“the best man” TR, Autobiography.
“If I had very much” Quoted in McCullough, Mornings on Horseback.
“Look out for Theodore” Quoted in ibid.
He graduated Ibid.
In 1884, however Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (New York, 1979).
“Black care” Theodore Roosevelt, Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail (New York, 1981).
It was a transition George Washington, the United States’ first president, had made a point of serving only two terms, and every president after him had followed that precedent. It was not until 1951, however, that the two-term limit was made official, by the Twenty-second Amendment, which Congress ratified after Franklin Delano Roosevelt—Theodore Roosevelt’s distant cousin and nephew by marriage—was elected president four times in a row.
“Of course a man” Quoted in John Milton Cooper, The Warrior and the Priest (Cambridge, Mass., 1983).
“My dear fellow” TR to Paul Martin, March 2, 1909, in Letters, vol. 6.
CHAPTER 2: Opportunity
“bringing together men” Emilio Frers to TR, Jan. 28, 1913, TRP.
Frers’s words must Ibid.
Although Frers could not have “I have always felt a little uneasy on account of all you children because I have not made money,” Roosevelt wrote to Kermit just days after the election. “It may be that my reluctance to do the well-paid things I am asked to do represents mere Quixotic fastidiousness on my part, for there is no moral wrong in them. But I shrink to a degree greater than I can express from commercializing what I did as President or the reputation I have gained in public service.” (TR to KR, Nov. 11, 1912, TRC.)
“You blessed fellow” TR to KR, April 23, 1908, TRC.
Although he suffered TR to Anna Cowles, Nov. 11, 1913, TRC.
“I am greatly pleased” TR to Emily Tyler Carow, Jan. 4, 1913, in Letters, vol. 7.
In fact, at that time Even a decade later, the Pan American Society was still trying to entice Americans to visit their neighbor to the south. Toward that end, the society published a twenty-four-page pamphlet titled The Call of South America. (John Barrett, The Call of South America [New York, 1922]).
“They were bearded” H. M. Tomlinson, The Sea and the Jungle (Evanston, Ill., 1999).
Nicknamed “Mad Maria” Alain Gheerbrant, The Amazon (New York, 1988).
Looking back TR, Autobiography.
Captivated by the thrill Ibid.
When Roosevelt was only Geoffrey Hellman, Bankers, Bones and Beetles (New York, 1968).
He entered college TR, Autobiography.
During his last term John Burroughs, “Theodore Roosevelt,” Journal of the American Museum of Natural History, Jan. 1919.
“by far the most successful” Henry Fairfield Osborn, “Theodore Roosevelt, Naturalist,” Journal of the American Museum of Natural History, Jan. 1919.
Roosevelt had known As a child, Roosevelt had been close friends with Henry Fairfield Osborn’s older brother Frederick, a bright little boy who had a passion for birds that rivaled Roosevelt’s own. The two boys had been known to spend entire days together tramping through forests in search of interesting animals. On one such day, young Roosevelt, to his delight, had spotted what he believed was a new species of frog. His pockets already bulging with other specimens, he placed the frog on his head and clapped his hat down over it. The temporary measure seemed satisfactory until Secretary of State Hamilton Fish and his wife appeared on their afternoon drive along the river. As soon as they saw the carriage coming toward them, both boys obediently doffed their hats, and the frog, taking advantage of the situation, leapt off Roosevelt’s head and made good his escape. Frederick Osborn, as Roosevelt would sadly recall many years later, drowned “in his gallant youth.” But Roosevelt never forgot his boyhood friend, and he went on to form a lifelong friendship with his younger brother. (Henry Fairfield Osborn, Impressions of Great Naturalists [New York, 1924], TRC; Theodore Roosevelt, “My Life as a Naturalist,” Natural History, April 1980.)
“I can hardly” Osborn to TR, June 25, 1913, TRP.
A priest since Ralph E. Weber, “Father Zahm,” Catholic World, Feb. 1922.
But, paradoxically “Priest and Scientist,” Indianapolis Journal, Jan. 16, 1898, IPAC.
In 1896, while still John Zahm, Evolution and Dogma (Chicago, 1896).
“keep yourself before” Ralph E. Weber, Notre Dame’s John Zahm (Notre Dame, Ind., 1961).
“the chummiest of chums” John Zahm to Albert Zahm, Oct. 17, 1913, CAZA 4/09.
“Where was I to find” John Zahm, Through South America’s Southland (New York, 1916).
Finally, in the summer Ibid.
In an extraordinary Ibid.
“You may save” Quoted in ibid.
