Halloween & Patagonians

Halloween wasn't celebrated in Argentina on most of Latin America until recently. The typical Catholic festivity was All Saints' Day on November 1st, and until the late 1970s it was a National Holiday in Argentina. Mexico is known for celebrating the Dia de los Muertos to remember their dead relatives (Nov. 1 and 2).

Halloween is a recent cultural addition introduced by the TV, and American movies. We learned about trick or treat by watching them.

Patagonian natives had different beliefs about the dead, the Aonikenk believed that the dead person rode on his horses into the afterlife (see p. 308 - Source), so the relatives killed the horses of the deceased and placed them by the tomb. Among the Mapuche, there were propiciatory rituals that helped the spirit or püllü of the dead move on, from the material plane into the plane of their ancestors (Source).

There was also the belief among the Tehuelches that the dead went to heaven and lived in an enclosure of stars (the enclosure -like a pen- of the dead), where they enjoyed a good afterlife.

Subtitulo

An AI image I created on Halloween and Paleoindians & megafauna (weirdly inhuman).

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025 by Austin Whittall © 

20,000 year ago date for the peopling of America (Oct. 2025 paper)

A brand new paper published in ScienceAdvances on October 22, 2025 (David B. Madsen et al., Characterizing the American Upper Paleolithic. Sci. Adv.11, eady9545(2025). DOI:10.1126/sciadv.ady9545) compared the stone tool technologies in American and Northeast Asian sites and dated them analyzing their evolution, location and timing to conclude a window for the peopling of America.

The study finds that North American stone tools from sites across the subcontinent dated 13.5 to 20 ky arose from a style of projectile points that seems to have appeared originally in Japan, in Hokkaido some 20,000 years ago. So, they suggest that the North American core-and-blade and bifacial technology has its roots in NE Asia around this time, and was taken there as the first arrivals reached the New World.

The paper characterizes these tools as: "Both the core-and-blade and bifacial techniques were used to support the production of a variety of lanceolate and stemmed projectile points. These are usually small, often less than 5 cm in length but occasionally reach up to ~10 cm long at sites such as Cooper’s Ferry/Nipéhe."

Then, some 13,000 years ago, the Native Americans shifted to more sturdy stone tools, these were the Haskett and Clovis tools, for spears and javelins.

This is a clear indication that Clovis wasn't "First" after all.

The authors find that the dates stands somewhere around 20,000 years ago:

...we suggest that this initial migration occurred sometime about 20,000 years ago. Praetorius et al. (101), in a review of environmental conditions along the Pacific coast of North America, particularly variations in the strength of counterclockwise coastal currents, suggest that the most optimal times for a coastal migration during this period were between ~24,500 and ~22,000 cal yr B.P. and again between ~20,000 and ~19,000 cal yr B.P. Similarly, on the basis of an examination of faunal records from the same southern Alaska and Canadian coastal zone, Steffen (102) concludes that glacial ice cover “probably hindered” migration starting between ~23,300 and ~20,000 cal yr B.P. and lasted until ~18,900 to ~17,700 cal yr B.P. Together, these studies conclude that conditions were optimal for a coastal migration into the Americas sometime about 22,000 years ago, a time estimate compatible with our archeologically based estimate of sometime shortly before ~20,000 cal yr B.P.

The two references cited, Praetorius and Steffen can be found below:

101. S. K. Praetorius, J. R. Alder, A. Condron, A. C. Mix, M. H. Walczak, B. E. Caissie, J. M. Erlandson, Ice and ocean constraints on early human migrations into North America along the Pacific coast. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 120, e2208738120 (2023). Online.
102. M. L. Steffen, New age constraints for human entry into the Americas on the north Pacific coast. Sci. Rep. 14, 4291 (2024). Online.

Slowly but surely, studies are pushing back the date of entry into America. I am an optimist and expect even older dates to be accepted in the next decade (like 30-40,000 years B.P.).

Below is Fig. 9 from this paper, and I quote its caption fully. Surprisingly there were NO STONE TOOLS in Beringia between 15 and 39 ky! probably due to the fact that the sites are underwater, on the now submerged continental shelf.

Fig. 9. Summary diagram showing the chronological relationships between lithic assemblages in the PSHK, Beringia, and the AUP. Note the complete absence of lithic assemblages dating to between ~30,000 and ~15,000 cal BP in Beringia. Note also that the common features of AUP assemblages appear several thousand years earlier in PSHK stone tool assemblages. Finally, note the chronological relationship between the stemmed and lanceolate points of the AUP, and the appearance of the larger, and more robust lanceolate Haskett and Clovis points characteristic of the later Western Stemmed Tradition and Paleoindian periods. Source and see it online

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025by Austin Whittall © 

Sertorious and unknown Islands in the Atlantic 72 BC (by Plutarch)

Ancient Navigators Series

Plutarch was a Greek Historian, Philosopher, Author who lived during the peak of the Roman Empire (46-122 AD) in his biography of Sertorius written in 75 AD, gives us a biography of Quintus Sertorius (c.123-72 BC), a Roman military commander and official who rebelled against the Roman Senate during a civil war period, and took over Spain, which he ruled for eight years until he was murdered.

