Category Archives: United States

The River of Doubt, Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey

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I posted a two part review of “Destiny of the Republic, A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard (November 16 and 25). That book led me to this magnificent book, which I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a well written story with fascinating events and characters. The book has many details about Roosevelt that were new to me, and I had never heard of the expedition down the Rio da Duvida, or the River of Doubt.

The book begins with Theodore Roosevelt deserting the Republican Party to run for President for what would be his third term in office. He had become President after McKinley was assassinated, finished about three years remaining on that term, and had been reelected. He was disappointed in Republican William Howard Taft who followed him, and ran as a Progressive against Taft and Woodrow Wilson. He was shot and badly injured while campaigning, but continued campaign appearances with the bullet still in his body. He said, “It takes more than that to kill a bull moose!” He and his party were thereafter called the “Bull Moose.” Roosevelt finished with the second highest number of votes behind Wilson and ahead of Taft and the Socialist Eugene Debs. Angry Republicans blamed him for Wilson’s victory, and made him miserable by their scorn.

The American Museum of Natural History recruited Roosevelt to lead a “…not particularly dangerous…” exploration of a tributary of the Amazon. George Cherrie, a talented explorer and naturalist was chosen to accompany him. Brazilian officials provided Colonel Candido Rondon as the guide for the expedition. Rondon brought a contingent of military “camaradas,” or companions to the expedition. Roosevelt’s son Kermit joined the expedition. Less competent members were winnowed as the trip progressed. The five tons of equipment selected for the trip contained many unnecessary items. One stevedore commented about the piles of goods, “Nothings lacking but the piano!” The boats were never put into service because they were far too heavy for portages, and the expedition was reduced to using cumbersome dugouts.

A Catholic priest, Father John Zahm, who was inexplicably added to the expedition, casually mentioned to Roosevelt that perhaps he should “…go down an unknown river…” Thus the River of Doubt was chosen. Many thought the selection was far too dangerous, and Roosevelt’s backers wanted the plan changed. Roosevelt wanted to do something dangerous that would test him physically and mentally, and he responded “…if it is necessary for me to leave my bones in South America, I am quite ready to do so.”

There is fascinating information in the book about Roosevelt and his son, but I’m going to focus Colonel Rondon, and his troops. His camaradas were dedicated to Rondon and were the backbone of the expedition. Rondon and his men faced frequent danger with skill, bravery, discipline, and stamina. They lived on starvation ratios and completed the many portages while under onslaught from swarms of a variety of biting and disease-carrying insects. They moved through a jungle so massive, dark, and silent that it was said to drive strong men near or to insanity.

Candido Rondon was born to parents who were of mixed Indian and European descent. Both died of smallpox; his father died before he was born and his mother died when he was two. He was raised by grandparents and went to a military school when he was sixteen. He was so poor he couldn’t afford books, and no one noticed he was slowly starving to death until he collapsed. He survived and became a “Positivist” with a primary goal of gaining better treatment for the Indians of Brazil. He led many expeditions into territories where there were Indians willing and able to kill outsiders. All but one of his men complied with his command, “Die if you must, but never kill.”Many of the scattered tribes of the Amazon dared to trust Rondon. Roosevelt was the figurehead of the expedition, but Rondon was the commander.

The cannibalistic Cinta Larga Indian tribe allowed the expedition to pass down the River of Doubt. Some future expeditions were apparently wiped out. Rondon’s ritual of leaving gifts in clearings might have resulted in the survival of Roosevelt and his companions.

There is considerable attention given to Roosevelt’s struggle to survive a leg injury and infection. Roosevelt implored his companions, “You can get out. I will stop here.” He was not left to die because he had demonstrated thoughtfulness to Rondon and his men.

There are descriptions of the fish and animals of the Amazon. One man made the mistake of sticking a piranha stunned by a dynamite blast in his mouth as he gathered others with his hands. He nearly bled to death after the piranha bit his tongue. There is also the candirus fish, which swims up an orifice such as the anus, vagina, or urethra. It then feeds and is unable to detach, which causes intense difficulty for the victim. The man-eating priaba can grow up to nine feet long, and are so dangerous people would build stockades in the water where they could bathe in safety. Some of the fifty species of coral snakes in the Amazon do not follow the adage “Red touching yellow, dangerous fellow.” The anacondas and caimans were seen, but didn’t cause a problem. The expedition was too noisy to often be able to harvest food from the jungle despite the large numbers animals that were able to blend into the jungle.

