Patagonia. James Button
army of Perú
The republics of the southern cone
Operations by the Chilean Navy under Lord Cochrane
First blockade of Callao
Assaults following the Capture of Valdivia
Independence of Perú
Other explorers of mainland Patagonia in the 19th Century
Guillermo Cox
The University of Princeton in Patagonia
European developments and the impulse for emigration to Patagonia
The North American presence in Argentine Patagonia
The colonization of Chilean Patagonia
The pioneer of German colonization Bernardo Eunom Philippi
German settlement in Patagonia
Travel via the southern oceans
Commercial exploitation of Patagonia
Business in southern Patagonia
The commercial vision of José Menéndez
Merchant marine commerce in Patagonia
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in Patagonia
Croatian immigration to Patagonia
“Two months passed without us seeing a single
inhabitant of this country. One day, when we
least expected it, a man of giant stature appeared
before us. He stood on the sand virtually naked,
and was singing and dancing at the same time,
sprinkling sand on his head... This man was so tall
that our heads barely reached his waist...
Our captain named these people Patagons.”
Antonio Pigafetta
19th May 1520
Reporting on the first circumnavigation of the
world during the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan.
The existing histories and books on Patagonia written according to various standpoints are numerous –from political viewpoints to economic ones, and from religious perspectives to cultural ones. Therefore I encountered valuable sources on this territory in the libraries of Europe, which allowed me to carry out an investigation of the origins of Patagonia up to its European Conquest. I analyzed a large number of historical documents that allowed me to develop a new approach regarding the distinct events that gave rise to this great territory of Terra Incognita.
By studying the manuscripts and publications that cover the 15th to 19th Centuries held in various libraries, it was possible to relate what occurred during the explorations and conquest of the New World and Patagonia.
The available material was, to a large extent, in the form of narratives and historical fragments; extracts written by navigators; explorers’ manuscripts and government documents; manuscripts from Jesuit missions, and unedited books found in the Archives of the Indies in Seville, as well as in the libraries of Madrid and Paris. Attempting to conclude an investigation covering this extensive territory and with such a variety of sources was therefore complex work, which I finally completed with this book after six years, and which leaves many topics open for further research in future.
Located in a mysterious place at the end of the earth, Patagonia was explored by the major European powers of the day over the course of more than three centuries, during an era of great uncertainty. Thus, there are a diffuse number of queries regarding the delineation of this territory, as well as historical contradictions, legends and stories.
All these obstacles turned Patagonia into a challenging subject to write about. Clearly, a large number of the sources examined were