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Film, Video The River of Doubt. [No. 2] Title in Theodore Roosevelt Association film catalog: River of Doubt [2]

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About this Item

Title

  • The River of Doubt. [No. 2]

Other Title

  • Title in Theodore Roosevelt Association film catalog: River of Doubt [2]

Summary

  • Part 1: Several members of TR's group pose aboard the Vandyck, the ship on which TR sailed from New York in the fall of 1913. Left to right are: Anthony Fiala, former arctic explorer and photographer for a portion of the journey, George K. Cherrie, ornithologist, Father John A. Zahm, a friend of TR's, Kermit Roosevelt, Frank Harper, TR's secretary, and Leo E. Miller, mammalogist. Several scenes of TR's arrival in Rio de Janeiro are included: TR and his wife, Edith Roosevelt, alight from a small steamer; a group of reporters precedes TR as he walks, probably in the harbor area of Rio de Janeiro; TR in a carriage with unidentified Brazilian officials; a long shot of the Monroe Palace. On the steps of the Guanabara Palace, TR poses with American and Brazilian officials, including Edwin V. Morgan, American Ambassador, and Lauro S. Müller, Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs. On December 9, 1913, the party embarked on the Nyoac, Col. Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon's river steamer, which carried the Roosevelt-Rondon expedition up the Paraguay River. There are views of the riverbank, and of the group leaving the Nyoac to participate in a reception at the Fazenda São João farm on the Cuyabá (Cuiabá) River in the state of Matto Grosso (Mato Grosso). There are shots of TR returning from a hunting trip. TR, Kermit and Col. Rondon pose with a jaguar shot by TR. Several members of the party watch the river for piranhas. There are views of palm trees, birds (storks and scarlet ibis), insects ("the walking stick" and a grasshopper). TR shoots crocodiles from the Nyoac. Pack mules and oxen are seen transporting supplies on the overland portion of the trip to the headwaters of the River of Doubt.
  • Part 2: 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 TR especially admired the nearby waterfalls. There is a still photo of TR, Col. Rondon, and others with a group of Nhambiquara (Nambicuara) Indians near the Juruena River (2:07 min.). 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 TR writing while wearing a protective headnet and gauntlets (8:54 min.). The man examining a broken branch may be Commander 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. (11:38). The Roosevelt-Rondon group reached the end of the unknown portion of the river April 15, 1914, when they sighted homes of rubber workers. TR, 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 Fiala's group rather than TR'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 (13:08). The last scenes of TR on a ship were probably taken on board the Vandyck before the expedition, rather than after, since Father Zahm, who left the group at Utiarity, also appears.

Names

  • Gentry, Caroline, 1870-1939, editor
  • Fiala, Anthony, 1869-1950, camera
  • Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
  • Roosevelt Memorial Association. Film Library
  • Roosevelt Memorial Association, former owner
  • Theodore Roosevelt Association Collection (Library of Congress)

Created / Published

  • United States : Roosevelt Film Library, [1928?]

Headings

  • -  Roosevelt, Theodore,--1858-1919--Travel--Brazil
  • -  Rondon, Cândido Mariano da Silva,--1865-1958
  • -  Dyott, G. M.--(George Miller),--1883-1972
  • -  Fiala, Anthony,--1869-1950
  • -  Cherrie, George Kruck,--1865-1946
  • -  Zahm, J. A.--(John Augustine),--1851-1921
  • -  Roosevelt, Kermit,--1889-1943
  • -  Harper, Frank,--1882-1971
  • -  Miller, Leo E.--(Leo Edward),--1887-1952
  • -  Roosevelt, Edith Kermit Carow,--1861-1948
  • -  Morgan, Edwin V.--(Edwin Vernon),--1865-1934
  • -  Müller, Lauro,--1863-1926
  • -  Palácio Monroe (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
  • -  Palácio Guanabara (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
  • -  Vandyck (Ship)
  • -  Nyoac (Steamboat)
  • -  Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition--(1913-1914)
  • -  Presidents--United States
  • -  Nambicuara Indians
  • -  Arara Indians
  • -  Roosevelt River (Brazil)--Discovery and exploration
  • -  Amazon River Valley--Description and travel
  • -  Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)--Description and travel
  • -  Sepotuba River (Brazil)
  • -  Cuiabá River (Brazil)
  • -  Madeira River (Brazil and Bolivia)

