Between 1883 and 1906

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla G ...

experienced a

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

attracting many Chileans, Argentines and Europeans to the archipelago, including many

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

ns. The gold rush led to the formation of the first towns in the archipelago and fueled economic growth in

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Aren ...

. After the gold rush was over, most gold miners left the archipelago, while the remaining settlers engaged in sheep farming and fishing. Indigenous

Selk'nam The Selk'nam, also known as the Onawo or Ona people, are an indigenous people in the Patagonian region of southern Argentina and Chile, including the Tierra del Fuego islands. They were one of the last native groups in South America to be enco ...

populations declined sharply during the rush.

Early discoveries

Early attempts to find gold centered in the rivers next to Punta Arenas which drain Brunswick Peninsula to the Strait of Magellan. Small finds occurred in 1869, and in 1870 the governor of Magallanes Óscar Viel sent a 35-

gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure wate ...

gold nugget :''"Gold nugget" may also refer to the catfish Baryancistrus xanthellus or the mango cultivar Gold Nugget.'' A gold nugget is a naturally occurring piece of native gold. Watercourses often concentrate nuggets and finer gold in placers. Nuggets a ...

to Chilean president

José Joaquín Pérez José Joaquín Pérez Mascayano (; 6 May 1801 – 1 July 1889) was a Chilean political figure. He served as the president of Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the sou ...

as a gift. From April 1870 to April 1871 at least 15 kg gold were mined near Punta Arenas. Most gold ended up in Valparaíso and the ships that engaged in commerce in the increasingly busy port of Punta Arenas. In the 1870s a few settlers of the Falkland Islands moved to Punta Arenas to search for gold, as did John G. Hamilton and Federico Shanklin two well-known English veteran miners of California and Australia. Their efforts did however appear to have failed. In 1879 an expedition led by

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy ( es, Armada de Chile) is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Origins and the Wars ...

officer Ramón Serrano Montaner discovered gold in some watercourses of western Tierra del Fuego. Martinic Beros, Mateo. ''Crónica de las Tierras del Canal Beagle''. 1973. Editorial Francisco de Aguirre S.A. pp. 55–65Bascopé Julio, Joaquín
Sentidos Coloniales I. El Oro y la Vida Salvaje en Tierra del Fuego, 1880–1914
''

Magallania ''Magallania'' is an academic journal published by the University of Magallanes. It publishes articles on social sciences and humanities regarding Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, and Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and lea ...

'' In 1880-1881 enterprises and mining camps at the gold fields discovered by Montaner's expedition were established.

The rush begins

The gold rush was triggered in 1884. On the night of 23 to 24 September that year the French steamship ''Arctique'' ran aground on the northern coast of

Cape Virgenes Capes in the Americas Cape Virgenes ( es, Cabo Vírgenes, lit=Cape Virgins) is the southeastern tip of continental Argentina in South America. The southern one, a little to the south-west, is Punta Dungeness. Ferdinand Magellan reached it on 21 Oc ...

, in Argentina near the border with Chile. An expedition sent for its rescue discovered gold in a place called Zanja a Pique. When news reached

many inhabitants left for Zanja a Pique. There were various reports of extraordinary gold findings in Zanja a Pique, where individual Frenchmen, Germans and Chileans extracted more than ten kilograms in less than one month. From Punta Arenas the news then reached

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. When the miners who acquired the Argentine mining rights for the location arrived to Zanja a Pique, almost no gold was left with miners based in Chile having already abandoned the place.

The rush and Julius Popper expedition

In Buenos Aires the press compared the gold findings to the rushes of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. In that city many companies were formed for the purpose of extracting gold. Julio Popper, a mining engineer, was contracted by one of these companies in Buenos Aires. Popper then proceeded to recruit a number of Dalmatians from the many immigrants that lived in Buenos Aires those years. With these workers Popper set out to exploit the findings of El Páramo in San Sebastián Bay. Another camp was established in Sloggett Bay at the southern coast of

Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego (English: ''Big Island of the Land of Fire'') also formerly ''Isla de Xátiva''Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego fr ...

so that by 1893 over one thousand men, most of them Dalmatians, lived there. However, by 1894 gold extraction begun to decline in these islands and deposits became gradually depleted. Martinic Beros, Mateo. ''Crónica de las Tierras del Canal Beagle''. 1973. Editorial Francisco de Aguirre S.A. pp. 65–75 A number of enterprises formed in the 1900s to extract gold from the islands south of Beagle Channel ended with meager results.

Legacy

During his work in Tierra del Fuego Popper was involved in the killings of native Selk'nam, which came later to be known as the

Selk'nam genocide The Selk'nam genocide was the genocide of the Selk'nam people, one of three indigenous tribes populating the Tierra del Fuego in South America, from the second half of the 19th to the early 20th century. The genocide spanned a period of betwe ...

.Ray, Leslie. 2007. "Language of the land: the Mapuche in Argentina and Chile ". p. 80 Around the island gold diggers, sheep herders and "even police" are reported to have assaulted Indian camps to acquire their women. This created a shortage of women among

Fuegian Fuegians are the indigenous inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of South America. In English, the term originally referred to the Yaghan people of Tierra del Fuego. In Spanish, the term ''fueguino'' can refer to any person from ...

tribes. The capture and control of women in the main island worsened conflicts between rival groups. There are also reports of trade of women during deals between men. By 1894 Porvenir consisted of five houses, two of them liquor stores and a third one a

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

. The Dalmatians involved in the gold rush gradually left mining activities either to return to Dalmatia or Buenos Aires or establish themselves in Punta Arenas. The gold rush caused an improvement in the geographical knowledge of the poorly known islands south of Beagle Channel and linked them to Punta Arenas. Gold extracted in Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego generally left the zone without improving much the economy of southernmost South America, but in the case of the gold extracted in from the islands south of Beagle Channel much of it ended up in Punta Arenas where it fueled economic growth.

References

{{Financial bubbles History of Tierra del Fuego History of mining in Chile Mining in Argentina Gold rushes History of Magallanes Region 1880s in Chile 1880s in Argentina 1890s in Chile 1890s in Argentina 1900s in Chile 1900s in Argentina 1883 in Chile 1883 in Argentina 1906 in Chile 1906 in Argentina

Early discoveries

The rush begins

The rush and Julius Popper expedition

Legacy

See also

References