Continuing the series of posts on ancient transatlantic voyages, I came across this bio, and some interesting points mentioned in it. Below is a quote from Plutarch's text (Online here), where Sertorius it about to engage an enemy in the Atlantic Ocean, but his ships are disbanded across the Ocean. In it, he mentions "islands" in the Atlantic:

"...Sertorius made ready to fight him by sea, although his ships were not built for strength, but for lightness and swift sailing; but a violent west wind raised such a sea that many of them were run aground and shipwrecked, and he himself, with a few vessels, being kept from putting further out to sea by the fury of the weather, and from landing by the power of his enemies, were tossed about painfully for ten days together, amidst the boisterous and adverse waves.
He escaped with difficulty, and after the wind ceased, ran for certain desert islands scattered in those seas, affording no water, and after passing a night there, making out to sea again, he went through the straits of Cadiz, and sailing outward, keeping the Spanish shore on his right hand, landed a little above the mouth of the river Baetis, where it falls into the Atlantic Sea, and gives the name to that part of Spain. Here he met with seamen recently arrived from the Atlantic islands, two in number, divided from one another only by a narrow channel, and distant from the coast of Africa ten thousand furlongs [My comment: 2000 km or 1,250 miles]. These are called the Islands of the Blest; rain falls there seldom, and in moderate showers, but for the most part they have gentle breezes, bringing along with them soft dews, which render the soil not only rich for ploughing and planting, but so abundantly fruitful that it produces spontaneously an abundance of delicate fruits, sufficient to feed the inhabitants, who may here enjoy all things without trouble or labour. The seasons of the year are temperate, and the transitions from one to another so moderate that the air is almost always serene and pleasant. The rough northerly and easterly winds which blow from the coasts of Europe and Africa, dissipated in the vast open space, utterly lose their force before they reach the islands. The soft western and southerly winds which breathe upon them sometimes produce gentle sprinkling showers, which they convey along with them from the sea, but more usually bring days of moist, bright weather, cooling and gently fertilizing the soil, so that the firm belief prevails, even among the barbarians, that this is the seat of the blessed and that these are the Elysian Fields celebrated by Homer."

Blest

The Elysian fields were the paradise, the resting place for the dead. And the two "Blest" Ilses or "Blessed", also known as "Fortunate" Islands were the same.

The Greek geographer Strabo (~64 BC - ~24 AD) mentions them as follows "the Islands of the Blessed they speak of, which we know are still pointed out to us not far distant from the extremities of Maurusia, and opposite to Gades." (Geography, 3.2.13) Placing them close to Cadiz (Madeira See this interesting resource on Blest, online.

Roman geographer and naturalist Pliny the Elder also wrote about them:

"CHAP 37 32 THE FORTUNATE ISLANDS
There are some authors who think that beyond these [beyond the islands of Purple, along the coast of Mauritania] are the Fortunate Islands and some others the number of which Sebosus gives as well as the distances informing us that Juno is an island seven hundred and fifty miles distant from He states also that Pluvialia and Capraria are the same distance from Junonia to the west and that in Pluvialia the only fresh water to be obtained is rain water then states that at a distance of two hundred and fifty miles from these opposite the left of Mauritania and situate in the of the sun at the eighth hour are the Fortunate one of which from its undulating surface has the name of Invallis and another that of Planasia from the peculiarity of its appearance He states also that the circumference of Invallis is three hundred miles and that trees grow a height of one hundred and fourteen feet. Relative to the Fortunate Islands Juba has ascertained the following facts that they are situate to the south in nearly a westerly direction and at a distance from the Purple of six hundred and twenty five miles the sailing being for two hundred and fifty miles due west and then three and seventy five towards the east. He states that the first is called Ombrios and that it presents no traces of whatever that among the mountains there is a lake and some trees which bear a strong resemblance to giant fennel and from which water is extracted that drawn those that are black is of a bitter taste but that produced the white ones is agreeable and good for drinking. He states also that a second island has the name of Junonia but it contains nothing beyond a small temple of stone also that in its vicinity there is another but smaller island of the same name and then another called Capraria which is in fested by multitudes of huge lizards. According to the same author in sight of these islands is Ninguaria which has received that name from its perpetual snows this island abounds also in fogs. The one next to it is Canaria it contains vast multitudes of dogs of very large size two of which were brought home to Juba there are some traces of buildings to be seen here. While all these islands abound in fruit and birds of every kind this one produces in great numbers the date palm which bears the caryota also pine nuts. Honey too abounds here and in the rivers papyrus and the fish called silurus are found. These islands however are greatly annoyed by the putrefying bodies of monsters which are constantly thrown up by the sea."

Once again, close to Mauritania and in the Atlantic, Pliny even names the "Canary" Island. Note however, that he mentions rivers, withy papyrus and fish. There are no rivers in any of the islands of the Atlantic Ocean (excluding the British Isles), this means that these islands were part of a continent, either Africa or America.

