Welsh Journals

THE FIRST WELSH FOOTSTEP IN PATAGONIA: THE PRIMITIVE LOCATION OF PORT MADRYN 1. INTRODUCTION THE ARRIVAL of Welsh settlers in Patagonia took place within the context of the great European migration, which colonized Argentina in the second half of the nineteenth century. The main interest of this venture is the fact that this settlement was the first successful attempt in colonizing Argentine Patagonia, south of Rio Negro (41°S). In 1843, Chile occupied the Strait of Magellan. Ten years earlier, Great Britain removed the Argentine authorities from the Falklands. French and North American seal-hunters frequented the Patagonian coasts freely. Only the Argentine sailor Luis Piedrabuena exhibited with zeal the banner of his country at Isla Pavon, in Santa Cruz (Fig. l:a). The establishment of a colony in Patagonia was well-suited to the strategy of the government of Buenos Aires in establishing its authority in the region. Also, the enterprise was important for a group of Welsh nationalists searching for a vacant land in which to develop their culture unfettered: 'a purely Welsh settlement overseas where all the characteristics of the people could be preserved'2 or, in other words, 'a refuge from cultural and economic oppression in Wales. The details of preparations and installation are well known. Reading the general chronicles written by Abraham Matthews and Lewis Jones is enough to realize the extent of early difficulties. 1 John Baur, 'The Welsh in Patagonia', The Hispanic American Historical Review, 34 (1954), 468-98. 2 E. G. Bowen, 'Welsh emigration overseas', Advancement of Science, 17 (1960), 265-70. 3 Glyn Williams, The Welsh in Patagonia: The State and the Ethnic Community (Cardiff, 1991), preface.