The expedition lost one camarada to drowning and another to murder by one of his fellows who ran into the jungle and was eventually abandoned to what was likely to have been a quick death. The ones who survived to make it through were nearly starved and wearing little but rags. Roosevelt survived because of the care he received and probably because he was robust when he began the trip. He never fully recovered from the leg infection other maladies. He was however, able to give a triumphant speech about the expedition after some questioned the validity of the story. The river was renamed Rio Roosevelt.

Read the book. You are likely to enjoy the wealth of interesting detail I haven’t included.

Killing Lincoln, the Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever

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This book by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard (tell people the second author if you don’t want to admit reading a book by O’Reilly) have written an excellent book. The Prologue begins with Lincoln’s oath of office for his second term. Andrew Johnson gave a drunken speech followed by Lincoln appealing for reunification. He said, “With malice toward none and charity for all…to bind up the nation’s wounds, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace…” John Wilkes Booth was standing only a few feet from Lincoln. He actually lunged at Lincoln, was restrained by Officer John Westfall, and explains he stumbled.

Lincoln was on the decks of the steamboat River Queen about four weeks later watching “the rolling thunder of heavy metal” as Union artillery pounded the Confederate defenses at Petersburg. The book elegantly describes the horrors of war as the Union Army works to drive Lee and the Confederates out of Petersburg after a long and brutal siege. Lee abandons the city and begins a retreat with Grant’s huge army in pursuit. There is a description of Lincoln riding through what had just recently been a battlefield “…littered with hundreds of dead soldiers, their unburied bodies swollen by death, and sometimes stripped bare by scavengers.” Continue reading →

Destiny of the Republic, A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President—Part II

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Part I of this book by Candice Millard was about Garfield’s early life, his military service during the Civil War, entrance into politics, and his seemingly accidental connections to a madman named Charles Guiteau who shot him and the inventor, Alexander Graham Bell. This part will be about the medical treatment after Guiteau shot him, or more accurately the inept medical treatment of Garfield, the people who interacted with Garfield during his long decline to his end, and the remarkable transformation of Vice President Chester Arthur. Arthur was transformed from being a political hack to becoming an admirable American President.. He was influenced to become a decent President by the coaching from a previously unknown disabled woman and by his limited contact with the remarkable Garfield. I would be remiss if I did no encourage any student of history or anyone who enjoys a well written, interesting story to read this book. I give it a very high recommendation.

Alexander Graham Bell began working on an electrical induction device when he learned that President Garfield had been wounded by a gunshot from the insane Guitreau, and that there was doubt where the bullet had lodged. He hoped he could develop a metal detector that would assist in identifying the location of the lead slug embedded in Garfield. Bell would test his equipment with some success on a Civil War veteran who had carried a bullet in his body for many years. However, his equipment failed to find the bullet in Garfield in part because of an error in setting up the equipment, and in part because Bliss, the doctor in charge of Garfield’s treatment, gave him a completely incorrect assessment of the approximate location of the bullet. Bell continued to work on his equipment after failing to find the bullet in Garfield, and would eventually find the location of a slug in Private John McGill who had carried a bullet twenty years after being shot at the Battle of Gaines’ Mill. Bell made a return visit to Garfield’s bed and found a feeble signal in the general vicinity where Bliss believed the bullet to be lodged. Bell was unconvinced, but Bliss took it as proof of his ideas. Bell did not know the President was on a mattress with metal coils that probably gave the false signal that Bliss believed proved he was right. Continue reading →

Destiny of the Republic, A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President—Part I

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I heard Peter Boyles on KOA radio of Denver interviewing Candice Millard and reviewing her book, and decided it sounded fascinating. I now think “fascinating” doesn’t do the book justice, and I give this book a very high recommendation. I wanted to do a single part review, but this book simply had too much information for a mere couple of pages to do it justice. This part will be about Garfield’s early life, his military service during the Civil War, entrance into politics, and his seemingly accidental connections to a madman named Charles Guiteau and the inventor, Alexander Graham Bell.