“By George!” Ibid.
“With a wide knowledge” Frank Chapman, Autobiography of a Bird Lover (New York, 1933).
“[I] would like” TR to John Zahm, June 10, 1913, TRP.
CHAPTER 3: Preparation
“delightful holiday” TR to John Zahm, July 7, 1913, TRP.
“a funny little Catholic priest” TR to Arthur Hamilton Lee, July 7, 1913, in Letters, vol. 7.
In July Frank Chapman, introduction to Theodore Roosevelt, Through the Brazilian Wilderness (New York, 1924).
Fiala’s first trip Herman R. Friis, ed., The Arctic Diary of Russell Williams Porter (Charlottesville, Va., 1976). Both expeditions were sponsored by William Ziegler, the wealthy president of the Royal Baking Powder Company, and, in part, the National Geographic Society. The Fiala-Ziegler Expedition was the first to take the society’s flag—with its famous blue, brown, and green bands representing the sky, earth, and sea—on assignment.
The renamed Anthony Fiala, “Two Years in the Arctic,” McClure’s Magazine, Feb. 1906.
On Fiala’s orders George Shorkley, “Medical Records—Ziegler Polar Expedition,” Jan. 23, 1904, Courtesy of Dartmouth College Library.
“an ill conceived” Quoted in Fergus Fleming, Ninety Degrees North (New York, 2001).
“I would give anything” John Zahm, Through South America’s Southland (New York, 1916).
“A better man” Ibid.
The expedition’s tentative plan Frank Chapman to Henry Fairfield Osborn, June 24, 1913, AMNH; Frank Chapman, Autobiography of a Bird Lover (New York, 1933).
Fiala was looking forward Fiala would later explain his theory in an interview with The Saturday Evening Post: “The South American Indian goes practically naked, has few possessions, and the water of the rivers is always warm. So, when he comes to a cataract, he usually doesn’t try to portage; and if the canoe upsets, it doesn’t matter much. He has never had any stimulus to build a better boat. But the North American Indian wore furs and navigated rivers that were always cold. So he developed a light, buoyant canoe, hard to upset, easy to portage.” (Webb Waldron, “Making Exploring Safe for Explorers,” Saturday Evening Post, Jan. 30, 1932.)
The canoes he ordered Anthony Fiala, Appendix B, in TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.
Father Zahm, meanwhile John Zahm to George Curtiss, Aug. 16, 1913, IPAC.
Characteristically Ibid.
He also ordered Rogers Peet Company invoices, IPAC.
Fiala ordered Austin, Nichols & Co., Inc., invoices, IPAC.
“I am sending you” Anthony Fiala to TR, Sept. 5, 1913, TRP.
“I’ll reply to you” Quoted in Chapman, introduction to TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness, 1924.
Chapman had known Cherrie Ibid.
Cherrie received George Cherrie, Dark Trails (New York, 1930).
Besides his reluctance Chapman, Autobiography of a Bird Lover.
$150 per month Paul H. Douglas, Real Wages in the United States, 1890–1926 (Boston, 1930), table insert.
As extra insurance Frank Chapman to Henry Fairfield Osborn, June 24, 1913, AMNH.
This division of labor Frank Chapman to Henry Fairfield Osborn, Aug. 1, 1913, AMNH.
“prepared with the utm
ost” Henry Fairfield Osborn, “Theodore Roosevelt, Naturalist,” Journal of the American Museum of Natural History, Jan. 1919.
CHAPTER 4: On the Open Sea
On the morning of October 4, 1913 Unnamed newspaper, Oct. 5, 1913, TRC.
As soon as Roosevelt New York Times, Oct. 5, 1913.
Among those waiting Although Roosevelt would not be visiting his country, Minister Federico Alfonso Pezet of Peru also went to the pier to wish the former president a safe trip and assure him that “a most cordial welcome awaited him if any change of plans would cause him to enter Peruvian territory.” (Unnamed newspaper, Oct. 5, 1913, TRC.)
For the ambassadors As Roosevelt gave Brazil’s Ambassador Don Domicio da Gama’s hand a vigorous shake, he said, “Good-bye, Mr. Ambassador,” then reassured him, “I’ve changed that sentence.” Da Gama must have been relieved to hear those words. Two months earlier, Roosevelt had sent copies of the speeches he intended to give in South America to each of the ambassadors. Well aware that they were concerned that he would discuss the Monroe Doctrine, which was a highly sensitive topic throughout the continent, Roosevelt had set nerves on edge by declaring, “That is exactly what I am going to talk about.” (Chapman, introduction to Theodore Roosevelt, Through the Brazilian Wilderness [New York, 1924]; Frank Chapman, Autobiography of a Bird Lover [New York, 1933].)
