 An 1889 5-gram gold coin from Tierra del Fuego byJulius Popper | |
| Date | 1883–1906 |
|---|---|
| Location | Tierra del Fuego,Argentina andChile |
| Cause | Gold rush began after the FrenchsteamshipArctique ran aground on the northern coast ofCape Virgenes and a rescue expedition for the stranded crew discovered gold inZanja a Pique |
| Participants | Chilean miners Argentine miners Dalmatian miners Other European miners |
| Outcome | Influx of miners led to the formation of the first towns in thearchipelago and fueled the economic growth ofPunta Arenas and rapidly destroyed IndigenousSelkʼnam population |
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Between 1883 and 1906Tierra del Fuego experienced agold rush attracting many Chileans, Argentines and Europeans to the archipelago, including manyDalmatians. The gold rush led to the formation of the first towns in the archipelago and fueled economic growth inPunta Arenas. After the gold rush was over, most gold miners left the archipelago, while the remaining settlersengaged in sheep farming and fishing. The rush made a major contribution to thegenocide of the indigenous Selkʼnam people.
Early attempts to find gold centered in the rivers next to Punta Arenas which drainBrunswick Peninsula to the Strait of Magellan. Small finds occurred in 1869, and in 1870 the governor of MagallanesÓscar Viel sent a 35-gramgold nugget to Chilean presidentJosé Joaquín Pérez as a gift.[1] From April 1870 to April 1871 at least 15 kg of gold were mined near Punta Arenas.[1] Most gold ended up in Valparaíso and the ships that engaged in commerce in the increasingly busy port of Punta Arenas.[1] In the 1870s a few settlers of the Falkland Islands moved to Punta Arenas to search for gold, as didJohn G. Hamilton and Federico Shanklin, two well-known English veteran miners of California and Australia.[1] Their efforts did however appear to have failed.[1] In 1879 an expedition led byChilean Navy officer Ramón Serrano Montaner discovered gold in some watercourses of western Tierra del Fuego.[2][3] In 1880–1881 enterprises and mining camps at the gold fields discovered by Montaner's expedition were established.[1]
The gold rush was triggered in 1884. On the night of 23 to 24 September that year the French steamshipArctique ran aground on the northern coast ofCape Virgenes, in Argentina near the border with Chile.[2][1] An expedition sent for its rescue discovered gold in a place called Zanja a Pique.[2] When news reachedPunta Arenas many inhabitants left for Zanja a Pique.[2] 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.[1] From Punta Arenas the news then reachedBuenos Aires.[2] 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.[1]
In Buenos Aires the press compared the gold findings to the rushes ofAustralia andCalifornia.[2] In that city many companies were formed for the purpose of extracting gold.[2]Julio Popper, a mining engineer, was contracted by one of these companies in Buenos Aires. Popper then proceeded to recruit a number ofDalmatians from the many immigrants that lived in Buenos Aires those years.[2] With these workers Popper set out to exploit the findings of El Páramo inSan Sebastián Bay.[2] Another camp was established inSloggett Bay at the southern coast ofIsla Grande de Tierra del Fuego.[2]
The gold rush reached the Chilean islands south ofBeagle Channel 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.[2][4] A number of enterprises formed in the 1900s to extract gold from the islands south of Beagle Channel ended with meager results.[4]
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During his work in Tierra del Fuego, Popper was involved in the killings of native Selkʼnam, which came later to be known as theSelkʼnam genocide.[5][6]
Around the island, gold diggers, sheep herders and even police are reported to have assaulted Indian camps to acquire their women.[3] This created a shortage of women amongFuegian tribes.[3] The capture and control of women in the main island worsened conflicts between rival groups.[3] There are also reports of trade of women during deals between men.[3] By 1894Porvenir consisted of five houses, two of them liquor stores and a third one abrothel.[3]
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.[2] 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.[4] 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 from the islands south of Beagle Channel much of it ended up in Punta Arenas where it fueled economic growth.[4]
The devastating consequences of theGreat Depression in Chile in thelabour market led to a revival of gold ming inCordón Baquedano byChilote and Croatianpirquineros in the 1930s.[7]
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