Sawmill and Power House Under Construction at Boa Vista, Fordlandia Rubber Plantation, Brazil, 1930

Henry Ford established Fordlandia and Belterra in the Brazilian rainforest to supply rubber for automobile production. He began shipping machinery and supplies to the Amazon in 1928. Ford paid the indigenous workers good wages and supplied various amenities -- he also imposed foreign work traditions and behavioral restrictions which the workers resented. The plantations failed and he disposed of the project in 1945.