The Gold Diggings of Cape Horn: A Study of Life in Tierra del Fuego and PatagoniaSpears, John Randolph
History
The Gold Diggings of Cape Horn: A Study of Life in Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia
Spears, John Randolph
Patagonia (Argentina and Chile) -- Description and travel
We read in the history of the State of New York that in the days before
the Revolution, the brave old Mohawks used to send a warrior, now and
then, alone among the Hudson River and even the Long Island tribes,
entering this or that village, walking in the midst of a group of the
head men, and while they cowered in his presence, addressing them as
squaws and denouncing them for this and that failure in their duty to
the noble tribe he represented. In like manner, even until within
twenty-five years of this writing, has a Tehuelche chief from the desert
of Patagonia been known to ride alone down the main street of Carmen de
Patagones to the plaza. Reining in his horse by the low-peaked stone
monument still to be seen there, he would shake the great skin mantle
from his brawny shoulders, strike the butt of his spear a ringing blow
on the pedestal of the monument to call the whites about him, and then,
in disdainful words and with imperious manner, ask why the tribute had
been delayed. All of this the whites bore meekly and meanly. They could
not fight the Indians successfully, and they were willing to submit to
such treatment because of the profit in the trade they carried on with
their red masters.
If any one wants fully to appreciate how degrading trade is to the human
soul, let him read the stories of white traders among red buyers.
In modern times--rather in the nineteenth century, two efforts to
convert the Patagonians to Christianity have been made, one of which is
of especial interest to American readers, because undertaken by a
citizen of New York at the behest of the American Board of Christian
Missionaries of Boston. One Captain Benjamin Morrell had been on a
sealing voyage along the Patagonia coast, through the strait and up the
Chili coast, and on returning had brought an interesting story about
the aborigines. The story was printed in book-form and the missionary
society people read the book, and were thereby led to send out a couple
of missionaries to look over the region and the people Morrell had
described. Mr. Titus Coan, then a student at the Auburn Theological
Seminary, and a Mr. Arms of Andover were selected. A sealing schooner
took them to the Strait of Magellan, and on November 14, 1833, at the
beginning of the warm season there, they landed. That they were kindly
received and well treated scarce need be said. They brought a tent and a
variety of articles, which were of the greatest value to the Indians,
but they were never robbed. On the contrary, they were freely supplied
with the best the Indians had. In return the missionaries did some work,
such as sharpening knives, making wooden spurs, etc., but, on the whole,
the missionaries lived on the charity of the Indians. Their experiences
and thoughts have been preserved in a book entitled _Adventures in
Patagonia_, by Titus Coan. They travelled about with a host that for a
time was composed of Tehuelches or Patagonians proper, and of Onas who
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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