Roosevelt River
historyThe Roosevelt River (Rio Roosevelt, currently named Rio Téodoro) is a Brazilian river. It begins in the state of Rondonia and winds for about 400 miles (640 km) until it joins the Aripuana River, which then flows into the Madeira River, thence the Amazon.
Formerly called Rio da Dúvida (“River of Doubtâ€), the river is named after Theodore Roosevelt, who travelled into the central region of Brazil during the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition of 1913. Roosevelt, with Brazil's most famous explorer and the river's discoverer, Cândido Rondon, sought to determine where and by which course the river flowed into the Amazon.
Roosevelt and his son Kermit undertook the adventure after the former U.S. president's failed attempt to regain the office as the "Bull Moose" candidate in 1912. The Roosevelt-Rondon expedition was the first non Amazonian-native party to travel and record what Rondon had named the "Rio da Dúvida", then one of the most unexplored and intimidating tributaries of the Amazon. Sections of the river have impassable rapids and waterfalls, which hindered the expedition.
Roosevelt later wrote Through the Brazilian Wilderness recounting the adventure. »The River of Doubt by Candice Millard is a popular contemporary account of the adventure, which adds the perspective of time to the accomplishments and travails of the expedition.
After Roosevelt returned doubts were raised on his account of the expedition. Roosevelt promptly rebutted them in a public forum in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the National Geographic Society. In 1927 American explorer George Miller Dyott led a second trip down the river, independently confirming Roosevelt's discoveries.[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,736775-2,00.html "River of Doubt"], Time Magazine, June 6, 1927.
- »Through the Brazilian Wilderness
- »Teddy Roosevelt and the River of Doubt
- »Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt: Contains good photos of the expedition, and a reprint of the route map.