Rondon, Cândido Mariano da Silva, 1865-1958

For this film, the Roosevelt Memorial Association compiled footage from Theodore Roosevelt’s 1913-1914 trip to South America during which he combined a series of lectures with an expedition in the Amazon Valley of Brazil to collect zoological specimens. The Roosevelt group was combined with a group of Brazilian scientists under the leadership of Colonel Rondon to explore the course of the uncharted Rio da Dúvida, the River of Doubt. In 1926, G. M. Dyott, an English explorer, was asked by the Roosevelt Memorial Association to retrace Roosevelt’s voyage down the River of Doubt and to film his trip in order to supplement the footage from the 1914 trip.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1928

Fearing Kermit has not been getting his letters, Theodore Roosevelt writes to tell him once again that he has been made a captain of artillery and is to report to Madrid, Spain, for orders. Roosevelt says he has been spending his time making speeches and riding his horse.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1918-05-19

Theodore Roosevelt tells his son Kermit he wrote a letter to the War Department requesting a place for Kermit with the army in France. He does not know how it will be received, given President Woodrow Wilson’s feelings toward Roosevelt and General Leonard Wood. He received a letter from Archie Roosevelt in the hospital, and also letters from Ted Roosevelt and Colonel Rondon.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1918-04-14

Theodore Roosevelt writes his son Kermit about the latest German offensive and visiting Archie Roosevelt’s wife Gracie and their new baby. He has enclosed a newspaper clip of the occasion. He says Archie’s wounding garnered a lot of attention in America. Roosevelt tells stories about two of his grandchildren, Richard and Edie and says Colonel Rondon was awarded the gold medal by the American Geographic Society.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1918-04-08

Theodore Roosevelt writes to his son Kermit to criticize President Wilson’s administration as well as the leadership of the Republican Party. He hopes the Republicans can nominate someone the Progressives can support in the next presidential election. Roosevelt also mentions working with John D. Haseman, and newspaper articles by Colonel Rondon about Roosevelt’s trip in South America.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1915-11-11

Theodore Roosevelt writes to his son Kermit about his upcoming trip to Louisiana. He says he will write a book with chapters on his travels to the Andes, Patagonia, Brazil, and Arizona. Roosevelt says his latest book Through the Brazilian Wilderness is getting recognition but he is unhappy that Scribner’s changed the title. He is sending Kermit South of Panama by Edward Alsworth Ross and looks forward to hearing Kermit’s thoughts on it. Roosevelt also gives his opinions on the War in Europe and President Wilson.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1915-05-31

Theodore Roosevelt thanks Vilhjalmur Stefansson for his letter and thanks him for what he has done to get Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon the recognition he deserves. Roosevelt writes that he himself does not belong in the “explorers class,” but he was glad to have the opportunity to explore and put a new river on the map. Roosevelt also wishes Stefansson well with his project with the musk ox and discusses the status of several flora and fauna throughout the world.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1918-03-23

Telegram inviting Theodore Roosevelt to make a small diversion in his itinerary in Brazil, to visit Cuiaba, the capital city of the state of Mato Grosso.

Collection

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

Creation Date

1913-12-14

Members of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition conferring along a river.

Collection

Dickinson State University

Creation Date

1913-1914

Theodore Roosevelt and Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon pose with a recent kill during the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition.

Collection

Dickinson State University

Creation Date

1913-1914

Theodore Roosevelt thanks H. R. De Mello for the letter and the book. In his published account of the Brazilian expedition, Roosevelt included a letter from Colonel Rondon that exposed the claims of Arthur Henry Savage Landor.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-10-16

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.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-08-30

Theodore Roosevelt thanks Captain Magalháes and through him Colonel Rondon for the volume containing the account of the work of the Brazilian Telegraph Commission and its scientific results.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-03-03

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.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-02-25

Theodore Roosevelt asks Ambassador Gama to forward the enclosed copies of the Geographical Journal to Secretary Muller and Colonel Rondon.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-02-22

The front cover of this issue features a photograph of Theodore Roosevelt and Colonel Candido Rondon atop an unusual rock formation during the River of Doubt expedition of 1914 while the back cover has a photograph of Tweed Roosevelt and John B. Walden standing on the same rock during the Rio Roosevelt Expedition of 1992. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1992

In a foreword to Joseph R. Ornig’s My Last Chance to Be a Boy: Theodore Roosevelt’s South American Expedition of 1913-1914, Tweed Roosevelt discusses Theodore Roosevelt’s lifelong interest in natural history, and he commends Ornig for including an examination of the speaking tour that Theodore Roosevelt undertook before he began his expedition. Roosevelt, a member of the Rio Roosevelt Expedition of 1992, details the similarities and differences between his expedition and the one completed by his great-grandfather. 

Six photographs, the front cover illustration of Ornig’s book, and the logo of the Theodore Roosevelt Association appear in the article.

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.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Kathleen Dalton explores “a little known side of” Theodore Roosevelt: his love of telling stories. Dalton identifies ghost stories, animal and hunting stories, tales from his days as a cowboy, and stories involving the Rough Riders as some of Roosevelt’s favorite topics. She also says that he liked to talk about his own adventures, such as hiking in Rock Creek Park, or discussing his political friends and foes, and she says that Roosevelt’s favorite audience for his stories was his children. Dalton identifies a number of people who were subjects of Roosevelt’s tales or who, like Rudyard Kipling, were captivated by listening to his stories.

Two photographs of Roosevelt, and an illustration of him telling a camp fire story to children, supplement the article which also has two text boxes with information about the Theodore Roosevelt Association.

Don Arp discusses Theodore Roosevelt’s encounters with alligators, crocodiles, and caimans while on a hunting trip to Louisiana, his safari in Africa, and his expedition in Brazil. Arp emphasizes that Roosevelt did not particularly like any of these reptiles, and that he relished hunting the caimans in Brazil, but that he nonetheless made careful observations of the crocodilians that he encountered. Arp includes several excerpts from Roosevelt’s writings about these three types of reptiles. 

Andrew L. Knudson’s painting of Roosevelt as a Rough Rider appears in the article as does a text box with information about the Theodore Roosevelt Association.