Roosevelt and the River of Doubt

In 1913 Theodore Roosevelt, his son and a few family friends went to Brazil where they were approached by the foreign minister with an offer to navigate and map the river of doubt. Roosevelt and his team accepted and joined with Brazil’s Candido Rondon on the expedition. They faced many dangers on the trip, such as insects, dangerous rapids, venomous animals, disease and starvation. Their canoes were in poor condition which lead to the drowning of one man and starvation drove one man to murder another for food. They faced Indian attacks from the ever watchful Cinta Larga. The crew faced an outbreak of malaria, and Theodore Roosevelt was bedridden with it, and a severe leg infection. When the group came to a set of six waterfalls Roosevelt debated using the bottled of morphine to take his own life. His son Kermit’s skill with ropes and canoes helped get over the falls, and saved his father’s life. When they had gotten back no one at first believed their story of mapping the 1,000 mile River of Doubt, but it was soon proven. Roosevelt was cured but however was never the same again.