The "giant fennel" plants are interesting, since fennel is a plant found in Eurasia and the Mediterranean, however, in North America, including Mexico, there is a native species known as osha (Ligusticum porteri) as well as Lomatium species that have flowers similar to fennel.

The small stone temple on the Isle of Junonia shows that either the natives (not mentioned in the text) or previous voyagers built it. Was it a Greek, Roman, Carthaginian temple? Or was it some temple on the coast of Yucatan?

Most scholars place these islands in the Canary Islands, however, while discussing their placement in Ptolemy's map drawn by the Greek astronomer and geographer Ptolemy (100-170 AD), where they appear roughly 13°N, 0° E, Robert Hues in his "A learned treatise of Globes..." (1638), (see p. 96) considers that they are in fact the Cape Verde Islands, further south along the coast of Africa (but, these also lack rivers).

Closing Comments

These texts show that the ancient Romans and Greek were aware of islands in the Atlantic Ocean, but lacking the adequate instruments, could not place them accurately on a map. It is likely that Sertorious discovered some islands and believed they were the Fortunate Isles, he probably visited the Azores, or even sailed across the Atlantic. However, we will never know for sure.

Below is a part of Ptolemy's map showing the Fortunate Islands (red arrow).

Fortunate Islands on Ptolemy's map.Online

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025 by Austin Whittall © 

Punic genes in America?

If Phoenician mariners reached America, they should have left an imprint in the gene pool of the Amerindians. The same can be said about the Carthagininans, who took over after the original Phoenician towns fell and declined after the Babylonians and Persians gained power in the region.

According to a paper published in Nature in April 2025, the Phoenicians spread across the Mediterranean, but left little genetic imprint in their colonies. Their culture, language, alphabet, religion and trade were the tools that created the Punic society and civilization. However, their genetic imprint was small. The study looked into the genetic makeup of Punic people across the Mediterranean and its main conclusion is summarized in its title: "Punic people were genetically diverse with almost no Levantine ancestors." Since their homeland was in what is now Lebanon, no Levantine ancestry means that their genes got diluted as they sailed west colonizing the Mediterranean.

In this paper, the authors analyzed the remains of Punic people in Sicily, North Africa (including Carthage), Spain, Sardinia, and the Phoenician homeland in the Middle East, and found that:

"Levantine Phoenicians made little genetic contribution to Punic settlements in the central and western Mediterranean between the sixth and second centuries bce, despite abundant archaeological evidence of cultural, historical, linguistic and religious links. Instead, these inheritors of Levantine Phoenician culture derived most of their ancestry from a genetic profile similar to that of Sicily and the Aegean. Much of the remaining ancestry originated from North Africa, reflecting the growing influence of Carthage. However, this was a minority contributor of ancestry in all of the sampled sites, including in Carthage itself. Different Punic sites across the central and western Mediterranean show similar patterns of high genetic diversity. We also detect genetic relationships across the Mediterranean, reflecting shared demographic processes that shaped the Punic world"

The paper found that the dominant Y haplogroup in the Levant Bronze and Iron Age cluster is not J2 but J1a, found in half the samples in the Levant, but only present in 8.4% of the Punic men, the authors conclude that "This signal of substantially different Y haplogroup patterns is consistent with the autosomal signal of little genetic ancestry in Punic individuals deriving from the Levant." (Suppl. Information Sect. 4

The image below (source) shows the J1 haplo in Europe.

If the same situation happened in America, following a Punic colonization, the genetic impact of Carthaginians and Phoenicians would have also been very small.

When looking at the global prevalence of J1a haplogroup we see very few in the Americas (source), mostly in Colombia, Peru, and then a few in US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Of course, the expansion of Islam into Spain and Portugal starting in 711 AD would have provided additional J1a material into Iberia, and this would have also ended up in the Hispanic colonies in America. The migration of people into America following its discovery in 1492 AD would have also introduced the J1a halpogroup.

For instance, a paper about the diverse Y-chromosome haplogroups found in Bolivia, a country with a very high Native American ancestry, shows that J1 and J2 haplogroups have a share between 1% and 7% of the total. This is not Phoenician, but haplogroups introduced by migrants over the past 500 years.

Trying to find evidence of Punic presence in Prehispanic America through Y-chromosome haplogroups will not be easy as it would imply sifting through later layers of the same haplogroups.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025 by Austin Whittall © 

Aristotle, Carthaginians and America

Ancient Navigators Series

This post is part of a series on the Ancient Roman and Greek historians and geographers knowledge about America.

In Aristotle's de Mirabilibus Auscultationibus (Latin for: "of marvelous things heard") reported an incredible story:

"84. In the sea outside the Pillars of Heracles they say that a desert island was found by the Carthaginians, having woods of all kinds and navigable rivers, remarkable for all other kinds of fruits, and a few days' voyage away; as the Carthaginians frequented it often owing to its prosperity, and some even lived there,the chief of the Carthaginians announced that they would punish with death any who proposed to sail there, and that they massacred all the inhabitants, that they might not tell the story, and that a crowd might not resort to the island, and get possession of it, and take away the prosperity of the Carthaginians."

