| a sense of unity among these lonely settlers. When Thomas
Bridges - the famous English settler, also known as the king of Patagonia
- fell ill on reaching Ella’s land, she cared for him in spite
of the rivalry between Germans and Englishmen, running the risk of
retaliation if he should die in her care. As Thomas Bridges recovered
he could not avoid falling in love with she, who took care of him.
That love would be kept in secrecy as well as many of Ella Brunswig’s
dreams.
In Patagonian stories one may find many women who had to lead their families and,
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with an extraordinary zeal, they did whatever
it took to survive. They did not have any time for boredom since they
were responsible for many things such as nourishment, cleaning up,
health, education and even administration. They truly excelled in
all their tasks. Paradoxically, in this place "not meant for women", it was these women who raised the children, fed the family, dressed the men and cared for them in their times of need. |
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| Chapter 11 The Boundless Empire JOSE MENENDEZ |
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Punta Arenas is the southernmost city in Chile, being separated from the mainland by the Strait of Magellan. It has an important location that, on the one hand keeps the city disconnected from the rest of the world, but on the other it is the only route for those ships that need to cross from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. A man with a great vision and strength noticed the strategic importance of the place. Don José Menendez had arrived to Punta Arenas as a poor immigrant, with only a few coins in his pockets. Thanks to his amazing wit, and a series of smart marriages - that allowed him to link family, finances and land resources - he ended up controlling the destiny of Patagonia. In 1867, the Chilean president Mr. J.J.Perez, by decree, gave facilities to those foreigners who wanted to colonize this land and declared Punta Arenas a free port. The city grew and started living on commerce of supplies for the increasing number of steamboats, and the great |
amounts of whalers and sea wolf hunters that sailed the islands. Foreigners settled in Punta Arenas establishing trades, import businesses, hotels, bars, etc. In 1877 the government bought 300 sheep from the Falkland
Islands and sold them in Punta Arenas. During the following years
many businessmen start breeding sheep. The land registry of Patagonia showed that, during
the first decades of the 19th century, an extremely large amount
of land belonged to Menedez. Some of these ranches were among the
largest in the world. |
