When Theodore Roosevelt accepted this journey down an unknown river in Brazil,
his guide was to be a man named Cândido Rondon.
Who was considered then the Lewis and Clark of Brazil.
Rondon was a colonel in the Brazilian army.
He had spent the last ten years fording a
path through the Amazon and laying thousands
of miles of telegraph wire.
He was such an extraordinary pioneer.
He spoke a number of different languages.
He was himself part Bororo Indian and he made first contact with a number of tribes in the
Amazon and wholly embraced who they were.
Cândido Rondon was an iron man throughout the entire expedition as the Americans
and even his Brazilian workers fell ill, he
remained healthy.
He had an unbelievable endurance and seemed almost indestructible.
He got them through the trip.
And just as he had shipped Roosevelt and his men, the Americans, back to the states,
Candino Rondon turned back and went right back into the jungle to continue his work.