(Source)

There is no island beyond Gibraltar (Pillars of Heracles) with "navigable rivers", you would have to cross the Atlantic and reach America to find a river. Not in the Canaries, or Azores, or Madeira, neither in Cabo Verde Islands. Only in America.

For the record, Aristotle (384-322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath, his knowledge spanned many sciences and subjects from history to geography, economics to arts. His works are mostly lost, and have survived as quotes in surviving (yet later) texts. He was a disciple of Plato (the guy who invented or described Atlantis).

The text also mentions another strange land in the Atlantic:

"36 They say that Phoenicians who live in what is called Gades (Cadiz, Spain) , on sailing outside the Pillars of Heracles with an east wind for four days, came at once some desert lands, full of rushes and seaweed, which were not submerged when the tide ebbed, but were covered when the tide was full, upon which were found a quantity of tunny-fish, of incredible size and weight when brought to shore; pickling these and putting them into jars they brought them to Carthage. These alone the Carthaginians do not export, but owing to their value as food they consume them themselves."

Was this spot they reached after sailing for four days in America or along the coast of Africa?

The map above (source) shows the two distinct populations of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic, they breed separately, but feed together, they migrate from their spawning grounds in the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean, and span the north-central Atlantic. It is possible that fishermen taken by sea currents could have discovered Cabral's "Volta do Mar" route to America.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025 by Austin Whittall © 

"Mongoloid genes" in the Azores, a paper from 1999

Today's post is about a paper published in 1999 (paywall) by Bruges-Armas J, Martinez-Laso J, Martins B, et al. HLA in the Azores Archipelago: possible presence of Mongoloid genes. Tissue Antigens 1999; 54(4): 349-59.

The abstract copied below mentionsthe presence of certain HLA haplotypes found in the Azorean population, in Asians, but not in Europeans.

"The HLA profile of the Azoreans has been compared with those of other world populations in order to provide additional information regarding the history of their origins. The allele frequencies, genetic distances between populations, correspondence analyses and most frequent haplotypes were calculated. Our results indicate that the Azorean population most likely contains an admixture of high-frequency Caucasoid, Mongoloid and, to a lesser degree, Negroid HLA genes. The middle Atlantic Azores Archipelago was officially colonized by the Portuguese after 1439 and historical records are concordant with the existence of Caucasoid and Negroid population. However, Mongoloid genes were not suspected, but the Oriental HLA haplotypes A24-B44-DR6-DQ1, A29-B21-DR7-DQ2 and A2-B50-DR7-DQ2 are the fourth, fifth and sixth most frequent ones in Azores. A correspondence analysis shows that the Azorean population is equidistant from Asian and European populations and genetic distances are in some cases closer to the Asian than to European ethnic groups, and never are significantly different; also, B*2707 subtype is found in Asians and Azoreans (but not in Europeans) and the same Machado-Joseph Disease founder haplotypes (Chr 14) are found in both Japanese and Azoreans. It is proposed that a Mongoloid population exists in Azores; whether, the arrival occurred prior to discovery is undetermined."

Possibly the Portuguese trade with East Asia, namely Formosa (Taiwan), Macao (a Portuguese colony on mainland China), Canton (as a trading post next to Macao), and Japan (though briefly), plus their extensive trading network across Malacca, India and what is now Indonesa (Timor) are facts that could suggest an inflow of Asian people into the Azores on the Portuguese merchant vessels.

Portuguese empire map. Source

An article published by BBC reports that the Portuguese captured or purchased Japanese people as slaves, not to work in Brazil (they preferred the African slaves for the hard work there), but as domestic slaves in Portugal and Lisbon. The article states that "The oldest record is that of Jacinta de Sa Brandao, a Japanese slave who married Guilherme Brandao, also a Japanese slave, in the Conceicao Church in Lisbon in 1573. Jacinta is the first Japanese woman known to have lived in Portugal."

Chinese slaves were also obtained in Macao, and from the pirates that raided the coastal villages of China (read more in this paper). The Portuguese also introduced African slaves into India and China (Source).

Regarding Machado-Joseph Disease (or MJD), a paper suggested "that MJD in Japanese and Azorean subjects may represent allelic or identical mutations at the same locus" implying that the Japanese and Azorean people had separate mutations that were identical. Not that Japanese somehow intermingled with Azoreans and passed on this disease.

So, no, it isn't a case of Chinese junks sailing the Atlantic and discovering the Azores (as claimed by Gavin Menzies. I already reviewed and criticized his book "1421 The year China discovered the World"). It was the slave trade that brought Asian genetic markers into Europe and the Azores.

Map of the "Chinese Treasure Fleets Voyages" from Menzies (does not show the Azores, instead it shows Cape Verde Islands - also discovered by the Portuguese and uninhabited before their arrival.)

