Magellan Street in Tierra del Fuego - Argentina

On 21 October 1520, Ferdinand Magellan and a fleet of four ships entered a strait separating Patagonia from Tierra del Fuego, which today bears his name. On 28 November of the same year, the Portuguese navigator's sailors reached the Pacific Ocean. The passage had taken thirty-six days. This achievement was one stage in the first voyage around the world, an adventure that was to end in death for Magellan and most of the men in his crew. Today, traversing the Strait of Magellan offers no difficulties, despite the harsh weather in these regions. A ferry connects the mainland with the large southern island. The areas on both sides of the strait belong to Chile. Tierra del Fuego owes its name to the navigator Magellan, who was astonished to notice Indian fires all along the shores. Today, instead of the Indian fires, the columns of flames from the oil drilling sites glow there. The National Road 3 leads to the northern shore of the strait and continues over there. - 1973

On the map, the north of Tierra del Fuego is the natural continuation of the Argentine Patagonia. Here, too, the vast plains can be found, where thousands of domestic animals graze on the thin grasslands. Three million sheep are raised in huge estancias. Suddenly, however, the landscape changes. Hills appear, covered by forests that become denser towards the south. Here, rainfall also increases, allowing lush vegetation to develop. - 1973

This picture is a document. It depicts Angela Loij, who was born sometime between 1896 and 1898 on the estancia “La Sara” (Tierra del Fuego province). This woman is the last survivor from the Ona-lndian tribe, who inhabited a large part of Tierra del Fuego not so long ago. Angela Loij lives in a modest little house in Río Grande, the second largest town on the island, with the support of some clergymen who have settled in the area. The Ona hunted on foot. They consumed the meat of guanacos, foxes, birds and seals, but also shellfish, mushrooms, wild fruits and berries. They built conical, portable huts out of branches and covered them with skins. To protect themselves from the cold, they greased their bodies. The Ona lived in small groups of only about twenty people. - 1973

Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego province) is the southernmost city on earth. It was built on the northern bank of the Beagle Channel. Its foundation dates back to 1862, the work of Reverend Waite Hockin Sterling, who came to this deserted area to protect the Indians against the bad treatment they were subjected to by the whites. Ushuaia is on Argentinean soil. On the other side of the channel, you can see islands that belong to Chile. Cape Horn is not far away. Buenos Aires, on the other hand, lies 3218 kilometres by road to the north ... For about fifty years, Ushuaia served as a penal colony. Today it has about five thousand inhabitants. The port is frequented by ships of small and medium tonnage as well as by sailing boats, whose owners sometimes sail around the world all by themselves. Tourists are rare in Ushuaia. The city's strategic location is important. The Argentine army maintains an air force and naval base here. - 1973

Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego province) is the southernmost city on earth. It was built on the northern bank of the Beagle Channel. Its foundation dates back to 1862, the work of Reverend Waite Hockin Sterling, who came to this deserted area to protect the Indians against the bad treatment they were subjected to by the whites. Ushuaia is on Argentinean soil. Cape Horn is not far away. Buenos Aires, on the other hand, lies 3218 kilometres by road to the north ... For about fifty years, Ushuaia served as a penal colony. Today it has about five thousand inhabitants. The port is frequented by ships of small and medium tonnage as well as by sailing boats, whose owners sometimes sail around the world all by themselves. Tourists are rare in Ushuaia. The city's strategic location is important. The Argentine army maintains an air force and naval base here. - 1973

View of Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. - 1973

This decommissioned ship is anchored near Ushuaia. - 1973

A few kilometres outside Ushuaia is the southernmost national park on earth, where nature has retained all its authenticity. It is forbidden to hunt, fish or cut wood. It is teeming with water birds, predators, hares. Still lakes shine in the most glorious colours. A snow mountain, EI Condor, rises from the park and forms the border between Argentina and Chile, to which the western part of Tierra del Fuego belongs. Argentina has many national parks. - 1973

Mountain range in the region around Ushuaia - Tierra del Fuego ARG - 1973

On the Río Pipo southwest of Ushuaia - Tierra del Fuego ARG - 1973

These iron wheels can be found on the Río Pipo in the Argentinean part of Tierra del Fuego. Monte Susana in the background. - 1973

In recent years, a lively trade has developed between Ushuaia and various ports around the world. In the city's shops you can buy alcoholic beverages, clothes made of synthetic fibres, electrical appliances and cameras at unrivalled prices. The main customers are sailors in transit. Many of the inhabitants of Ushuaia earn their living through trade. The quays are busy at all hours of the day and night. Large bales of wool are waiting to be loaded. Each one bears the name of the estancia from which it came. Men are constantly rushing back and forth between the ships and the goods stacked in the harbour. A ship from Italy has anchored in the bay of Ushuaia. Immediately, the cargo of about six thousand sheep is brought on board. This is no easy task, because the animals are scattered all over the place. Each of them represents a value of about eighty francs. Beyond the canal, on its southern bank, the imposing outline of the island of Navarino can be seen, which is in Chilean possession. - 1973

There are huge flocks of sheep in Patagonia. Not the meat but the wool is the main purpose of sheep farming. One sheep yields four to five kilos of wool. After shearing, this is pressed into bales weighing about 200 kilograms and wrapped in cloth. In the port of Río Grande, these bales are shipped to Europe. - 1973

