Spanish colonization attempt of the Strait of Magellan

Last updated

Tierra del Fuego location map.svg
Blue pog.svg
Green pog.svg
Green pog.svg
class=notpageimage|
Location of Spanish settlements in the Strait of Magellan shown with green dots. The sound of Primera Angostura is shown with a blue dot. Modern boundaries between Chile and Argentina are shown.

In the late 16th century, the Spanish Empire attempted to settle the Strait of Magellan with the aim of controlling the only known passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at the time. The project was a direct response to Francis Drake's unexpected entry into the Pacific through the strait in 1578 and the subsequent havoc his men wreaked upon the Pacific coast of Spanish America. The colonization effort took the form of a naval expedition led by veteran explorer Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, which set sail from Cádiz in December 1581. The expedition established two short-lived settlements in the strait, Nombre de Jesús and Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe. However, the settlers proved poorly prepared for the cool and windy environment of the strait, and starvation and disease was soon rampant. A resupply expedition organized by Sarmiento in Rio de Janeiro in 1585 was unable to reach the strait due to unfavorable weather. [1] Aid to the struggling colony was later hampered by Sarmiento falling prisoner to English corsairs in 1586 and the unresponsivity of King Philip II, likely due to the strain of Spain's resources caused by the wars with England and Dutch rebels. [2] The last known survivor was rescued by a passing ship in 1590. [3]

Contents

Later, when it became evident that alternative routes to the Strait of Magellan existed south of Tierra del Fuego, the Spanish authorities abandoned their plans of settling the strait.

Background

1570 map by Abraham Ortelius depicting the Strait of Magellan and a then hypothetical Northwest Passage as the only passages between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, by Abraham Ortelius, World, 1572.jpg
1570 map by Abraham Ortelius depicting the Strait of Magellan and a then hypothetical Northwest Passage as the only passages between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Plaque commemorating Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa in Alcala de Henares. Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (RPS 16-11-2014) Alcala de Henares.png
Plaque commemorating Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa in Alcalá de Henares.

16th-century explorers and Spanish authorities had differing views on the Strait of Magellan. Antonio Pigafetta understood his voyage through the area with Magellan as an unrepeatable feat, yet others in Europe saw it instead as an opportunity and a strategic location to facilitate long-range trade. [4] In Pigafetta's account he described the strait as a hospitable area with many good ports, "cedar" wood, and abundant shellfish and fish. [4] Conquistador Pedro de Valdivia is known at one point to have considered the strait a threat as he feared rival conquistadores to arrive by it to challenge his claims to Chile. Later when Valdivia had consolidated his claims he showed interest in it as a way to link his colony directly to Seville. [4] Valdivia sent two maritime expeditions from Chile to explore the strait, first Juan Bautista Pastene in the spring of 1544 and Francisco de Ulloa in the summer of 1553–1554. [4] In 1552 Valdivia sent Francisco de Villagra on mission to reach the Strait of Magellan by land. He was first to cross the Andes from the Spanish cities in Chile, then reach the Atlantic coast and follow it south until finding the strait. Villagra and his men reached however only as far as Limay River. [5] Valdivia's successor García Hurtado de Mendoza sent yet another maritime expedition to the strait led by Juan Ladrillero in the summer of 1557–1558. [6]

The Strait of Magellan was never reached by the land-based Spanish colonization of South America as southward expansion halted after the conquest of the Chiloé Archipelago in 1567. The Spanish are thought to have lacked incentives for further conquests south; [7] the indigenous populations were sparse and did not engage in the sedentary agricultural life of the Spanish. [7]

Through the 16th and 17th centuries, Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum – a sea closed to other naval powers. [8] In 1578 English navigator Francis Drake entered the Pacific Ocean by crossing the strait, effectively inaugurating an era of privateering and piracy along the coasts of Chile. [9] News of Drake's exploits created fear and feelings of uncertainty in Spanish America's Pacific settlements. [6] Responding to this emergent threat the Viceroy of Peru, Francisco de Toledo, sent a squadron with two ships under Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa in order to explore the feasibility of fortifying it and by virtue of that controlling the entrance to the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic. [6] [9] Pedro de Gamboa's expedition explored the strait, trying to ferret out English invaders, while surveying locations for future fortifications. [6]