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025 by Austin Whittall © 

Prehispanic Horses in Patagonia (update)

The established consensus is that the Spaniards reintroduced the domestic horses into North and South America following the discovery by Columbus in 1492. In Southern South America, the first horses on record were those left behind by Pedro de Mendoza's failed first founding of Buenos Aires (1536-1541). A few mares and stallions were left behind (why?) and they roamed free on the Pampas breeding at an astounding rate, wild horses soon populated the vast prairies of Central Argentina. The Indians adopted them and they were taken into Patagonia.

With this in mind, a paper published in 2023 (William Timothy Treal Taylor et al. (2023), Interdisciplinary evidence for early domestic horse exploitation in southern Patagonia. Sci.adv.9,eadk5201(2023).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adk5201). describes the remains of horses found in Patagonia.

The site is located in the south of Santa Cruz province, between Gallegos and Coig Rivers. The remains were dated and this is what the paper states:

" Two of these horse specimens produced dates from the early 18th to mid-20th centuries. More sensitive radiocarbon discrimination between samples from this period is typically impossible due to a plateau in the calibration curve. However, one specimen, a right tibia fragment, confidently predates 1800 CE (ca. 1645–1808 cal. CE, 2 sigma calibrated range, AA114998), while a second, from the tooth row, appears to likely predate 1700 CE (ca. 1515–1800 cal. CE, AA115001). A guanaco bone shaft fragment was also successfully dated to ca. 1522–1800 cal. CE (2 sigma calibrated range, AA115000), and carbonized food residue from a single ceramic sherd was dated to a similar range (ca. 1645–1800 cal. CE, 2 sigma, UCIAMS-280680). When analyzing horse occupation at the site as a Bayesian uniform phase model in OxCal (https://c14.arch.ox.ac.uk/oxcal/OxCal.html) and assuming the date of 1536 (start of the Mendoza expedition) as the earliest possibility date of horse introduction, the posterior modeled probability distribution for the adoption of horses at Chorrillo Grande 1 has a median modeled start date of ca. 1617 cal. CE, with the most likely date for this adoption falling between 1540 and 1650 cal. CE (1 sigma). When all dates from the site, including guanaco and foodcrust dates, are also included, Bayesian uniform phase modeling produces an even narrower posterior distribution for the onset of site activity, with a median modeled start date of ca. 1627 cal. CE and the most likely boundary falling between 1599 and 1653 cal. CE (1 sigma)."

So the dating is based on the assumption that horses were introduced by Mendoza in 1536! But, what if there had been horses, the native American horses, that had survived the megafaunal extinction in Patagonia? Wouldn't these horses mean that the 1536 AD is not valid?

The genetic analysis found that these were specimens of Domestic horse (Equus caballus), but that is what the Megafaunal American horses were. They were genetically identical to modern horses. So this finding does not clarify the origin of these Patagonian horses.

The lower boundary set at 1536 AD. See Supplementary materials

The script used to date the samples (OxCal Analysis) had a Boundary set at 1536 AD (read more here) which establishes a lower boundary meaning that the samples will be dated to a later date than this lower boundary!!

This is like reconfirming a previously established axiomatic assumption. We decide that horses were brought to America after 1536 so all horse remains found will be dated after that date. Bad science!

Even so, the Confidence Interval includes dates prior to 1536 as possible.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025 by Austin Whittall © 

Templars in Patagonia: Bullshit

In a recent post about the curly haired horses of Patagonia, I quoted a text from a Declaration Project submitted to the provincial legislature by representatives Facundo Manuel López, Norberto Moreno and Soraya Yauhar (see it here). The project stated that one of the possible origins of these horses were the Knights Templar ("let's not ignore the story that tells about the role played by the horses used by the Knights Templar in their long journey transporting the Holy Grail escaping from Europe where they were being persecuted, as mentioned in the company's website"). Yes! Such is the poor quality of our elected representatives. Wasting taxpayers' money on stupid declarations based on fantasy.

There are some sites online proclaiming that the Knights Templar settled in the San Matís Gulf after their properties were seized and the order's members arrested, tortured, and put to death by the French King, King Philip IV in 1307.

Of course this is not based on any factual evidence, just tenuous conjectures. (Some site promoting this fantasy: site A, site B, site C, site D, just to mention a few.

The "proof" is a site called "Fuerte Argentino" (Argentine Fort), a natural bluff overlooking the sea which is a supposed fort. The place is said to be an "ancient fort", after an entry in a map by Martin de Moussy, who prepared a book with maps of the Argentine Confederation in 1873. The map shows a spot on the coast of the Gulf of San Matís marked as "ancien fort" or "ancient fort" (See this map online, shown below).

In my opinion it not the meseta by the sea, as it appears to be further north, closer to the towns of Las Grutas and San Antonio Oeste.

de Moussy's map shows many ancient forts that were built to protect the border with the natives. The word "fortín" was used in the 1700 and 1800s as an outpost against the Indians. It had adobe huts, a fence made of posts and a few soldiers to man it. Not a castle.

