly in 1881 and was re-elected the following year. In 1886, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of New York. He served in the Civil Service Commission under President Benjamin Harrison in the early 1890s and joined the board of the New York City Police Commissioners in 1894. He then served as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley before resigning to fight in the Spanish-American War. His regiment was nicknamed the "Rough Riders” and became famous for their exploits. After the war, he served as governor of New York before becoming President McKinley’s vice president in 1901. After McKinley’s assassination later that year, Roosevelt took over the presidency. He then won the presidency in his own right in 1904 and served another term.    

Millard opens The River of Doubt with Roosevelt’s failed presidential bid several years later in 1912. Without Roosevelt, the expedition down the River of Doubt would not have taken place. He sought a physical adventure after the disappointment of the 1912 election and his exile from Republican circles. As Millard documents, at the outset of the trip, Roosevelt was full of strength and vitality. Millard exposes the toll of the trip by describing Roosevelt’s physical decline. He never fully recovered from the expedition, which most likely took years off his life. In noting his encounter with a deadly snake, battle with malaria, and an infection from cutting his leg, Millard highlights The Nature of the Amazonian Environment. Roosevelt came close to death on this trip. True to his sense of masculinity, he handled the illness and resultant pain stoically, even continuing to contribute to the work of the expedition despite his illness. When he thought that his weakened state would endanger the other members of the expedition, he was willing to die by suicide, although his son stopped him.

Roosevelt was well-liked by the other members of the expedition. While he and Rondon argued at times about the pace of the expedition, Roosevelt yielded to Rondon as the leader and respected him. Additionally, he befriended the Brazilian camaradas by providing them with some of his rations and chocolate stash when all the men were starving. Cherrie later attested to the love that he had for Roosevelt as well.

When Roosevelt returned to New York, he made sure that the record was set straight about the monumental accomplishment of the Rondon-Roosevelt expedition. His death on January 6, 1919, came as a shock to the nation. He was 60 years old.

Appointed by the Brazilian government to be Roosevelt’s guide on the expedition, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon was familiar with the Amazon rainforest and had discovered and named the River of Doubt. Rondon grew up in an isolated part of Brazil. He lost both his parents to smallpox and was raised by his grandparents in poverty. His mother had Indigenous heritage and Rondon identified as a minority. Despite his poverty, Rondon earned a bachelor’s degree and became a military engineer.

With a serious and driven personality, Rondon was a disciplined officer. He was chosen to head the Strategic Telegraph Commission, which took him and his men deep into the rainforest. Determined to protect Indigenous people and integrate them into Brazilian society, Rondon refused to allow his men to fight or kill any Indigenous persons even in self-defense. It was his work with the telegraph commission that brought him originally to the River of Doubt.

Rondon’s leadership of the Rondon-Roosevelt expedition endowed it with a seriousness of purpose. Wholly committed to exploration, Rondon insisted originally on a very slow method of surveying the river. When that became an impossible choice given the lack of rations, Rondon found ways to slow the expedition to complete an accurate survey of an area. The second time he used such tactics resulted in a major argument with Roosevelt, who was concerned that he was endangering the lives of all. However, Roosevelt respected Rondon and did not challenge his peaceful approach to the Indigenous groups. Rondon’s friendship with some members of the Nhambiquara people enabled him to procure boats at the start of the expedition and may have helped secure the expedition’s safe passage more generally. 

Somewhat of a loner, Rondon did not have close relations with the men under his command. Rondon expected discipline and was thus angry when Kermit disobeyed his orders and went into the rapids, a mistake that resulted in the death of a Brazilian. However, Rondon did not lash out and later forgave Kermit and named a tributary for him. Rondon also renamed the River of Doubt the Roosevelt.

Following the expedition, Rondon gained a heroic status in Brazil and lived to the age of 92. His work on the telegraph commission was later used to develop a road into the Amazon which was to the detriment of Indigenous populations—a sad irony for him.

One of Roosevelt’s sons, Kermit was working for the Brazilian Railroad Company in 1913. His presence in South America made the prospect of a trip there more appealing to Roosevelt. Kermit was not originally supposed to go on the expedition, but his mother Edith asked him to go so that he could look after his father.

Despite his bouts with malaria, Kermit proved to be a hard worker on the expedition. He befriended Lyra, a Brazilian officer under Rondon, and helped to keep the relations between the Americans and Brazilians positive. Kermit was frustrated with Rondon’s delaying tactics, as he wanted the expedition to move quickly. Roosevelt worried about Kermit’s role in the surveying, as he was isolated on the banks and in danger of the rapids. Kermit’s later disobedience of Rondon’s order to stay put caused the death of a Brazilian worker in the rapids, although Rondon later forgave him.

Like all the members of the expedition, Kermit had very limited success hunting in the Amazon. However, he did at times catch some food, which was critical for morale. Most importantly, Kermit saved his father’s life when he refused to allow him to die by suicide. With his talent for ropes, he convinced the leaders of the expedition to let him attempt to transport the boats over the rapids, which proved successful and persuaded his father to continue with the expedition.

After the expedition, Kermit’s life took an unhappy turn. His marriage to Belle was not a happy one and he was dissatisfied with his career in banking. He eventually developed issues with substance misuse. He took his father’s death in 1919 very hard and died by suicide in 1943.

Chosen by the American Museum of Natural History, George Cherrie accompanied Roosevelt on the expedition. Cherrie was a naturalist who had spent 25 years collecting birds in South America; he collected specimens on the expedition and kept a diary. Like the others on the expedition, he felt the impact of The Nature of the Amazonian Environment. Not only did he battle dysentery, making him weak, but he had been injured in the trek to the River of Doubt. A palm thorn went through his leg, causing paralysis in his foot.

Cherrie enjoyed drinking Scotch with Kermit and looked out for Roosevelt. One day when Cherrie was washing his clothes, the former president came out to talk. Cherrie was called away to a task and Roosevelt finished washing the clothes for him—an incident that Millard uses to illustrate Roosevelt’s humility and sense of camaraderie throughout the expedition.

After Roosevelt’s death, Cherrie spoke at a memorial for him at the Explorers’ Club in New York City. Not a natural speaker, Cherrie was brought to tears remembering Roosevelt and wondered how anyone “brought in close personal contact with Colonel Roosevelt” could fail to love him (352). Cherrie died at the age of 83 after a long retirement in his beloved home of Vermont.

While all the Brazilian members of the expedition were hard-working and respected by the Americans, Julio de Lima stood out as the glaring exception. He demonstrated a propensity toward violence before the group began its descent of the River of Doubt, attempting to stab another man. Once the expedition encountered The Nature of the Amazonian Environment, de Lima became even more difficult. He shirked his responsibilities and stole coveted rations at a time when the men were underfed and on the brink of starvation. When he was finally confronted by Paishon, de Lima shot Paishon dead. He then fled into the jungle. Even the ailing Roosevelt attempted to find him, fearing that he might kill the person who reported him.

When the group was back on the river, they spotted de Lima, who was beckoning to them for assistance. No one stopped. However, when they came upon a tributary down the river, Rondon decided to stop the expedition and send two men back to find de Lima. This decision outraged Roosevelt and the Americans, who assumed that Rondon was delaying solely to survey the tributary accurately. The men returned without having found de Lima. Later, a tale was told of a white man approaching the Cinta Larga to trade his knife for food. After the trade, the white man was killed with his own knife. The members of the expedition assumed the man was de Lima.