On the map, the north of Tierra del Fuego is the natural continuation of the Argentine Patagonia. Here, too, the vast plains can be found, where thousands of domestic animals graze on the thin grasslands. Here, rainfall also increases, allowing lush vegetation to develop. - 1973

A typical landscape of the Tierra del Fuego region near Ushuaia in Argentina, set amongst the rugged, unspoilt peat and grassland terrain characteristic of the valleys outside Ushuaia. – Argentina – 1973

The town of Ushuaia, situated in a sheltered bay on the northern shore of the Beagle Channel, grew out of a Protestant mission station in 1868. In 1884, when it had a population of just under 150, it became the capital of the Argentine territory of Tierra del Fuego; two years later, it became a penal colony. The prisoners were put to work in forestry, and for a long time timber shipping formed the economic basis of the settlement. Since the Second World War, Ushuaia – which now has a population of around 4,000 – has served as a base for Argentina’s Antarctic expeditions. One- and two-storey wooden houses still characterise the town as an unfinished pioneer settlement. In 1953, Ushuaia had to cede the title of ‘the southernmost city in the world’ to the Chilean military base of Puerto Williams on Navarino Island. - Book: Picture 209 - Argentina - 1973

The photograph shows a historic panoramic view (1973) of the Argentine city of Ushuaia, the capital of the province of Tierra del Fuego (Fireland). The town is picturesquely situated on a sheltered bay on the northern shore of the Beagle Channel. The image captures the town’s former, still predominantly rural character, with simple wooden houses and tin roofs. On the right-hand edge of the picture, near the coast, the historic Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Merced (the old parish church) stands out with its striking tower. – Argentina – 1973

A view of the Argentine city of Ushuaia on the island of Tierra del Fuego, framed by the coastline of the Beagle Channel and the striking, snow-capped mountain range, with the distinctive Monte Olivia in the background. The port of Ushuaia is a major hub for trade and fishing, as well as a starting point for Antarctic expedition cruises. – Argentina – 1973

Sheep farming and sheep transport have had a significant impact on the history and economy of the region around Ushuaia and throughout Patagonia. From the late 19th century onwards, the region underwent drastic changes following the introduction of livestock. Large estates (estancias) – such as the famous Estancia Harberton near Ushuaia – were established to produce wool and meat for export worldwide. As there were hardly any roads in the rugged landscape of Tierra del Fuego, criss-crossed by fjords and islands, the entire economy depended entirely on ships. Sheep were transported from the surrounding islands to the processing plants on small sailing vessels (cutters) and steamships. As can be seen in the photograph, huge flocks were herded right up to the coast to be loaded onto cargo ships via simple wooden jetties. – Argentina – 1973

Sheep are the wealth of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. The English missionary Th. Bridges brought the first small breeding flock from the Falkland Islands to his mission station in Ushuaia on the Beagle Channel in 1871. Not far from this town, on the natural channel that divides southern Tierra del Fuego, a flock of recently shorn sheep awaits shipment. - Book: Picture 206 - Argentina - 1973

Sheep farming in Ushuaia and on Tierra del Fuego has a long and dramatic history, which has had a lasting impact on the character of this extreme region in the south of Argentina and Chile. Large-scale sheep farming began at the end of the 19th century. As the rugged steppe was available in abundance, huge numbers of sheep were imported. Wool and meat were exported directly from the coast to Europe on large cargo ships – similar to the one shown in the photograph. To ensure the success of the vast farms (estancias), European settlers encroached upon the hunting grounds of the indigenous peoples (such as the Selk’nam and Yámana). As the indigenous people hunted sheep as ‘lame guanacos’, this led to bloody conflicts and ultimately to the almost complete extermination of the indigenous population. – Today, sheep farming in this region is no longer profitable for various reasons. – Argentina – 1973

Angela Loij, born between 1896 and 1898, died in 1975 in Río Grande in Argentine Tierra del Fuego as the last surviving member of the Ona, one of the three tribes of Tierra del Fuego who, until the beginning of the last century, lived at a Stone Age cultural level and subsisted on hunting, fishing and gathering wild fruits. To protect themselves from the cold, they smeared their bodies with a thick layer of fat. They usually went naked or wore only roughly cut animal skins. - Book: Picture 11 - Argentina - 1973

The Tierra del Fuego National Park is the southernmost national park on Earth. Winter storms have washed up bleached driftwood on the shores of the lakes. The gentle slopes of the peaks towering above them – such as Montaña El Cóndor here – with their forests and heathland, represent a slice of Tierra del Fuego’s unspoilt natural landscape, which has already been largely altered by sheep farmers in other parts of this southernmost region of Argentina. - Book: Picture 211 - Argentina - 1973

The Parque Nacional de Tierra del Fuego is the southernmost national park on Earth. Although the lakes situated in complete isolation, such as Lago Roca – on whose shores winter storms have washed up bleached driftwood – lack the magnificent mountainous backdrop of the Southern Andes lakes, with their forests and heathland they represent a slice of Tierra del Fuego’s unspoilt natural landscape. - Book: Picture 210 - Argentina - 1973

Set against the backdrop of the Darwin Range in Chilean Tierra del Fuego, which rises to a height of 2,300 metres, a large valley glacier flows into the Admiralty Fjord. Two central moraines, formed by the confluence of tributary glaciers, appear as dark stripes. Icebergs drift from the pack ice field in front of the calving glacier tongue into the fjord, which flows into the Strait of Magellan. - Book: Picture 10 - Argentina - 1975

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