Flor no Planalto Santareno

Piririma palm and fruit

Unidentified insect - Macro

Passionfruit on barbed wire

Butterfly 238

The Confederates - Darlan Riker

Every now and then I divert from plants and trees at Bosque Santa Lúcia to report on the Confederados, descendants of the American Confederates who came to Santarém after the Civil War in the United States. Click on the label "Confederados" to see other posts, including one on the death Delano Riker.

I've known Darlan Riker since 1979, when I first came to Santarém. He and his brother, Delano, were partners in an air-taxi business named TAIL. I also knew their mother, Dona Mayflower, who invited me to visit the grave site of her grandfather, Robert Riker, who had immigrated to Santarém from South Carolina after the American Civil War. They settled on the edge of the Planalto (highlands) only 5-6 miles from the city. Although years and generations have passed since that time, I'm always reminded of their original homestead because of Delano's riverboat and cattle ranch, both named El Dorado. The boat is almost always moored to a buoy out in the Tapajós River, right in front of the city. I often wondered why the Riker boat and ranch were called El Dorado. I discovered why after reading David Afton Riker's book, O Último Confederado Na Amazônia (The Last Confederate in the Amazon) . To put it simply, the old Riker homestead at Diamantino had provided well for the family ... and the descendants of Robert had sold the place for a good price, around 1910. I took the picture of Darlan upper image) only this week, almost in front of the house where his mother lived. Darlan is still a pilot ... and his love is that of flying. We also talked about the boat that now belongs to Delano's sons. Although there's no advertizements, it can be leased for for regional tours, including the El Dorado ranch. Every time I touch base with the Confederados, I realize that I need to take time off from my other actvitities to write more about them.

Allison Jones, continued

As mentioned, I was surprised to learn that Allison Jones and his wife have been living in Alter do Chão (only 30 kilometers from Santarém) for the last two years. I'm also pleased because I'll have a chance to get to know him better. We talked about everything under the sun yesterday at the Belo Alter Hotel, but I'd like to know more about him and the descendants of the American Confederates who settled in Santa Barbara, São Paulo. I know that the Jones family came to Brazil from Texas, right after the Civil War. Allison's mother, Judith McKnight Jones (now 90 years old), is much a celebrity for having written Soldado Descansa, probably the most definitive book on the history of the American Confederates and their descendants in Brazil. She is also aunt to Rita Lee, a famous musician and singer in Brazil. I also know that Allison is an engineer by profession. I look forward to learning more about him and his family. Image, that giraffe is me with Allison at the Belo Alter Hotel. I told him that I would be posting this pix in my Tropical Biodiversity blog. He jokingly remarked that it was okay, but not to put it under the monkey label.

Confederates - Allison Jones

From time to time I divert from plants and trees to report on descendants of the American Confederates, many of whom settled in this part of the world after the American Civil War. I've been neglect in searching out and interviewing many of these individuals. Most of the time I just bump into them by chance, or pick up on local news and events. Such was the case yesterday, when my wife, younger son and I pulled up into the shade of a tree next to the Belo Alter Hotel in Alter do Chão, where we were going to have lunch. A couple in a pickup parked there just seconds before us and we exchanged "good afternoon"as we got out of our vehicles. As I started walking towards the hotel, I noticed a decal of a Confederate flag on the rear window of the pickup. Inside the lobby of the hotel I asked the gentleman if, by chance, he was a Confederate. A big infectious smile appeared on his face as he recognized me from an encounter many years ago. When he identified himself as Allison Jones, it all came back. Well, nearly. His memory is much better than mine and he reminded me that that on that occasion I was touring with a former physician of the Ford Motor Company Hospital in Belterra. To my surprise, Allison and his wife, Eloise, have been living in Alter do Chão for the last two years. What brought them from their native Confederado community in Santa Barbara in the State of São Paulo to Alter do Chão? Well, I didn't ask, but I assume it was retirement. Attached image from left to right: Eloise Jones; my wife, Áurea; me; and Allison Jones. Next image, please.

The Thief at the End of the World

I'm delighted to have received Joe Jackson's book, The Thief at the End of the World. I'm even more pleased to have received it from the author, himself. Joe spent one morning with me at Bosque Santa Lucia in October, 2005, while researching the life of Henry Wickham, the alias "thief", who made off with the rubber tree seeds. Wickham immigrated to the Amazon from England in 1871, and farmed at piquía-tuba, which is at the top of the hill on the way to the Bosque. It can't be more than 3-4 kilometers away, as the vulture flies. Knowing the place and some of the history of rubber, I savored every last word in Joe's book. Image: latex forming from a cut on a rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) at Bosque Santa Lúcia.

Delano Riker, part 6

In a previous post, I mentioned knowing Joe Riker, who was the last of 14 children fathered by David Bowman Riker. Joe lived in Belém, but came to Santarém quite often. It may have been his sister, Mayflower, who introduced us around 1985. Regardless, he stopped in to see me many times here where we live on Turiano Meira Street. Joe retired precociously as South American Representative for the The Gideons International because of an vehicle accident in Guyana, as I best remember the details. On one of his visits he presented me the book you see in the attached image, O Último Confederado Na Amazônia, written by his brother, David Afton Riker. The translation of the book in English is, The Last Confederate in the Amazon, referring to David Bowman Riker, who came to Brazil with his father, Robert Riker as a young boy. He indeed became the last of the all the American Confederates to die here in the Amazon. There have been other books written about the Confederates in the Amazon, but Afton's book may be the only one written by a blood descendant of one. According to Afton's historical accounts, he and Joe were always very close because they were the youngest of the very large David Bowman Riker family. Joe always invited me to visit him at his home in Belém, but sadly enough, I never did. It's been years since I've seen or heard from him.

