They call it the park of remembrance, a place where you can wander at will and see how the early settlers lived in Punta Arenas. We pulled up in the unmarked parking lot on our third drive by, Team Lost in action again, and finally figured the open gate to a dirt lot is the park entrance off Avenida España, a four lane race course that runs right by the park.
The attendant shooed us away, “Go and enjoy the park, pay on your way out.” So we did just that, once again slightly amazed by Chile’s civility and ease of living.
This park, which is a collection of structures and outdoor machinery in a field is a reminder of the varied nature of southern Chile’s early migrants. We talk about a melting pot in the US, or at least we used to, but early Chile was the same way.
In the mid 19th century Chile was actively seeking foreigners to come to the Magellanic Region and populate it and develop it with their skills. This was a time of upheaval and change in Europe with revolutions challenging the established order and people were ready to migrate.
Punta Arenas was always the main commercial center parked as it was in a body of relatively protected water with a harbor and rivers and woods to supply the population.
The watchmaker was Swiss naturally and his descendants donated his office to the museum in his memory. The pharmacist was French, the tailors Italian and the baker was a Slav from the Balkans.
Webb Chiles has pointed out to me in no uncertain terms how far south we are, far further south than New Zealand or South Africa, perhaps 600 miles from Antarctica but these people lived astonishingly ordinary lives.
I’m not sure what I expected but they created was a town and judging by the photos and artifacts it’s a town like any you might find in that period. Streets cars and businesses at the end of the world.
They watched movies. Imagine that.
They imported what they couldn’t grow or build.
And with all the foreigners sailing around and mapping these waters Chile supported their immigrants as pioneers flying the flag and claiming the Straits.
They used wind to generate electricity just as they do today.
A farm (“estancia”) kitchen.
It’s a remarkable preservation of history.
A figurehead found in the Antarctic ice. Chile claims a large wedge of ice all the way to the South Pole.
A typical house:
And we bumped into a Belgian family we had met up north. Their van, a Mercedes minivan is in the shop for repairs. And waiting for parts. We laughed; something we all go through from time to time.
No toilets:
Rusty was tired and not interested in walking so he got an hour’s sleep while we walked.
