Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey That Almost Made Him Commit Suicide

Reviewing the book ‘The River of Doubt‘ by Candice Millard

This book tells the story of Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, on his trip to the Amazon jungle. The narration starts pretty early, way before he actually begins the trip. This was well done and it gave me a better sense of Roosevelt’s life at the time. He had just been defeated for a re-run in 1912, and he decided to do this trip as a challenge for himself. Just as many other challenges he had put on himself before to overcome heartbreak and frustration in his life.

It also detailed how the trip and his team were arranged, and narrates the trip from the US to Brazil before their jungle journey began, which naturally took some time in the early 20th century. All this background may seem to drag at times, and I was eager for the Amazon trip to actually begin, but nevertheless, all of it was very enjoyable to read, and it really enriched the story later, giving a lot of depth to the personalities and lives of everyone involved.

The journey was supposed to be relatively easy, but they changed plans at the last minute and decided instead to map an unknown Amazonian river called “River of Doubt”, now known as the Roosevelt River. This was a trip of exponential difficulty compared to their plans, and they were completely unprepared for it, in equipment, knowledge, and mentality.

The river was utterly unmapped and over a thousand miles long. Sometimes the river was so hard to navigate that was actually impossible, and boats had to be dragged through the jungle for days. The bulk of the book is describing their dangerous descent through the river, and their situation keeps getting worse and worse. When you think that surely it can’t get any worse, it does. It is an incredible story of survival and determination.

In addition to the amazing story of their difficult journey, I really enjoyed the perspective the book gave me about the Amazon jungle. It’s hard to appreciate how truly adventurous their trip was. In our age, almost everything is explored. Furthermore, you have a GPS in your hand, and there are well-built roads almost everywhere you go. It takes some effort and perspective shift to understand their position of being in completely wild nature; so far away from civilization that if anything goes wrong, it is impossible to ask for help. Walking through paths that no one has ever walked before except natives who are completely isolated (and that may kill you for trespassing on their territory). The author often went on big tangents about the amazon and its ecology, which while not crucial for the story itself, really aided the imagination of being there and what their circumstance was like.

Beyond the survival element of starvation, drowning, homicide, piranhas, and everything you can think of, it was incredible to read about the personality and comradery of the whole team. Roosevelt in specific was incredibly hardworking and had a character that was hard not to envy. At times considering suicide just so that he wouldn’t be a burden for the rest of his teammates. I also really liked Cândido Rondon, the leader of the expedition. Not only incredibly knowledgeable but his passion for the amazon and the natives was deeply inspiring.

The story is gripping and feels like a novel. It’s almost hard to believe it actually happened. In fact, once Roosevelt returned to the US, many prominent geographers of his time were skeptical. However, later expeditions re-traced Roosevelt’s trip and confirmed his mapping of the river.

It’s both a story of pure adventure but also of determination and grit. It’s even more inspiring to read today because it’s so unlike almost anything we experience in the modern world. I highly recommend reading it.

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