I am frequently astonished at how little I know about history, and this book led me even further to the conclusion that I don’t know enough. I certainly knew little about James A. Garfield. He was born to a poor family that was barely scraping out a living in Ohio, and his father died when he was two. His mother, Eliza Garfield, who came from a family of intellectuals, and eleven year old brother worked to keep the family from starving, and eventually sacrificed what little they had to see that James could be educated. His ability to learn was remarkable. His willingness to work at any job perhaps was just as remarkable. He worked on the Erie Canal with rough men, and was amazingly saved from drowning by a rope that caught solid in a crack as he fell overboard alone in the dark. He worked as a janitor at a preparatory school and within a year was an assistant professor teaching literature, mathematics, and ancient languages. He was accepted into Williams College in Massachusetts, and became the president of Eclectic Institute by the age of twenty-six. Continue reading →

The Loyalists in the American Revolution

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A member of our book club selected “Dreams of Glory” by Thomas Fleming as the book to be read for the April/May meeting. That fiction book is about espionage during the Revolutionary War, including a plan to kidnap George Washington. Reading that book convinced me I should learn more about the Loyalists. I selected the book by Claude Halstead Van Tyne copywrited in 1902. The book was written in formal language, and I wouldn’t characterize it as easy to read. The author makes it clear he was sympathetic to the Loyalists. He writes in the preface that the young American republic made many “…youthful errors…” that could have been avoided if the Loyalists had been part of the new country instead of being vilified and driven into exile. One of his primary references was “…files of Rivington’s Gazette, the greatest Loyal newspaper from 1774 until the close of the war.” The author asserts that most people in America were indifferent to the Revolution, although they would be “…ready to stampede along with the successful party.” He also quotes John Adams as saying that Great Britain “…seduced and deluded nearly one third of the people in the colonies.” The author adds that “influential Americans” and “worthy gentlemen” (the upper class) mostly remained loyal to the king. The book refers to the revolutionaries as Whigs. The Whigs and Tories were opposing political parties in the English parliament beginning in the mid 1600s.

The discussion and analysis of the tax placed on tea is fascinating and different than what I recall from high school history. The tax was three pence a pound, and the three pence sterling has a current value of five cents. A Wikipedia article says the tax was equated to about 10% of the cost of the tea. The king attempted to mollify the colonists and their resistance to the tax by compensating the East India Company to make English tea cheaper than other sources even with the tax. People such as John Adams weren’t impressed, continued to protest that there should be no taxation without representation, and the Boston Tea Party was the result. The author referred to those who participated in that event as “…the immortal band of Boston Indians…” Parliament reacted by passing five acts to further regulate American affairs. The one that attracted the most attention was an act to shut down Boston harbor until the town repaid the East India Company for the destroyed tea, which would be required to convince the king that Boston would submit to his authority. The colonists did not react submissively. One group issued a statement ridiculing the idea of paying for the tea. “If a man draws his sword on me…and I break his sword ought I pay for the sword?” The rest, as the saying goes, is history. The serving of tea was interpreted to be an insult to the revolution, and people began to refer to serving tea as “white coffee” to avoid visits from angry neighbors. Continue reading →

Prophet in Politics: Henry A Wallace and the War Years, 1940-1965

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(This 1970 book by Edward L. and Frederick H. Schapmeier is out of print though available from libraries and used book sellers.)

I originally became interested in why FDR had three Vice Presidents, and Henry Agard Wallace was the second. The first was John Nance Garner, and FDR hadn’t won the Democratic nomination for the presidency until he persuaded Garner to drop out of the race and accept the vice presidency. Garner and Roosevelt disagreed widely on many issues, and their relationship soured irretrievably during their second term. Garner was quoted a characterizing the vice presidency as being “not worth a bucket of warm piss.” Wallace was different than Garner in many ways. He was a studious, deeply religious Progressive. He had been well suited to the position of Secretary of Agriculture that he held before FDR selected him to replace Garner. He had taught himself Spanish and made a very successful tour of Latin America as Germany was declaring war on the United States.

Reading about Wallace was often baffling. As Vice President he supported the Manhattan Project because he feared the Germans would develop the bomb first. He understood the Soviet Union possessed the capability to produce the weapon, but his actions indicated that he believed Stalin was a dependable ally who did not have subversive purposes.  Wallace said, “The future of the well-being of the world depends on the extent to which Marxism, as it is being progressively modified in Russia, and democracy, as we are adapting it…can live in peace.” Wallace went so far in his idealism to envision the United Nations would have sovereign powers over the United States through “…an international peace law, an international peace court and an international peace force…”   Continue reading →