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A fragment of an article on South America. Photographs of mules, and group photo of Anthony Fiala, George K. Cherrie, Father Zahn, Theodore Roosevelt, Kermit Roosevelt, Frank Harper, and Leo E. Miller, and Roosevelt’s hunting party.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1914-01
Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary Frank Harper describes their journey through South America along with George Kruck Cherrie and Leo E. Miller, representatives of the American Museum of Natural History. It details specimens collected for donation to various museums. Photograph of Anthony Fiala, Cherrie, Father J. A. Zahm, Theodore Roosevelt, Kermit Roosevelt, Harper, and Miller is included.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1914-04-05
Theodore Roosevelt writes to Dr. Henry M. Leipziger, Supervisor of Lectures for the New York City Board of Education, about an upcoming lecture. George Kruck Cherrie, who accompanied Roosevelt through South America and is very knowledgeable about the people, flora, and fauna of South America, will be presenting.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-11-20
Theodore Roosevelt cautions J. D. Haseman that Haseman’s personal experience with piranhas is not enough to ignore the facts regarding piranhas attacking men and animals. If this is Haseman’s state of mind, he is not fit to “write a scientific book worth reading.” Scientists with more experience have stated that piranhas attack people. Roosevelt has personally viewed attacks while in South America. Haseman has a reputation for having a bad temper and ignoring facts. If he ignores the facts about piranhas, his scientific work cannot be taken seriously.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-08-30
Theodore Roosevelt is sorry that Anthony Fiala cannot deliver the lectures on exploration himself and thinks George Kruck Cherrie is the best alternative. Roosevelt knows first hand of Cherrie’s capabilities, as they were together throughout the exploration of what was then the largest unknown river in the world. Roosevelt thinks Cherrie is one of the best explorers and doubts if there is a better man to take Fiala’s place.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-07-08
Theodore Roosevelt is glad that Frank M. Chapman is interested in documenting the bird and mammal life of the marshes in Paraguay. Roosevelt is also glad Chapman’s Colombian book is coming along well and looks forward to reading it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1916-02-01
Theodore Roosevelt tells Frank M. Chapman that he enjoyed looking at the pamphlets Chapman had sent him. He is returning them because he thinks that it is better for George Kruck Cherrie to have them, and that he will look at them in Cherrie’s possession. Roosevelt enjoyed seeing Chapman, and hopes he will be able to justify his expectations about the upcoming trip to the Amazon.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1913-09-22
Three titles undergo scrutiny in the “Book Review” section. William N. Tilchin admires Candice Millard’s The River of Doubt about the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition of Brazil’s River of Doubt, and he provides a summary of its contents, noting that it would meet with Theodore Roosevelt’s approval as a combination of history and literature. Robert Wexelblatt expresses mixed feelings about Morton L. Kurland’s historical novel Theodore Roosevelt Rides Again, noting that the author takes care with historical facts, but that his portrait of Roosevelt is cartoonish and “the writing is uneven and uncertain.” Gregory A. Wynn finds that Mike Thompson’s The Travels and Tribulations of Theodore Roosevelt’s Cabin adds to the understanding of Roosevelt’s time in the Dakota Badlands with its many details about the cabin and the rancher who inhabited it.
Two photographs of Roosevelt during the River of Doubt expedition and one of the Maltese Cross cabin appear in the review section.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
2007
At Tapirapoan the Roosevelt-Rondon group began the overland portion of their trip to the headwaters of the River of Doubt; there are scenes of oxen and pack mules. Orchids and palm trees with birds nesting in them depict flora and fauna of the area. The group spent several days at Utiarity (Utiariti) where Roosevelt especially admired the nearby waterfalls. There is a still photo of Roosevelt, Colonel Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, and others with a group of Nhambiquara (Nambicuara) Indians near the Juruena River. Scenes depict the exacting journey down the River of Doubt: long shots of the river and men propelling canoes through rapids; men chopping trees for rollers on which canoes are hauled; transporting supplies and canoes; making paddles; cooking and eating at campsites. A still photo shows Roosevelt writing while wearing a protective headnet and gauntlets. The man examining a broken branch may be Commander G. M. Dyott; the Dyott party did meet Indians and there is footage of several who were called Arara Indians by Dyott. In a still photo, the Brazilian paddlers are grouped around the marker bearing the river’s new name, Rio Roosevelt, and there is also footage of a member of Dyott’s party examining the original marker 14 years later. The Roosevelt-Rondon group reached the end of the unknown portion of the river April 15, 1914, when they sighted homes of rubber workers. Roosevelt, suffering from illness and injuries incurred during his long journey, returned from Manaos (Manaus) to New York; the group of men on the riverboat traveling on the Madeira River are probably members of Anthony Fiala’s group rather than Roosevelt’s (Fiala left the Roosevelt-Rondon party at Utiarity to descend the Papagaio, the Juruena, and the Tapajós Rivers). A map showing the location of the River of Doubt as correctly charted by the Roosevelt-Rondon Expedition is shown. The last scenes of Roosevelt on a ship were probably taken on board the Vandyck before the expedition, rather than after, since Father J. A. Zahm, who left the group at Utiarity, also appears.
Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound
1928
Kermit Roosevelt has tried to answer the Winchester Repeating Arms Company’s question about the ammunition used on the Brazil expedition. Kermit checked with Anthony Fiala, but Fiala remembers only purchasing the rifle ammunition and that Theodore Roosevelt took care of the shotgun ammunition. Fiala will try to verify this information. Kermit suggests that the Winchester Company could also check with Frank Chapman or George Cherrie.
Buffalo Bill Center of the West
1927-12-28
Film consists of three sequences: 1) Theodore Roosevelt poses on the deck of the ship Guiana in New York Harbor prior to sailing to the West Indies on February 11, 1916. 2) Roosevelt and members of his party stand on the deck of the Vandyck some time after picking up Kermit Roosevelt at Bahia, Brazil, on October 17, 1913. This is filmed during Roosevelt’s journey to South America to combine a lecture tour with a scientific expedition to the Amazon Valley of Brazil in October 1913. Left to right are: Anthony Fiala, former Arctic explorer; George Kruck Cherrie, ornithologist; Father J. A. Zahm, scientist; Theodore Roosevelt; Kermit Roosevelt; Frank Harper, Roosevelt’s secretary; and at the edge of the picture, Leo E. Miller, mammalogist. 3) A side view of Roosevelt with American and Brazilian officials on the steps of the Guanabara Palace in Rio de Janeiro. To Roosevelt’s right is Edwin V. Morgan, American Ambassador to Brazil; man who may be Anthony Fiala and Father Zahm stand behind Roosevelt; on Roosevelt’s left is Dr. Lauro Müller, Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Müller was the person who encouraged Roosevelt’s exploration of the River of Doubt.
Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound
1916-02-11; 1913-10