In 1843 a ship from Isla Chiloé landed here and two dozen pioneers built a tower to guard the Straits of Magellan.
Technically they were also supposed to provide such assistance as passing ships might need but as it was they could barely provide for themselves.
What they did above all was establish Chile as the owner of these desolate lands. Fuerte Bulnes named for the president flew the Chilean flag over the Straits of Magellan.
The Spanish during their rule had tried to establish a colony in the bay nearby but it had failed horribly and the area is now and forever known as Fort Hunger (Puerte Hambre).
The second building they created here was the jail, below. The blacksmith was refusing to work and the governor hailed him for five days so they built the structure for him. His wife went to complain and the governor got so annoyed he banished them to an island for a week to calm down.
They went to collect the blacksmith and his wife and found her dead with her head bashed in. The blacksmith got sentenced to five years of home detention. He worked by day at his critical trade and slept alone upstairs in the jail. In the photo below we were looking at the southernmost lighthouse on the American mainland, a three mile hike. The lighthouse is the white speck on the dark colored point sticking out into the straits.
Then there is the story, related in English by our tour guide Maxi a native of Punta Arenas, of the first marriage celebrated in the chapel in the fort. The chaplain married a local Indian chief who was, get this, a native of Uruguay who had joined the Argentine army, defected and drifted down here and somehow become chief of the local Indians. The story has a few necessary holes as no one thought to write it down properly. He was still a Christian he said and he wanted to get married properly and have his four kids baptized. He was the critical interpreter for the colonists so he got what he wanted.
Meanwhile after a few years it was clear Fort Bibles wasn’t going to ever be self sufficient. Rats ate what supplies they stored and the authorities had no idea what they needed. Apparently someone sent a butler down, a man with no wilderness skills whatsoever. He lasted a month and was shipped home.
So it happened a British sea captain decided he could use a supply base and trading center up the coast on a sandy point which was where he founded Punta Arenas, a place supplied with rivers woods and pastures.
Where Fort Bulnes languished Sandy Point (Punta Arenas) flourished and the governor decamped to his new residence up the coast. In 1848 some imbecile released a notorious bandit from the city jail and this character wanted revenge. He murdered the governor and wrecked Punta Arebas before sailing down to Fort Bulness and burning the place to the ground.
All trace of the fort vanished as the point reverted to nature. Historians located the spot eventually and a hundred years after its founding in 1943 the government built this replica to honor the pioneers who established Chilean sovereignty here.
The three mile approach road is gravel winding through the woods till you see the fort.
Fifteen bucks apiece and well worth it. Leashed dogs welcome. Oh and the coffee and cake in the cafeteria was excellent taken in the splendid sunshine.
And then there was the visitor center with its lovely model ships:
Krill, penguins, whales and dolphins on a film loop.
I wished I had room for more coffee…
Hats off to those intrepid pioneers:
As you can see we were lucky enough to hit the park on a bright sunny Tuesday with hardly anyone smother be lovely. The fort is an hour south of Punta Arenas on a rather pleasant drive. Oh and we passed the geographic center of Chile.
Honestly it’s pretty bogus owing to the fact Chile claims a wedge of Antarctica so this is the halfway point between Peru and the South Pole. I suppose you could call this the center of something but it doesn’t look like the middle of Child.
And there’s an even taller monument to our lady of the miraculous medal who is asked, nay begged, to look out for the wellbeing of Chileans. We had lunch here.
Herewith the photos of the drive south from Punta Arenas to Fort Bulnes:
This is not the best road we’ve seen in Chile.
The blue flag depicts the Magellanic region with the Southern Cross, the Texas flag has a short vertical blue stripe and is thus the flag of Chile. It was mildly windy.
