Puerto Americano is a natural
harbour
A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...
in the
fjords and channels of Patagonia.
The harbour lies southwest of
Tangbac Island near where the west-east
Nihualac Channel meets the north-south
Moraleda Channel
Moraleda Channel () is a body of water separating the Chonos Archipelago from the mainland of Chile. It is located at , leading to Gulf of Corcovado. Southward from the mouth of the Aisén Fjord, Moraleda Channel divides into two arms. The east a ...
in
Aysén Region
The Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region ( es, Región de Aysén, , '), often shortened to Aysén Region or Aisén,Examples of name usage1, official regional government site refers to the region as "Región de Aysén"., Chile's of ...
.
In the summer of 1793 the harbour was visited by a Spanish expedition assembled in
Chiloé Archipelago
The Chiloé Archipelago ( es, Archipiélago de Chiloé, , ) is a group of islands lying off the coast of Chile, in the Los Lagos Region. It is separated from mainland Chile by the Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and t ...
and led by
José de Moraleda.
At the time of Moraleda's arrival there were
apple tree
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
s growing around the harbour, likely these were planted by indigenous sea-farers of Chiloé who used to visit the area.
[
In the first half of the 19th century two sailors from ]Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
, the Yates cousins, settled next to the harbour. From there they sold provisions to bypassing sailors.Strait of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural pass ...
. When arriving for a stop-over in Puerto Americano it was noted that American schooner and other vessels were in place to engage in untaxed barter
In trade, barter (derived from ''baretor'') is a system of exchange in which participants in a transaction directly exchange goods or services for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. Economists distingu ...
with the settlers. The leader of the expedition, Juan Williams
Juan Antonio Williams (born April 10, 1954) is a Panamanian Americans, Panamanian-born American journalist and political analyst for Fox News Channel. He writes for several newspapers, including ''The Washington Post'', ''The New York Times'', ...
, considered this to be contraband
Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...
upon which the Chilean soldiers of ''Ancud'' temporarily boarded ''Enterprise'' and forced the ship to leave. Williams, whose wife was a relative of the Yates cousins, imposed sanctions on them.[
In the 2010s the harbour have been used occasionally as disembarkment point in the exploitation of '' Cancer edwardsii''.]
References
{{coord, 45, 2, 0.13, S, 73, 41, 57.43, W, display=title
Bodies of water of Aysén Region