There are many fortines on the map: Ft. anc. de la Encarnación (where "anc" means "anciene") and Ft. Villarino both on Choele Choel Island on the Rio Negro River. A "Fortin" on the Colorado River, and in a wide arch, from Tandil in Buenos Aires there is a line of Forts all the way to San Rafael in Mendoza (Ft. Tandil, Ft. de la Laguna Blanca, Ft. Salamanca, Ft. Esperanza, Ft. Rauch, etc.) and several Ft. projecté (projected forts). Below is a typical fortin in a photo taken in 1881.

But, how ancient is the fort on the coast of San Matias? Spanish naval officer Basilio Villarino navigated and rode along the coast of Patagonia in 1779 following royal orders to explore the region to select suitable spots for settlements intended to block any British intentions of settling the area (the British managed to do so, 54 years later, by occupying the Falkland / Malvinas Islands). Villarino wrote a diary and prepared maps. The final outcome of his voyage was the town of Carmen de Patagones, in Buenos Aires province, on the Negro River, and two failed settlements (Floridablanca in San Julián, Santa Cruz province, and San José in Chubut province).

The map Basilio Villarino prepared (source) shows the itinerary he took during an expedition between his camp (L) on the Rio Negro River, where Carmen de Patagones would later be founded in April 1779 and Port San Jose (A). He did not make it to San Jose. Villarino reached (H), a permanent briny watering spot, and passed by (Y) freshwater springs and sand dunes. Lack of food made him turn back when he was 13 leagues (62 km, 39 mi.) from San Jose. As you can see, he didn't mark any "fort" or "castle" on his map. So the ancient fortification did not exist in 1779. (See this interesting paper on this expedition).

Paz Soldan's map of 1886 (online) shows the spot as a "fortín" (fort). Since de Moussy mentioned it before the 1878-79 campaign against the Indians, it was probably a fort from Juan Manuel de Rosas' "Desert Campaign" of 1833. He was a rancher in Buenos Aires, and was tired of the natives rustling his cattle to Chile, so he prepared an army and engaged the Puelche, Ranquel, and Mapuche natives from Mendoza in the west, San Luís in the center and Buenos Aires in the east (the latter was his wing of the campaign) in a bloody war. Only Rosas' army division was successful. They pushed the natives beyond the Colorado, Negro, Neuquén and Limay Rivers, killed thousands of warriors, freed thousands of captives, and led to three decades of peace. He established forts along the Negro River, in Choele Choel,ewand what is now Cipolletti, but they were soon abandoned due to lack of funds. It is possible that the division of Rosas' army that advanced into Valcheta under the command of Leandro Ibañez and defeated chief Cayupán there, set up a fort along the road linking Carmen de Patagones and the Chubut River. Another fort was located west of Patagones, the "Fuerte Invencible" shown on Paz Soldan's map.

By the time General Julio Argentino Roca advanced into the Patagonia and occupied it, pacifying the natives (1879-1885) these forts had vanished. The map by Manuel Olascoaga who was later the first governor of Neuquén, (see it here map) does not show any forts in the coast along San Matías.

You can also read my 2010 post, which mentions this "fort".

This spot on the coast would be a convenient site for a "fort" during the 1830s as it close to a river (gully, mostly dry) but seems to have a small pond, and an enclosure. Perhaps a digging in the area would reveal artifacts from that period. A fort built to keep the natives at bay. But not a castle of the Knights Templar.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025by Austin Whittall © 

Monstruos de la Patagonia (Spanish Edition) available on Amazon

Yesterday I uploaded the 2nd edition of my Spanish language Monstruos de la Patagonia ebook

This is the link to the book on Amazon.

It isn't the exact translation of English version of Monsters of Patagonia, it has the same layout and content, but as author and translator, I modified the text here and there and also added some extra content.

Monstruos de la Patagonia 2nd Ed. en español. Copyright © 2025 by Austin Whittall

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025by Austin Whittall © 

FitzRoy in Patagonia: Lights in the Sky (earthquake lights)

In 2011 I posted about A "UFO" spotted by Sarmiento de Gamboa in 1580 in the Strait of Magellan. I discarded the sighting as an Unidentified Flying Object (now called UAP, or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena), and suggested a lunar eclipse, or even the moon obscured by volcanic ashes. Today I will look into other UAPs reported by FitzRoy during his voyages along Chile's Patagonian coast (1829-1835), and provide some additional information to his comments.

FitzRoy wrote the following (Source - see p.295):

"Extraordinary meteoric appearances have occasionally been noticed about Chilóe, and the islands southward of it. In describing the Carelmapu earthquake, of 1633, Ag&uuuml;eros says that torrents of rain followed; and that on a high hill near the town was seen a globe of fire, which rose for a short interval, and then fell into the sea: the waters of which were in consequence much disturbed. A violent tempest ensued, with hail larger than musket-balls.
Another remarkable earthquake happened thereabouts on the 23d—24th of December, 1737: and on the 30th, in the early part of the evening, a great exhalation or cloud of fire was seen passing, from north to south, over all the archipelago. It fell on the Huayteca islands, covered them with ashes, and burned up the vegetation to such a degree that it was only in 1750, that the islands began again to look green.—Agüeros, pp. 102, 104, 105."

