Death on the River of Doubt: Chapters 2–3

Roosevelt wrote, “I made up my mind...I would not again be put in such a helpless position; and having become quickly and bitterly conscious that I did not have the natural prowess to hold my own, I decided that I would try to supply its place by training.”

“He’s not strong, but he’s all grit,” his doctor said. “He’ll kill himself before he’ll even say he’s tired.”

Over the years, Roosevelt’s enthusiasm and interest in natural history had not waned. He still planned on studying it at Harvard University.

Always carrying his gun, he went on grueling horseback rides and punishing hikes through the woods and fields, keeping a lookout for wildlife specimens to add to his collection.

Two years later, on Valentine’s Day 1884, twenty-five-year-old Roosevelt was ravaged by grief again when his mother, Martha, died of typhoid fever, a type of bacterial infection.

Two years later, on Valentine’s Day 1884, twenty-five-year-old Roosevelt was ravaged by grief again when his mother, Martha, died of typhoid fever, a type of bacterial infection.

His eyeglasses triggered distrust because, at that time and in that region, people looked at glasses as some kind of character defect.

Roosevelt also sounded different. He had a high-pitched, cultured voice tinged with a New York accent. Plus, he talked really, really fast. But he proved his mettle.

Roosevelt also sounded different. He had a high-pitched, cultured voice tinged with a New York accent. Plus, he talked really, really fast. But he proved his mettle.

“A man of ordinary power, who nevertheless does not shirk things merely because they are disagreeable or irksome, soon earns his place,” Roosevelt once stated.

“A man of ordinary power, who nevertheless does not shirk things merely because they are disagreeable or irksome, soon earns his place,” Roosevelt once stated.

“That four-eyed maverick has sand in his craw a-plenty,” a ranch hand said approvingly.

Although Roosevelt was accepted as a friend, fellow cowboy, and, ultimately, the sheriff's deputy, he never completely severed his ties to New York or politics.

The freezing-cold winter had killed three-quarters of all the cattle that roamed the Badlands, and ranching turned out to be a money-losing venture for him.

In fact, looking back on it, Roosevelt believed that he never would have become president of the United States if it hadn’t been for his experiences in the Dakota Territory. It helped him further develop his skills as an independent and strong leader. "It taught a man self-reliance, hardihood, and the value of instant decision,” Roosevelt wrote.

"What a change!” one newspaper reporter wrote. "Last March he was a pale, slim young man, with a thin, piping voice and a general look of dyspepsia...He is now brown as a berry and has increased 30 pounds in weight. The voice...is now hearty and strong enough to drive oxen.”

"What a change!” one newspaper reporter wrote. "Last March he was a pale, slim young man, with a thin, piping voice and a general look of dyspepsia...He is now brown as a berry and has increased 30 pounds in weight. The voice...is now hearty and strong enough to drive oxen.”

Roosevelt, who became a colonel, brought together a group of fierce cowboys, American Indians, Texas Rangers, prospectors, cops, and elite athletes.

Roosevelt, who became a colonel, brought together a group of fierce cowboys, American Indians, Texas Rangers, prospectors, cops, and elite athletes.

When Roosevelt brought an antitrust lawsuit against J. P. Morgan, a multimillionaire banker, Morgan was stunned.

“I am President of all the people of the United States,” Roosevelt said. “Without regard to creed, color, birthplace, occupation, or social conditions. My aim is to do equal and exact justice among them all.”

He used his power and influence to protect and conserve 230 million acres of American forest, desert, and plains, including the Grand Canyon, Muir Woods, Yosemite, and the Painted Desert, to name a few. His conservation efforts also saved the buffalo from extinction.

Bringing his unbridled energy and enthusiasm to the job, Roosevelt was a force of nature.

The canal was an engineering feat, carving out a fifty-mile-long passage across the Isthmus of Panama that connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The canal was an engineering feat, carving out a fifty-mile-long passage across the Isthmus of Panama that connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

When Roosevelt failed to get reelected, he wasn’t just disappointed at losing—he was shattered. “I had expected that we would make a better showing...I try not to think of the damage to myself personally,” Roosevelt confided to his friend Arthur Hamilton Lee.

Roosevelt underwent two operations. Refusing any anesthesia, he was fully awake when the surgeon cut open his leg down to the shin bone to drain the abscess. Despite the surgeon’s best attempts, Roosevelt’s left leg remained prone to infection at the slightest injury.

Roosevelt underwent two operations. Refusing any anesthesia, he was fully awake when the surgeon cut open his leg down to the shin bone to drain the abscess. Despite the surgeon’s best attempts, Roosevelt’s left leg remained prone to infection at the slightest injury.

In fact, during the journey on board the Vandyck, he brought down the house when he danced the sailor’s hornpipe—a solo jig where he kicked up his legs and threw out his arms with gusto, imitating the work of a sailor, from rowing a boat to climbing the rigging to saluting his fellow passengers.

Tipping the scale at well over two hundred pounds, he was stout. But at just one week shy of turning fifty-five years old, he still had “the energy of a boy.”

After the welcoming ceremony and a tour of the city’s recently modernized ports and boulevards, the chauffeured car turned on to Paissandu Street, famous for the lanky royal palm trees that lined each side. At the end of the street, Roosevelt found himself at Palacio Guanabara, or Guanabara Palace, a frosty white and buttery beige neoclassical residence, similar in style to the White House.

After a meeting with President da Fonseca, Roosevelt met with Lauro Müller, the lean and elegant foreign minister of Brazil. Müller was delighted to be meeting with Roosevelt. He knew that Roosevelt’s expedition through the Brazilian wilderness would garner international attention and raise Brazil’s profile in the world.

In a letter to Müller, Roosevelt wrote:
“My hope is to make this trip not only an interesting and valuable one from a scientific standpoint, but of real benefit to Brazil, in calling attention to the ease and rapidity with which the vast territory can be traversed, and also to the phenomenal opportunities for development which she [Brazil] offers.”

The proposal was for Roosevelt to go deep into an unexplored part of the Amazon jungle in Mato Grosso—Brazil’s wild frontier—to map an uncharted river with the renowned explorer Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon.

Rondon not only helped brand the cattle but also deftly hunted the jaguars that preyed on them, and the wild pigs that destroyed the crops.

Malaria, starvation, Indian attacks, and vicious bites from piranhas, snakes, and insects were all part of the job. For many, it cost them their lives.

At the time of the discovery, Rondon was weak from a bout with malaria and near starvation. He was barely able to hack his way through the jungle, let alone map an unknown river.

When Lauro Müller contacted Rondon, via telegraph, to act as Roosevelt’s guide, Rondon balked at the idea at first. He wasn’t interested in being anyone’s tour guide, not even the former president of the United States.

When Müller presented this offer, Roosevelt listened with rapt attention. He knew that what Rondon was proposing would be a major contribution to science.

“It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose!” he said.
The doctors didn’t remove the bullet, deeming it unsafe, so it remained lodged in Roosevelt’s fourth rib, just an inch away from his right lung.
Regardless of Edith’s misgivings, Roosevelt’s mind was made up.