After Theodore Roosevelt's discouraging loss in the election of 1912, he needed a reason to get out of the country. Fortunately, he recieved one with a ticket to Argentina in the fall of 1913, having been asked to speak publically in Buenos Aires.
Shortly after his arival, the Brazillian minister of foreign affairs brought up the chance to explore the River of Doubt, an unmapped tributary of the Amazon named for its secrecy, as its discoverer hardly knew where it led. The daring ex-president could not say no, and in December embarked on the exhibition with his son, Kermit, a small team, and Colenel Candido Rondon, a famous explorer from Brazil.
The travel was trying all its way through, from losing the only animals they had brought shortly into their march, then facing the difficulties of the rain forest itself. From Indian attacks to discouragement and starvation, even a murder amongst their ranks, the men struggled merely to stay alive. Illness, such as malaria, affected nearly all of the men, inlcuding Roosevelt whom it almost killed. It was not until 27 April, 1913 that Roosevelt and his men finished their quest and landed in Sao Joao. They had travelled over 900 miles from the start of the river to its end. In his honour, the River of Doubt was renamed Rio Roosevelt.
Roosevelt never fully recovered from his great exhibition; he suffered heavily from reaccuring malaria up until his death in 1919.
For the rest of the assignment, see below
Shortly after his arival, the Brazillian minister of foreign affairs brought up the chance to explore the River of Doubt, an unmapped tributary of the Amazon named for its secrecy, as its discoverer hardly knew where it led. The daring ex-president could not say no, and in December embarked on the exhibition with his son, Kermit, a small team, and Colenel Candido Rondon, a famous explorer from Brazil.
The travel was trying all its way through, from losing the only animals they had brought shortly into their march, then facing the difficulties of the rain forest itself. From Indian attacks to discouragement and starvation, even a murder amongst their ranks, the men struggled merely to stay alive. Illness, such as malaria, affected nearly all of the men, inlcuding Roosevelt whom it almost killed. It was not until 27 April, 1913 that Roosevelt and his men finished their quest and landed in Sao Joao. They had travelled over 900 miles from the start of the river to its end. In his honour, the River of Doubt was renamed Rio Roosevelt.
Roosevelt never fully recovered from his great exhibition; he suffered heavily from reaccuring malaria up until his death in 1919.
For the rest of the assignment, see below