Colonization attempt

Magellanic penguin colony with the archeological site of Nombre de Jesus in the background 150 - Cap Virgenes - Manchot de Magellan - Janvier 2010.JPG
Magellanic penguin colony with the archeological site of Nombre de Jesús in the background
Ruins of the church built by the settlers in Ciudad Rey Don Felipe in 1584. Iglesia de la ciudad del Rey Felipe.jpg
Ruins of the church built by the settlers in Ciudad Rey Don Felipe in 1584.
The coast near Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe as seen in the mid to early 2000s. Puertohambre1.jpg
The coast near Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe as seen in the mid to early 2000s.

After surveying the strait, Sarmiento departed to Spain and obtained there through the King ships and settlers for a definitive colonization and fortifying project. [9] The Duke of Alba supported the project and suggested some modifications. The plan included building one fort on each side of Primera Angostura, a sound within the strait. [10] Italian military engineer Giovanni Battista Antonelli participated in the design of the fortifications. [10] The location at Primera Angostura was however later discarded because the tide there would aid ships in crossing the narrow passage. [10] The expedition that sailed from Spain included about 350 settlers and 400 soldiers. [1]

Back in the Strait of Magellan Sarmiento founded the city of Nombre de Jesús at its Atlantic entrance on 11 February. [11] On the night of 17 February, a group led by the officials Diego de la Rivera and Antón Pablos abandoned the remaining of the expedition secretly by night taking with them the three best ships and most of the supplies. [12] In Nombre de Jesús Sarmiento left Antonio de Biedma in charge while he left with a party on foot to follow the northern shore of the strait. [13] On 23 March Sarmiento's party reached a bay with favourable conditions where they founded the city of Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe two days later. [14] [9] Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe was built to have plenty of wooden buildings such as a church, town hall, royal magazine, a Franciscan convent and a clergy house. [15]

Settlers were ill-prepared, they were chiefly from Andalusia whose Mediterranean climate differed from the one of wind-swept Patagonia. The settlements had been expected to be self-sufficient but the growing of plants the Spanish had brought with them proved difficult. Instead, settlers developed a diet of shellfish and canelo ("cinnamon") bark. [15]

Nombre de Jesús was abandoned after only five months of existence and its population sought themselves to Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe. [16] There, realizing there was not enough food for all, Andrés de Biedma ordered the people to scatter along the northern coast of the strait and wait for any vessel that could provide aid. [16] Sarmiento's resupply expedition never arrived at the straits due to a storm. [9] [16] In the winter of 1584, amidst starvation and disease, the settlers led by Biedma made an attempt to evacuate some settlers in two vessels constructed for that purpose, however, the attempt was aborted when one of these small ships foundered at near Cape San Isidro, 20 km south of Ciudad Rey Don Felipe. [16] [3] Biedma maintained a harsh discipline amongst the settlers, recurrently executing settlers by hanging. [3]

When the next English navigator, Thomas Cavendish, landed at the site of Ciudad Rey Don Felipe in 1587, he found the ruins of the settlement as well as a handful of survivors whom he refused to assist. He removed six cannons from the settlement and renamed the place "Port Famine." [17]

The last known survivor was rescued in 1590 by Andrew Merrick, captain of the Delight, the only one of five vessels to reach the strait from an expedition organized by another English corsair, John Childley. [18] [19]

Reasons for the failure

Cavendish praised the location of Ciudad Rey Don Felipe as being in the "best place of the strait". [1] In 1837 the French expedition led by Jules Dumont d'Urville surveyed the area. Dumont accurately inferred the location of Ciudad Rey Don Felipe taking note of its favourable geographical conditions. [20]

Disease, executions, brawls, and violent encounters with indigenous peoples are all possible causes for the high death rates. [21] Diseases, in particular, are thought to have been rampant among settlers. [21] Deeper contributing causes for failure of the settlement and death of most settlers may have been the poor mood settlers showed already from the beginning of the settlement. [21] This mood can in part be explained by a series of difficulties the expedition had to go through between the departure from Spain and the arrival to the strait. [21]

