With crocodile-infested waters, minimal supplies,
and cannibal natives lurking, Theodore Roosevelt’s Amazon river trip was no glamping vacation.
This was a man who went cougar hunting for fun, who finished giving a speech after taking a
bullet to the chest. But Roosevelt’s last hurrah was crazy, even for him.
Today on Nutty history, we’re detailing the former president’s hare-brained Amazon expedition, a trip
that was as nutty as it was deadly. But before we ride the rapids, make sure to subscribe to our
channel and let us know the nuttiest historical events you’d like to hear about next time.
To label, this expedition as foolhardy would be the understatement of the century. But in
many ways, a perfect storm of events led the former president down this very dangerous path.
After losing the 1912 election, Roosevelt seemed to adopt a “nothing to lose” mentality,
calling the trip his “last chance to be a boy.” If he meant it was his last chance
to do something stupid and life-altering without thinking it through, he was right.
Roosevelt was invited by Argentina to speak in a series of lectures across South America.
He decided to embark on an exploratory trip of the Amazon after the lectures, receiving funding from
the American Museum of Natural History in exchange for collecting animal specimens along the way.
Once in Brazil, though, Roosevelt’s guide, Brazilian explorer Colonel Rondon,
told him about a tributary to the Amazon that was uncharted by Westerners. Roosevelt with all
certainty decided to change his itinerary to travel on the treacherous Rio da Duvida
or River of Doubt. Because.. changing your entire travel plans at the last minute always goes well…
The American Museum of Natural History reached out to Roosevelt in an attempt to warn him of
the risks. After all, there weren’t exactly Trip Advisor reviews at the time. Embarking
on an unknown section of the Amazon could be lethal to anyone, never mind a 55-year-old who
suffered from chronic health problems and still had a bullet lodged in his chest. In response,
Roosevelt stated, “If it is necessary for me to leave my bones in South America,
I am quite ready to do so.” Teddy, these are not normal things to say before leaving on a vacation.
Before they could even get to the part where they got to raft through piranha-infested waters,
Teddy and the crew had a two-month trek to get to their starting point on the River of Doubt.
Starting in December of 1913, several men on the hike were struck by tropical illness
during this teaser portion of the trip. Riding on horseback, half of their animals died of
exhaustion as they traversed the rough Brazilian highlands. By the time they reached the river,
they were already so low on supplies that they had to split their team in two
and send half of them away on an easier route. Maybe this would’ve been a place to reevaluate
their choices and turn back. But Theodore Roosevelt wasn’t a quitter, or particularly
concerned with his survival apparently. With the crew split, the remaining 22 men embarking on the
River of doubt included just three Americans: Roosevelt, a naturalist named George Cherrie,
and Roosevelt’s son, Kermit. Poor Kermit was newly engaged and had initially opted to stay home,
but Roosevelt’s wife made him go along on the trip to ensure his father’s safety. The next time you
have to help your Dad send a text message, be grateful you don’t have to babysit him on his
four-month Amazon death wish instead. Roosevelt and friends set off on the river in late February,
at the height of the rain season. Great timing guys! Aside from the horrifying wildlife in the
water, there were also creatures of the jungle to contend with. Whenever they camped, mosquitoes
and stinging flies swarmed. George Cherrie wrote in his journal, “My hands are sore and
considerably swollen from insect bites.” Hmm.. no one thought to pack some citronella candles?
Just a few days into the river portion, Roosevelt was attacked by a venomous coral snake.
The snake snapped at him but only managed to get its fangs into Roosevelt’s thick leather boot,
missing his skin. This is the same man who was shot while holding a 50-page speech in his coat
as a sort of make-shift bulletproof vest. Someone upstairs was looking out. The
rapids on the River of Doubt were so extreme that their canoes would smash against the rocks
and break or just be lost entirely to the water. Fallen trees were everywhere, creating
blockages and making maneuvering the canoes a nearly impossible feat. The trip’s pace slowed
considerably, as the Brazilian porter crew had to stop and literally build new canoes out of trees.
In addition, the rapids were so strong that canoeing often wasn’t feasible,
so they had to carry the canoes on their backs for long stretches at a time. All of this extra
time meant that the team was running low on supplies and had to adopt a starvation diet.
Which basically means you eat only what you have to, to not starve to death. Ever a man of action,
Roosevelt injured himself while trying to save two canoes from crashing in the rapids. He sliced
his leg on a rock, and the wound soon became infected. Roosevelt developed tropical fever,
and the infection worsened due to the bullet still lodged in his chest. He eventually had to
have emergency leg surgery along the riverbank. I’m sure it was very sanitary and painless.
If you thought going over an unexpected waterfall in a canoe only happened in the movies, think
again! That’s just par for the course when you’re essentially charting a brand-new river. Kermit
and two Brazilian crew members were in a canoe together when they were sucked into a whirlpool
and sent plummeting off of a waterfall. It sounds like it could be a fun Six Flags ride, un-til the
part where you drown. Kermit and another man managed to swim to shore after falling over the
fall, but the third crew member was lost in the river. We doubt this is what he signed up for.
For most of their journey, the team was shadowed by the Cinta Larga, a native Brazilian tribe. It
wasn’t clear to the travelers if the natives were friends or foes, but Colonel Rondon’s dog
was discovered impaled by arrows. Which doesn’t exactly scream, “Welcome to the neighborhood.”
While camping, the group adopted a sentinel to stay watch, in case the tribe decided to attack
at night. Still, probably not the most peaceful night’s sleep. The Cinta Larga never made a
move against Rondon and Roosevelt’s group. Instead, they quietly crept alongside them,
following them the entire way. That’s almost creepier? It turns out the Cinta Larga
did later attack other groups traveling in the area, so Roosevelt and crew again got lucky.
Honestly, it’s remarkable they made it as far as they did without killing each other.
George Cherrie describes a Brazilian porter named Julio in his journal, calling him the “lazy shirk
of the party.” What, did Julio only carry one canoe on his back at a time? After an issue with
the low food rations, Julio was supposedly caught stealing food by another porter. A shot rang out,
and another porter, Paishon, was discovered dead. A search party tried to follow Julio, who had run
away into the trees, while the rest of the group buried Paishon in a shallow grave along the River.
Julio was never found and the rest of the party abandoned him to the jungle, where he presumably
perished. Another one bites the dust. On March 12th, with over a month left to go on the river,
Cherrie journaled that every member of the party was ready for the trip to be over. Their clothes
were torn to rags and they were essentially in a never-ending episode of Naked and Afraid. By the
time they neared the relief party at the end of April, every person, with the exception of Colonel
Rondon, was sick or injured. Malaria, dysentery and tropical fever were afflicting the party
throughout the two months on the river. Roosevelt was consistently getting fevers up to 103 degrees
and reached the point of delirium. He continuously recited the same two lines from a poem
and asked the group to leave him in the jungle to die. Roosevelt didn’t want to slow down the
rest of the party and further endanger them. His proposed plan was to overdose on morphine,
so he didn’t have to succumb to the very harsh elements. Kermit,
who was brought along for this specific purpose, refused to leave his father behind
and eventually talked him into continuing the journey, although his leg injury had gotten
so bad that he couldn’t even walk. The group was also on the brink of starvation. Their only food
options were catching fish and foraging for the hearts of palm. Occasionally, they were
able to shoot animals in the trees and feasted on monkey meat. Don’t deny it till you try it?