I found the source mentioned by FitzRoy (Online), Descripción Historial de la Provincia y Archipielago de Chiloe, en el Reino de Chile, y Obispado de la Concepción (1791) by Pedro González de Agüeros. He wrote the followign about the 1633 earthquake and the "lights" that followed it:

"In the year 1633, on May 14, at dawn, they heard in the town of Carelmapu a vehement and terrifying noise that resounded throughout all the houses and fortress; but with such astonishment on the part of the people that they were forced to leave without delay, and with all haste from their beds, because it seemed to them that the houses were falling upon them, as in fact they soon saw them on the ground. They ran astonished to the Church, but they found it already ruined, without finding anything but piles of planks and timbers. The stones from the beach were out of their center, and piled up next to the ruins of the Town, and two boats, which were anchored in that Port, were also broken into pieces. A heavy downpour followed this, and those people, having nowhere to take shelter or defend themselves from it, did nothing but cry out to God for mercy. Afterwards, somewhat calmed, and eagerly desiring to see and worship the Image of the Most Holy Mary, which that Church had as its patron saint, and the entire town as its Patroness since the first settlers brought it there from Osorno, they cleared a path, removing wood, and clearing away all other obstacles until they managed to reach the site of the main chapel, and there they found the Divine Lady between some sticks, with the Child Jesus in her arms, but without any injury. They all attributed this wonder to the infinite power of our God and Lord, who arranged for that Divine Image to remain intact for the consolation of so many in affliction, and because they also found another image of Christ crucified that they venerated in that Church. They continued cleaning that sacred place; but they were astonished when they found the bones of the deceased, and a corpse that was not yet completely corrupted. They reflected on this, and realized that the cause was that the violence of the earthquake, since it had not been able to break the wooden posts that held the Church up, because they went into the ground about a yard and a half, tore them out entirely, and as if they were levers, they raised the tombs, removing the bodies. After these fatal events had passed, they wanted to find out where, or how this failure had come about; but while they were examining all the places in the town in case they could find any other effects to determine the cause, they were overcome by something even worse, because they saw on a hill or high mountain near the town, a globe of fire that seemed to threaten the final disaster. It rose and then fell into the sea, immediately disturbing its waters. Then came a furious storm, accompanied by astonishing darkness, and breaking the sky with hail, they found stones thicker than musket balls. Finally, those people were already believing that the last hour of their lives had arrived for them, and therefore, crying out incessantly to God, they hoped for moments to pass into eternity."

This globe of fire is surely an Earthquake Light.

Agüeros adds another similar incident that took place after the 1737 earthquake: "the year 1737, on the 23rd and 24th of December, and also that on the 30th they saw in the middle of the afternoon a great exhalation or cloud of fire, which coming from the North, passed through the entire Archipelago, filling all its inhabitants with terror; and having come to fall on the Islands of Cuaitecas, and on that coast, they noticed later that it had set fire to those mountains there (1).
(1) This is also evident from the Note found on the Map that the Count of Super-Unda sent to the King in the year 1752, when he was Viceroy of Peru, where he says: the Islands of the Archipelago that are washed with red, are those that in the year 1737 were burned with fire rained down from Heaven, which terrified the entire Province, which Islands remain covered in ashes; and in the year 1750 it was recognized that some were beginning to reproduce some grass."

There was an earthquake on those days, but Agüeros mentions fire raining from heaven and ashes (?). Another source confirms the quake which had a 7.5 magnitude, Vicente Carvallo y Goyeneche (vol ix, p. 264 in Descripción histórico-geográfica del reino de Chile, en Colección de historiadores de Chile y documentos relativos a la historia nacional

"The town of Valdivia was devastated the previous year by a formidable earthquake, with three shocks (December 24, 1737), so close together that their interruptions were almost imperceptible, and lasting nearly fifteen minutes, with such violent undulations that people could not stand firm, and the ground opened up in many places..."

Could it have been a meteor strike, one that exploded as it entered the atmosphere and left no crater? Probably, but since the Osorno volcano south of Valdivia erupted at the time of the earthquake (Source) it was likely that the ashes were volcanic, and blanketed the islands further south. This quake-eruption, was similar to the one of 1960 (Valdivia earthquake, Puyehue eruption).

A final aerial phenomena associated to an earthquake was reported by Joaquín de Echeverría and José Antonio Rodríguez, in Santiago, Chile, in November 1822. (Source). This quake was also centered in Valdivia and had a magnitude of 8.5.