Genre

  • Documentary films
  • Silent films
  • Short films
  • Nonfiction films

Notes

  • -  Duration (complete): 29:18 at 18 fps.
  • -  Duration: 14:33 (part 1), 14:45 (part 2) at 18 fps.
  • -  Part 1 of the digital viewing copy is not viewable at loc.gov. It is viewable on the LC YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKXOtJeaTEQ. External
  • -  Interior titles are mainly taken from Roosevelt's memoir of the journey, Through the Brazilian Wilderness
  • -  Roosevelt Memorial Association inventory numbers: RMA 308-04 and 308-05 (copy 1) ; RMA 309A-03 and 309A-04 (copy 2) ; RMA 325-05 and 325-06 (copy 3).
  • -  Sources used: The Theodore Roosevelt Association...catalog, p. 66-67; Roosevelt Memorial Association (RMA) inventory list in M/B/RS Theodore Roosevelt Association acquisition file.
  • -  Editor, Caroline Gentry ; photographer, Anthony Fiala.
  • -  Appearing: President Roosevelt, Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon, George M. Dyott, Anthony Fiala, George K. Cherrie, John A. Zahm, Kermit Roosevelt, Frank Harper, Leo E. Miller, Edith Roosevelt, Edwin V. Morgan, Lauro S. Müller.
  • -  Photographed enroute from New York to Brazil on the S.S. Vandyck, and on the Roosevelt River in Brazil from October, 1913 to May, 1914; additional footage shot 1926.
  • -  Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as digital files.
  • -  Film is Roosevelt Memorial Association compilation of footage from TR'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 Col. Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon to explore the course of the uncharted Rio da Dúvida, the River of Doubt (now known as the Roosevelt River). In 1926 George M. Dyott, an English explorer, was asked by the Roosevelt Memorial Association to retrace TR's voyage down the River of Doubt and to film his trip in order to supplement the footage from the 1914 trip.
  • -  Collection transferred to LC from National Park Service in 1967. Previous owner: Roosevelt Memorial Association.
  • -  The Theodore Roosevelt Association film collection : a catalog / prepared by Wendy White-Henson and Veronica M. Gillespie. Library of Congress, 1986.

Medium

  • viewing print 2 film reels of 2 (1,949 ft.) : si., b&w ; 35 mm.
  • viewing print (copy 2) 2 film reels of 2 (1,932 ft.) : si., b&w ; 35 mm.
  • viewing print (copy 3) 2 film reels of 2 (1,994 ft.) : si., b&w ; 35 mm.
  • dupe neg pic 2 film reels of 2 (1,949 ft.) : si., b&w ; 35 mm.
  • dupe neg pic (copy 2) 2 film reels of 2 (1,932 ft.) : si., b&w ; 35 mm.
  • dupe neg pic (copy 3) 2 film reels of 2 (1,995 ft.) : si., b&w ; 35 mm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • FEA 8937-8938 (viewing print)
  • FEA 8941-8942 (viewing print, copy 2)
  • FEA 8943-8944 (viewing print, copy 3)
  • FPB 9889-9890 (dupe neg pic)
  • FPB 9895-9896 (dupe neg pic, copy 2)
  • FPB 9897-9898 (dupe neg pic, copy 3)

Repository

  • Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA dcu

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • mp76000367

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Fiala, Anthony, Camera, Theodore Roosevelt, Roosevelt Memorial Association. Film Library, Former Owner Roosevelt Memorial Association, and Theodore Roosevelt Association Collection. The River of Doubt. No. 2. editeds by Gentry, Caroline, Itor [United States: Roosevelt Film Library, ?, 1928] Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/mp76000367/.

APA citation style:

Fiala, A., Roosevelt, T., Roosevelt Memorial Association. Film Library, Roosevelt Memorial Association, F. O. & Theodore Roosevelt Association Collection, Gentry, C., ed. (1928) The River of Doubt. No. 2. [United States: Roosevelt Film Library, ?] [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/mp76000367/.

MLA citation style:

Fiala, Anthony, Camera, et al. The River of Doubt. No. 2. ed by Gentry, Caroline, Itor [United States: Roosevelt Film Library, ?, 1928] Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/mp76000367/>.