Delano Riker, part 5

I find it interesting that not one word was said in the press about Delano Riker being a descendant of Robert Riker, an American Confederate. I may have missed something, but I read many newspaper articles and I also reviewed most internet reports of his death. It just goes to show you how some details of history can get lost fast. The main reason I added these posts to my Tropical Biodiversity blog is that the death of a descendant of an American Confederate is of interest to many people in the world, especially the United States. As a matter of fact, there are an untold number of Rikers who live outside Brazil and many are interested in knowing more about their relatives here. Image: Municipality of Santarém flags were being distributed to the public as the coffin left the Baptist Church.

Delano Riker, part 4

Although I never had an infinity with Delano Riker, I did have the pleasure of knowing his mother, Mayflower Riker, and his uncle, Joe Riker. I don't remember who introduced me to Mayflower (now deceased) back in the early 1980s, but she was quite enthusiastic about taking me to Diamantino to visit her grandfather's grave site. Diamantino is about 10-12 kilometers south of Santarém. It's fairly much suburbia of Santarém today, but back in the 1860s, when Robert Riker settled there with his American family, it was really back country. It was a rather unique location because it connects three different environments, the planalto (highland), tropical savanna and the Amazon floodplain. Robert Riker's grave site was located almost at the bottom of the hill, very close to where the community of Mararu is situated today. I got the impression that the site had almost been abandoned. I don't remember historical details, but it seems that the Riker homestead had been sold around 1910 by Robert's son, David Bowman Riker. It's quite probable that this particular piece of land had changed hands many times over nearly a century. What I saw there was a small farmer's house and a field of corn and manioc. The grave site was right in the middle of the corn and manioc crop. I've not been back to the site since that time, but I heard rumors that the remains of Robert Riker may have been moved to another location, maybe Santarém. I'm negligent in not having researched these details. Image: Delano Riker procession arriving at the Santarém cemetery.

Delano Riker, part 3

My association with Delano Riker was never that great. I remember having consulted with him many years ago about chartering a flight for some group wanting to go up river, but nothing ever came of the tour, so I didn't go back to his office, located only a few meters from where this picture was taken. I remember having talked with him another time about renting his riverboat, El Dorado. As it turned out, the boat wasn't for hire. It was transportation to his ranch downriver and home for him once getting there. The encounter I remember best with Delano was in 2005, when he was Secretary of Agriculture for the Municipality of Santarém, as well as Vice-mayor. He and a couple of other politicians were passing through Bosque Santa Lúcia on the dirt road that connects the Santarém-Cuiabá with the Curuá-Una Highway. I happened to be out on the road, close to the Bosque entrance, because some community people had gotten together to repair a large, nasty hole in the road that was getting out of control. Delano stopped his pickup next to me and asked if I was responsible for the road construction. I guess it all looked impressive because several community people were working and there was a big pile of rocks on the side of the road. I recognized him immediately, but I'm not sure he ever figured out who I was, then or any other time. I explained to him that it was a community project and I introduced him to Professora Inêz, who was community president of Poço Branco at that time. The good professora isn't timid when it comes to asking for help from politicians. The result of the chat was that Delano committed himself to repairing another part of the road closer to the highway, which he did.

Delano Riker, part 2

There are several months of the year in this part of the Amazon when we eat dust and pray for rain. Then there several months of the year when we breath water and pray for sun! The day of Delano Riker's funeral was one of them. It had poured during the night and then started up again early morning. When I got to the Baptist church, where Delano's body was placed for public visitation, it was raining very hard. The burial was scheduled for 10:00, but at approximately 10:15, the rain let up. It's only two blocks up to the cemetery from the church, so the procession got there before wetness set in again. Image, the Military Police Calvary waiting in the rain for the procession to begin. It was impressive to see how horses and riders stood up under more than an hour of heavy rain without hardly batting an eyelash. To be continued.

Delano Riker, in memoriam

I depart from my regular posts on flora and fauna to report the death of Delano Riker Teles de Menezes, 60, vice-mayor of Santarém on March 13, 2008. Delano was much more than a politician in his life. He was a cattle rancher on the Amazon River floodplain; he was a pilot and owner of a regional airline; and Riker was a blood descendant of the American Confederates, called Confederados here. The patriarch was Robert Henry Riker, who ventured off from South Carolina to Santarém with his whole family in 1867. I understand that he was president of a railroad in South Carolina prior to the Civil War and that he was much better off economically than other Confederados coming to Santarém. His American wife, Sarah Elizabeth Hapoldt, died 10 years after arriving in the Amazon. Their six children born in the United States included David Bowman Riker, the last Confederate to die in the Amazon. Robert Riker married again and fathered several more children born here in Santarém. More coming up in the next blog post. Image, Delano Riker's coffin leaving the Baptist Church of Santarém.