A few weeks before Lemuel Quigg had been in South America twenty years earlier, and he admitted that “things must have changed immensely since then,” but he predicted that attitudes toward the United States had not. “From Venezuela, on either coast, to Patagonia, they were against the Monroe Doctrine. They did not at all understand it,” he wrote. To South Americans, he explained, the doctrine meant “that we assumed the position of patron and that we were entitled to step in and say who should or who should not run for President, and that we arrogated to ourselves functions of that kind. I predict that you will find this notion everywhere you stop, and … you will have the damnedest time explaining the Monroe Doctrine that any man ever had since Socrates undertook his defense.” (Lemuel Quigg to TR, Sept. 24, 1913, TRP.)
“bubbling like a frying-pan” TR to KR, Feb. 14, 1913, TRC.
“I should regard it” TR to George Otto Trevelyan, Oct. 1, 1911, in Letters, vol. 7.
Kermit spoke Arabic Will Irwin, ed., Introduction to Letters to Kermit from Theodore Roosevelt (New York, 1946).
“the soul of a poet” Author’s interview with Kermit Roosevelt, grandson of the late Kermit Roosevelt.
“He is very interested” KR to Belle Willard, 1912, KBRP.
“For there is neither” William Roscoe Thayer, Theodore Roosevelt: An Intimate Biography (Boston, 1919).
Concerned that his son TR to KR, April 20, 1913, TRC.
“Unless things go” KR to TR, July 31, 1913, KBRP.
“Twice it was” KR to Belle Willard, Sept. 15, 1912, KBRP.
“for the Indians are up” KR to Belle Willard, Oct. 10, 1912, KBRP.
That summer, Kermit KR to TR, July 31, 1913, TRP.
“Kermit was a very” Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., All in the Family (New York, 1929).
“tremendously homesick” KR to TR, 1913, KBRP.
Her name was Belle Unnamed newspaper, Jan. 15, 1913, KBRP.
Petite and blonde New York Times, Jan. 4, 1913, KBRP. Belle’s father owned the highly fashionable Willard Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.—a luxurious establishment just down the street from the White House, which had become a landmark in the capital’s social and political life. The hotel had been one of Ulysses S. Grant’s favorite places to have an after-work cigar when he was in office. Julia Ward Howe wrote “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” at the Willard in 1861, and Martin Luther King, Jr., would write parts of his historic “I Have a Dream” speech there a century later. Even Alice Roosevelt, Theodore’s older daughter, was known to drop by the Willard on occasion, where she scandalized patrons in the hotel dining room by smoking in public.
Kermit had met Belle Belle had been in Paris, ensconced in opulent comfort at the Hotel Astoria on the Champs-Élysées, that summer when she had received news of Kermit’s fall from the bridge. She had been relieved to hear that he had recovered fully, but she could not resist teasing him just a little. “I am glad to hear that you are quite well again. Broken ribs, and knee caps and ‘other injuries,’ especially other injuries, sounded very serious and I had visions of long weeks of suffering flat on your back, instead of which you’ve apparently been having glorious sport, hunting and riding etc.—so much for sympathy waisted! [sic]” (Belle Willard to KR, n.d., KBRP.)
“No letter from” KR to Belle Willard, March 1913, KBRP.
“I don’t want” KR to Belle Willard, Dec. 1912, KBRP.
Kermit planned to Bahia is present-day Salvador.
“It won’t be anything” TR to KR, June 23, 1913, in Letters, vol. 7.
“a sort of grim pride” Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., to KR, Sept. 9, 1913, KBRP.
“I have not been able” Quoted in Sylvia Jukes Morris, Edith Kermit Roosevelt: Portrait of a First Lady (New York, 1980).
“all right again” KR to Edith Roosevelt, Aug. 1913, KBRP.
“Father needs” Quoted in Morris, Edith Kermit Roosevelt.
“sphinx-like silence” Ibid.
“I can but” Edith Roosevelt to KR, Sept. 14, 1913, KBRP.
frantic telephoning John Zahm, Through South America’s Southland (New York, 1916).
Jacob Sigg Ibid.
At 1:00 p.m. George Cherrie, Diary, Oct. 11, 1913, AMNH.
“I think he feels” Edith Roosevelt to Anna Roosevelt Cowles, Oct. 15, 1913, TRC.
“If we have” TR to Ethel Roosevelt Derby, Oct. 8, 1913, TRC.