King Philip II's inaction despite repeated appeals by Sarmiento to aid the ailing colony was likely due to the strain on Spain's resources that resulted from wars with England and Dutch rebels. [2]

Historian Mateo Martinic has called the settlement attempt "the most unfortunate chapter of human history in the Strait of Magellan". [12]

Aftermath

Proposals to settle the strait were raised again in Spanish courts in 1671 in connection to John Narborough's expedition to Chile. [22] Rumours of a foreign settlement in Patagonia resurfaced in 1676 when claims that England was preparing an expedition to settle the Strait of Magellan reached the Spanish courts. [23] A proposal to settle the strait was raised yet again in 1702 by the Governor of Chile Francisco Ibáñez de Peralta. [22] In this last proposal, the Captaincy General of Chile would itself finance the settlement with the Real Situado with the sole condition that these payments begin to arrive on time. [22] However the Spanish failure to settle the Strait of Magellan in the 1580s was so notorious that its precedent ruled out any attempt to settle the strait for centuries to come. [21]

The failure of settling the strait made the Chiloé Archipelago key in protecting western Patagonia from foreign intrusions. [24] The city of Valdivia, reestablished in 1645, and Chiloé acted as sentries, and as hubs where the Spanish collected intelligence from all over Patagonia. [25]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patagonia</span> Geographical region in South America

Patagonia is a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers in the west and deserts, tablelands, and steppes to the east. Patagonia is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and many bodies of water that connect them, such as the Strait of Magellan, the Beagle Channel, and the Drake Passage to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strait of Magellan</span> Strait in southern Chile between the Atlantic and Pacific

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 passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The strait is approximately 570 km long and 2 km wide at its narrowest point. In 1520, the Spanish expedition of the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, after whom the strait is named, became the first Europeans to discover it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aysén Region</span> Region of Chile

The Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region, often shortened to Aysén Region or Aisén, is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. Although the third largest in area, the region is Chile's most sparsely populated region with a population of 102,317 as of 2017. The capital of the region is Coyhaique, the region's former namesake. The region's current namesake is the former President of Chile, General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo.

<i>Pilgerodendron</i> Species of plant

Pilgerodendron is a genus of conifer belonging to the cypress family Cupressaceae. It has only one species, Pilgerodendron uviferum, which is endemic to the Valdivian temperate rain forests and Magellanic subpolar forests of southern Chile and southwestern Argentina. It grows from 40 to 54°20' S in Tierra del Fuego, where it is the southernmost conifer in the world. It is a member of subfamily Callitroideae, a group of distinct Southern Hemisphere genera associated with the Antarctic flora.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puerto del Hambre</span> Historic settlement in Chile

Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe, also known as Puerto del Hambre, is a historic settlement site at Buena Bay on the north shore of the Strait of Magellan approximately 58 km (36 mi) south of Punta Arenas in the Región de Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena, Patagonia, Chile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Chilean history</span>

This is a timeline of Chilean history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Chile and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Chile. See also the list of governors and presidents of Chile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valdivian Fort System</span> Historic forts in Los Ríos Region, Chile

The Fort System of Valdivia is a series of Spanish colonial fortifications at Corral Bay, Valdivia and Cruces River established to protect the city of Valdivia, in southern Chile. During the period of Spanish rule (1645–1820), it was one of the biggest systems of fortification in the Americas. It was also a major supply source for Spanish ships that crossed the Strait of Magellan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nombre de Jesús (Patagonia)</span> Failed Spanish colony started in 1584

Nombre de Jesús was a Spanish town in Patagonia, settled in 1584 by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa in the Magellan Strait. Nombre de Jesús also refers to the archaeological site located in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, where the remains of this settlement were found. This was the first European settlement in the Magellan Strait.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conquest of Chile</span> Period of Chilean history, 1541-1600, period of Spanish conquest

The Conquest of Chile is a period in Chilean historiography that starts with the arrival of Pedro de Valdivia to Chile in 1541 and ends with the death of Martín García Óñez de Loyola in the Battle of Curalaba in 1598, and the subsequent destruction of the Seven Cities in 1598–1604 in the Araucanía region.

