UPDATE: This is an extensive update to the 2017 post about Pedro and Carlos Rocasalvo's 1946-1949 trip from Argentina to Alaska and back.
On June 5, 1946, two brothers, 24-year-old Pedro and 19-year-old Carlos Rocasalvo, mounted bicycles at their home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and began an adventure north. They carried 80lbs of baggage and $100. Their ultimate goal was to reach Fairbanks, Alaska. They expected the trip to last five years. Their father, a clothing goods salesman, was against the trip, but the boys were confident that they'd be okay.
A budding journalist and photographer, Pedro and his brother supported their trip through serialized and syndicated reports to twenty-six newspapers back in Argentina. The pair planned to film their journey and use their notes and articles to write a book about their adventure.
During their trek to the United States, the pair survived four crossings of the Andes, a "ringside seat at Bolivia's revolution", and hacking their way through 300 miles of Colombian Jungle that proved the worst part of their trip. During their 26 days in the jungle, they shot and cooked their own food. In the evenings, the brothers slept in trees, but had to select the trees carefully due to snakes and other animals.
At Colon, Panama, the exhausted boys were diagnosed with Malaria; they were treated for the disease and slept for four days.
Once in the United States, the pair's lack of English didn't slow them down. Eventually, after twenty-seven months of riding, they reached Los Angeles, arriving in March of 1948. While in Hollywood, Pedro studied photography at Paramount's photography school for a month.
Soon, they were back on their bikes again, arriving at the YMCA in Portland, Oregon, in June of 1948. There, an interpreter named Celita Dextre, fluent in Spanish and English, was brought in to help the boys tell their story. There may have been some sparks between Pedro and twenty-three-year-old Celita, because she surfaced again later in the trip.
After additional stops in Seattle and Vancouver, the pair made a hard ride for Fairbanks.
The brothers reached Fairbanks on July 22nd. There, they received a Willys MB from the Mayor, a gift from the Fairbanks Rotary Club and a local Willys dealer.
In early August, Pedro and Carlos pedaled to Circle City, the end of the Alaska Highway. It also marked the end of their journey northward.
On August 20th, 1948, the brothers began their trek back to Argentina, but this time driving their jeep. Joining them for the return journey was Celita Dextre. It turned out her father was an engineer working in Alaska. At some point following the brother's exit from Portland, Celita had made her way north to Alaska (either with her father or to visit him) and, probably, to meet the boys again.
While not addressed in any articles, the gift of the jeep coinciding with Celita's addition to the journey must not have been a coincidence. In fact, while most articles claimed the jeep was a gift, at least one article suggested the brother's had purchased it from the money they'd made off their newspaper articles. I could find no articles from Alaska to verify either story.
Apparently, Celita hated the cold and was all-too-happy to leave Alaska. She was also interested in seeing more of the North American continent. So, the opportunity to join Pedro and Carlos on their drive south was too good to refuse. Her plan was to accompany them as far as New York.
In late August, the trio reached Edmonton, Canada.
In mid-September, they reached Bismarck, North Dakota.
From Bismarck, the three stopped in Minneapolis, then went on to Chicago. There, Carlos' malaria re-surfaced, making him too ill to continue. So, promising to reunite with Pedro and Celita in New York, Carlos stayed behind in Chicago to recover.
From Chicago, Carlos and Celita passed through Detroit, eventually reaching Rochester, New York. There, a pair of articles accompanied their visit.
This is where the trip's newspaper articles appear to end. Pedro likely did drop off Celita in New York, because she does not appear in later photos.
Below is a rough map of the boy's trip between June of 1946 and December of 1948.
However he did it, Pedro did return with the jeep back to South America and we know this because a February 1955 Willys News article about Pedro included photos of his return trip. Below is an excerpt from that issue:
Meanwhile, as Pedro made his way back to Argentina, Carlos remained behind in the Midwest. Whether it had to do with his illness or whether he was sick of traveling, by September of 1949, twenty-two-year-old Carlos was ready to park his bike and enroll in a three-year missionary school.
Pedro passed away in July of 2019, but according to his daughter, Carlos was still alive at age 93.
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