Your TR Source
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 appreciates the work of the Royal Geographical Society and John Scott Keltie on the maps from the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition. The work of Dr. Lauro Muller and Colonel Rondon deserved to be recognized by the leading geographical magazine and society. Confidentially, the Brazilian preparations for the trip were poor and Roosevelt believes Kermit Roosevelt and Anthony Fiala could have organized a better, faster, and more comfortable journey. He blames many of the problems on the Latin American desire for “splendor,” such as Rondon’s refusal to walk, which would not be in “splendid style,” and free up space for more supplies on pack animals. The lack of supplies forced the expedition to use half rations after reaching the river. Roosevelt did not make information like this public as his companions were “fine fellows” and the trip could not have been completed without them.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-02-25
Theodore Roosevelt claims that on the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition there would not have been any “observations worth anything” if he had not insisted on it and that his companions’ work was mostly valueless unless he was around. There were many shortcomings in planning and preparation. Roosevelt believes that he, along with Kermit Roosevelt and Anthony Fiala, could have made better preparations. Roosevelt describes the river’s features and will be sending John Scott Keltie a map of the River of Doubt (Roosevelt River) that is incredibly accurate.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1914-12-17
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