The southern coast of Chile presents a large number of fjords and fjord-like channels from the latitudes of Cape Horn to Reloncaví Estuary. Some fjords and channels are important navigable channels providing access to ports like Punta Arenas, Puerto Chacabuco and Puerto Natales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patagonian sheep farming boom</span> 19th- and 20th-century South American agricultural movement

In late 19th and early 20th centuries, sheep farming expanded across the Patagonian grasslands making the southern regions of Argentina and Chile one of the world's foremost sheep farming areas. The sheep farming boom attracted thousands of immigrants from Chiloé and Europe to southern Patagonia. Early sheep farming in Patagonia was oriented towards wool production but changed over time with the development of industrial refrigerators towards meat export. Besides altering the demographic and economic outlook of Southern Patagonia the sheep farming boom also changed the steppe ecosystem.

In Colonial times the Spanish Empire diverted significant resources to fortify the Chilean coast as consequence of Dutch and English raids. The Spanish attempts to block the entrance of foreign ships to the eastern Pacific proved fruitless due to the failure to settle the Strait of Magellan and the discovery of the Drake Passage. As result of this the Spanish settlement at Chiloé Archipelago became a centre from where the west coast of Patagonia was protected from foreign powers. In face of the international wars that involved the Spanish Empire in the second half of the 18th century the Crown was unable to directly protect peripheral colonies like Chile leading to local government and militias assuming the increased responsibilities.

In Colonial times the Spanish Empire diverted significant resources to fortify the Chilean coast as a consequence of Dutch and English raids. During the 16th century the Spanish strategy was to complement the fortification work in its Caribbean ports with forts in the Strait of Magellan. As attempts at settling and fortifying the Strait of Magellan were abandoned the Spanish began to fortify the Captaincy General of Chile and other parts of the west coast of the Americas. The coastal fortifications and defense system was at its peak in the mid-18th century.

José Manuel de Moraleda y Montero was a Spanish naval officer and cartographer known for his explorations of Chiloé and the archipelagos of Patagonia in the late 18th century. During his lifetime he gained a reputation of sorcerer in Chiloé and is remembered so in local folklore. The first-order waterway of Moraleda Channel is named after him.

The Antonio de Vea expedition of 1675–1676 was a Spanish naval expedition to the fjords and channels of Patagonia aimed to find whether rival colonial powers—specifically, the English—were active in the region. While this was not the first Spanish expedition to the region, it was the largest up to then, involving 256 men, one ocean-going ship, two long boats and nine dalcas. The expedition dispelled suspicion about English bases in Patagonia. Spanish authorities' knowledge of western Patagonia was greatly improved by the expedition, yet Spanish interest in the area waned thereafter until the 1740s.

Bartolomé Diez Gallardo y Andrade was a criollo soldier from Chiloé. He is known for leading a 1674–1675 expedition to the fjords and channels of Patagonia, participating in the following year in the Antonio de Vea expedition to the same area and for serving as Governor of Chiloé from 1686 to 1688.

Morohuinca was a term used among the indigenous peoples of southern Chile, chiefly Mapuches and Chonos, during the Colonial Epoch to refer to the European enemies of Spain. This meant chiefly the Dutch and English. The term derives from the fusion of the Spanish word "moro" (Moor) and Mapudungun word "huinca" meaning Spaniard or foreigner but meant originally to mean Inca invaders. For example the expedition of John Narborough in 1670 was recognised as a morohuinca. A few years later Cristóbal Talcapillán referred to supposed English settlers in Patagonia as morohuincas.

Futahuillimapu, or Fütawillimapu, is a traditional territory of the Huilliche people. Futahuillimapu spans the land between Bueno River and Reloncaví Sound. Futahuillimapu means "great land of the south".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English expedition to Valdivia</span> John Narboroughs expedition to Chile in 1670

By the late 1660s, the English rulers had considered invading Spanish-ruled Chile for several years. In 1655, Simón de Casseres proposed to Oliver Cromwell a plan to take over Chile with only four ships and a thousand men.

