Rondon and Roosevelt Expedition

After losing the presidential election of 1912, former US President Theodore Roosevelt originally planned to go on a lecture tour in Argentina and Brazil , combining it with a cruise in the Amazon . However, the Brazilian government invited him to accompany Candida Rondon on an expedition to explore the River of Doubt, the source of which he had recently discovered. Roosevelt, who wanted to shake himself up after losing the election, agreed.

The expedition started in December 1913 from the small town of Caseris on the Paraguay River. The expedition was led by Candida Rondon and Theodore Roosevelt, accompanied by Roosevelt's son (initially did not plan to participate, but joined at the insistence of his mother to protect his father), American naturalist and 15 Brazilian porters. They went to Tapirapua, where Rondon had previously discovered the source of the river, and from there to the northwest, through dense tropical forests, on the plateau of Serra dos Paresis . On February 27, 1914, they reached the River of Doubt, and due to the lack of supplies the expedition had to split up: some people went along the Zhiparana River to the Madeira River, and the rest moved down the River of Doubt.

From the very beginning, the expedition faced problems. Almost all participants suffered severely from various diseases ( malaria , etc.) and insect bites, as a result of which they were almost constantly in a painful state with a high temperature. Large canoes with a large draft were useless on constantly meeting rapids and often drowned, after which whole days were spent on making new ones. Food rations were calculated incorrectly, as a result of which I had to switch to a fast food ration. The expedition was constantly monitored by the Indians of Sinta Larg , who at any moment could kill everyone for the metal things they had, but did not do this, preferring to simply accompany (subsequent expeditions of the 1920s were not so successful).

Of the 19 people who went camping, only 16 returned. One man drowned while crossing the threshold, and his body was never found; one was killed and buried, and his killer hid in the jungle and, presumably, died there.

By the time the expedition made a quarter of the way down the river, its members were already physically exhausted and suffered from hunger, illness, and the constant labor of dragging canoes across rapids. Theodore Roosevelt himself nearly died, as an infection got into his wounded leg, and the whole expedition was afraid for his life every day. Fortunately, the rubber seekers he met helped overcome the remainder of the river, and on April 26, 1914, the expedition met with a Brazilian-American rescue team led by Lieutenant Pirineus, whom Rondon instructed to wait for them at the confluence with the Aripuana River. When the expedition arrived at Manaus , Theodore Roosevelt received the necessary medical attention. Three weeks later, the severely weakened Roosevelt was greeted as a hero in New York Harbor . His health never recovered completely after this expedition, and five years later he died.

After Roosevelt returned, there were doubts that he really discovered the river and participated in the expedition. Despite the fact that he was very weak and could hardly speak, the indignant Roosevelt, in response to these accusations, delivered a lecture at the National Geographic Society in Washington on May 26, and at the Royal Geographical Society in London in mid-June. To finally put an end to this issue, the American traveler in 1927 made a second trip along this river, confirming the discoveries of Roosevelt.

In 1992, Charles Haskell and Elizabeth McKnight, with the support of , the American Museum of Natural History and the organized a third river expedition, in which , the great-grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, took part. The expedition went the same way in 33 days, discovering the places that were described by the first expedition.

• Alexander Genis: Theodore Roosevelt in search of adventure ( Radio Liberty ) (Russian)
• Dmitry Dubov: Teddy Roosevelt: father of American imperialism ( TV channel 9 ) (Russian)
• Brazilian documentary “Expedition of Rondon and Roosevelt”, link from the official website of the Federal University of Mato Grosso to the viewing (port.)
• Jacquelini Prestis di Souza, Miguel Neneve: “The Roosevelt and Rondon Expedition: Brazilian Amazonia through the Eyes of a Foreigner from North America” (Brazilian monograph) (port.)