“Ask [Gilbert] Grosvenor” John Zahm to Albert Zahm, Oct. 17, 1913, CAZA 4/09.
Most days she TR to Ethel Roosevelt Derby, Oct. 8, 1913, TRC.
Twenty-five years old Unnamed newspaper, Jan. 3, 1913, TRC.
Lately, she had become Morris, Edith Kermit Roosevelt.
“Margaret has proved” TR to Ethel Roosevelt Derby, Oct. 8, 1913, TRC.
Margaret was looking forward Morris, Edith Kermit Roosevelt.
The men of the Zahm, Through South America’s Southland.
“I am pleased” TR to Frank Chapman, Oct. 15, 1913, TRP.
“The Colonel’s friendly” George Cherrie, Dark Trails (New York, 1930).
During the voyage Ibid.
“Dear Belle” KR to Belle Willard, n.d., KBRP.
CHAPTER 5: A Change of Plans
15 percent Michael Goulding, Ronaldo Barthem, and Efrem Ferreira, The Smithsonian Atlas of the Amazon (Washington, D.C., 2003).
The river’s mouth Ibid.
When the two The Nazca Plate continues to slide under South America at the geologically lightning-fast pace of eight to ten centimeters per year.
The potential political Donald F. O’Reilly, “Rondon: Biography of a Brazilian Republican Army Commander,” Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1969.
Rio de Janeiro In the mid-1950s, Brazil decided that it needed a capital in the interior of the country, so it began building a city named Brasilia in the cool, arid highlands. Construction began in 1956, and the capital was moved from Rio to Brasilia four years later.
A week earlier TR to Lauro Müller, Oct. 14, 1913, TRP.
The forty-eight-year-old Theodore Roosevelt, Through the Brazilian Wilderness (New York, 1914).
On October 4 Todd A. Diacon, Stringing Together a Nation (Durham, N.C., 2004).
Rondon had not been Amilcar Botelho de Magalhães, Impressão da Commissão Rondon.
Rondon had accepted Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Lectures Delivered on the 5th, 7th, and 9th of October, 1915 (Rio de Janeiro, 1916).
“The fact is,” Magalhães, Impressão da Commissão Rondon.
“The ordinary traveller” TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.
Müller, a sophisticated Ibid.
“Colonel Roosevelt” George Cher
rie, Dark Trails (New York, 1930).
Rondon had stumbled Ibid.
When he was told Rondon, Lectures.
Francisco de Orellana Anthony Smith, Explorers of the Amazon (Chicago, 1990).
“eating nothing but leather” Gaspar de Carvajal, The Discovery of the Amazon, trans. Bertram T. Lee, ed. H. C. Heaton (New York, 1934).
Once on the river Smith, Explorers of the Amazon; Edward J. Goodman, The Explorers of South America (Norman, Okla., 1972).
Thirteen years later Smith, Explorers of the Amazon.
Colonel Teles Pires TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.
“Now, we will” New York Times, May 27, 1914.
Osborn was thunderstruck Henry Fairfield Osborn, “Theodore Roosevelt, Naturalist,” Journal of the American Museum of Natural History, Jan. 1919.
Roosevelt’s admission TR to Frank Chapman, Nov. 4, 1913, in Letters, vol. 7.
“In a word” Frank Chapman, introduction to TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness, 1924. (Chapman used the river’s current name: Rio Roosevelt.)
“If they had the slightest” Ibid.
“last chance to be” Quoted in Edward Wagenknecht, The Seven Worlds of Theodore Roosevelt.
“The little boy” Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, My Brother Theodore Roosevelt, (New York, 1921).
In 1909 The American physician Frederick Albert Cook claimed to have reached the North Pole first, but most historians credit Peary and Henson with the accomplishment.
“Tell Osborn” Osborn, “Theodore Roosevelt, Naturalist”; Henry Fairfield Osborn, Impressions of Great Naturalists (New York, 1924), TRC.
“Father Zahm is” Chapman, introduction to TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness, 1924.
“most eager to begin” John Zahm to Albert Zahm, Nov. 16, 1913, CAZA 4/09.
Brazilians who had traveled Chapman, introduction to TR, Through the Brazilian Wilderness, 1924.
When Roosevelt’s party Cherrie, Dark Trails.
“appalling amount of luggage” Leo E. Miller, In the Wilds of South America (New York, 1918).
“I loathe state-travelling” TR to Ethel Roosevelt Derby, Dec. 10, 1913, TRC.
“As you will see” John Zahm to Albert Zahm, Nov. 27, 1913, CAZA 4/09.
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey Page 36