The Chilean takeover of the Strait of Magellan began in 1843 when an expedition founded Fuerte Bulnes. In 1848 the settlement of Punta Arenas was established further north in the strait and grew eventually to become the main settlement in the strait, a position it holds to this day. The Chilean settlement of the strait was crucial to establish its sovereignty claims in the area. Argentina complained diplomatically this act in 1847, as part of the East Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and Strait of Magellan Dispute, and once the dispute was settled, formally recognised Chilean sovereignty of the strait in 1881. The Magallanes territory was made a regular Chilean province in 1928.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Martinic 1977, p. 111.
  2. 1 2 Martinic 1977, p. 121.
  3. 1 2 3 Martinic 1977, p. 118.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Pérez, Ezequiel (2020). "Versiones del Estrecho de Magallanes. El paso interoceánico desde la primera circunnavegación del mundo hasta la conquista del reino de Chile (1520-1552)" [Versions of the strait of Magellan. The interoceanic passage from the first circumnavigation of the world to the conquest of the kingdom of Chile (1519-1520-1552)]. Magallania (in Spanish). 48 (especial): 29–44. doi: 10.4067/S0718-22442020000300029 .
  5. ↑ Latcham, Ricardo E. (1929). La leyenda de los Césares. Su origen y su evolución (PDF) (in Spanish). Santiago: Cervantes.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Navegantes europeos en el estrecho de Magallanes [Discovery and recognition of the territory: European navigators in the Strait of Magellan]". Memoria Chilena (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  7. 1 2 Urbina Carrasco, Ximena (2016). "Interacciones entre españoles de Chiloé y Chonos en los siglos XVII y XVIII: Pedro y Francisco Delco, Ignacio y Cristóbal Talcapillán y Martín Olleta" [Interactions between Spaniards of Chiloé and Chonos in the XVII and XVII centuries: Pedro and Francisco Delco, Ignacio and Cristóbal Talcapillán and Martín Olleta](PDF). Chungara (in Spanish). 48 (1): 103–114. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  8. ↑ Lytle Schurz, William (1922), "The Spanish Lake", The Hispanic American Historical Review, 5 (2): 181–194, doi: 10.1215/00182168-5.2.181 , JSTOR   2506024
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Soto Rodríguez, José Antonio (2006). "La defensa hispana del Reino de Chile" (PDF). Tiempo y Espacio (in Spanish). 16. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 Martinic 1977, p. 110.
  11. ↑ Martinic 1977, p. 112.
  12. 1 2 Martinic 1977, p. 113.
  13. ↑ Martinic 1977, p. 114.
  14. ↑ Martinic 1977, p. 115.
  15. 1 2 Spate 2004, p. 273.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Martinic 1977, p. 117.
  17. ↑ Spate 2004, p. 280.
  18. ↑ Martinic 1977, p. 69, 118.
  19. ↑ "Cartography". Museo Marítimo de Ushuaia. Museo Marítimo y del Presidio de Ushuaia. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  20. ↑ Martinic 1977, p. 120.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 Martinic 1977, p. 119.
  22. 1 2 3 Martinic 1977, p. 122.
  23. ↑ Urbina C., María Ximena (2016). "La sospecha de ingleses en el extremo sur de Chile, 1669–1683: Actitudes imperiales y locales como consecuencia de la expedición de John Narborough" [Suspicion of English at the southern end of Chile, 1669–1683: Imperial and local attitudes as a result of John Narborough´s expedition]. Magallania (in Spanish). 44 (1): 15–40. doi: 10.4067/S0718-22442016000100002 . Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  24. ↑ Urbina C., M. Ximena (2013). "Expediciones a las costas de la Patagonia Occidental en el periodo colonial". Magallania (in Spanish). 41 (2): 51–84. doi: 10.4067/S0718-22442013000200002 . Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  25. ↑ Urbina C., María Ximena (2017). "La expedición de John Narborough a Chile, 1670: Defensa de Valdivia, rumeros de indios, informaciones de los prisioneros y la creencia en la Ciudad de los Césares" [John Narborough expedition to Chile, 1670: Defense of Valdivia, indian rumors, information on prisoners, and the belief in the City of the Césares]. Magallania . 45 (2): 11–36. doi: 10.4067/S0718-22442017000200011 . Retrieved 27 December 2019.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.