"On Tuesday the 19th at 10:50 a.m., stronger concussions of short duration were sometimes repeated. The next day, the 20th at 3:08 a.m., there was a tremor without any noticeable noise, but little commotion. At 3:42 a.m., a meteor traveled in the same direction as the earthquake, that is, northeast to southwest, in the form of a large fiery trail, which produced a brightness equal to that of an already clear twilight for four seconds. Several other minor meteors reportedly appeared toward the mountain range. At 5:24 a.m., another tremor of little commotion, but preceded by considerable noise. These have happened very often."

Earthquake Lights

There is a paper explaining how these lights form Robert Thériault; France St‐Laurent; Friedemann T. Freund; John S. Derr, (2014). Prevalence of Earthquake Lights Associated with Rift Environments. Seismological Research Letters (2014) 85 (1): 159–178. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220130059).

One explanation was that rocks containing quartz, when placed under stress generate electric potential, another suggeste that the stress caused by tectonic plates colliding distorted Earth's magnetic field, and these electromagnetic incidents produced light. But the 2014 paper are caused by stress releasing electric charges held by certain types of rocks.

Rocks like basalts and gabbros which may have defects in their crystaline structure, when they are subjected to high pressures, they release electrons. Some basaltic rocks in the form of dykes (solidified lava that reaches deep into the crust, conduct these charges, funneling them towards the atmosphere where they discharge in the air and form a colorful plasma. Apparently these events are rare, occurring in roughly 1 out of every 200 earthquakes. The lights can appear before, during, and after a quake, and up to 100 miles from the epicenter of the quake (160 km).

Below is a video of a January 2025 earthquake in Taiwan, with earthquake lights.

Earthquake Lights, Taiwan, Jan. 2025.

Strange lights are reported often in Patagonia (see this one, from 2021, with a photograph and this one from 2020), the area is subjected to considerable tectonic stress which could explain these lights.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025by Austin Whittall © 

Trimenen the Giants of Coin (Patagonia).

Oliver van Noort (1558-1627) was a Dutchman, navigator and merchant who sailed around the globe (the first Dutchman to do so) during an expedition which set out from Texel, The Netherlands in 1598 with the intention of looting Portuguese and Spanish settlements in America, and trade with spices in the Far East.

A company was organized, the Magelhaensche Compagnie with Peter Van Beveren, Huyg Gerritz and John Benninck as its main shareholders, and it fitted four ships the "Hendrick Frederick", the "Mauritius", the "Endracht" and "Esperance", with 248 men on board.

They reached the Strait of Magellan, and massacred a group of Fuegian natives on Penguin Island, killing all the men and sparing the women and children -though they kidnapped four of the children. One of them gave them the following account:

"From one of these boys, after he had learnt the Dutch language, they had the following intelligence. The larger of the two islands was named Castemme by the natives, and the tribe inhabiting it Enoo. The smaller island was called Talche. Both were frequented by great numbers of penguins, the flesh of which served the natives as food, and their skins for cloathing. Their only habitations were caves. The neighbouring continent abounded in ostriches, which they also used as food. The natives of these dreary regions were distinguished into tribes, each having their respective residences. The Kemenetes dwelt in Kaesay; the Kennekin in Karamay; the Karaiks in Morina: All these are of the ordinary size, but broad-breasted, and painted all over; the men tying up their pudenda in a string, and the women covering their parts of shame with the skins of a penguin; the men wearing their hair long, while that of the women was kept very short; and both sexes going naked, except cloaks made of penguin skins, reaching only to the waist. There was also a fourth tribe, called Tirimenen, dwelling in Coin, who were of a gigantic stature, being ten or twelve feet high, and continually at war with the other tribes."

Read the Source of this text (Kerr Robert. (1824). General History and Collection of Voyages… Edinburgh. Vol. X Chap. IV. Voyage of Oliver Van Noort Round the World in 1598-1601.). Another online source with the original book.

In the original Dutch language version (see it online here), the names for the natives are written the same as in the English translation except the following: Karayke, Morine, and Trimenen.

The massacre and kidnapping is a display of ruthlessness typical of Europeans of those days (I exclude Narbrough from this category, he was more compassionate. When he saw the natives at Port Desire in 1669 he wrote "they would not have come near our People, if they had not fallen accidentally in the Hills and Valleys with them. I have thought that they have heard of the cruel dealings of the Spaniards, and dare not trust us." (Source)

Dutch killing Fuegians, by T. de Bry. Source

By the time they left the Strait of Magellan, scurvy, bad weather, and the clashes with the Portuguese and the natives had decimated the crew. The second in command, Jacob Claasz, was court martialled for attempted desertion and abandoned on the mainland near Port Famine. His fate is unknown.

Only two ships made it into the Pacific Ocean, the "Mauritius" and the "Endracht", 101 men had died, and only 147 had made it to there alive. They raided some spots along the Pacific coast and then they visited the Spice Islands. Only 45 made it back to Holland, the outcome of the commercial venture was a break-even. It led to a greater geographic knowledge and set the basis for the Dutch East India Company that would occupy the East Indies and establish the Dutch colonial empire there.

All the abducted children died at sea, and shortly after, in 1600, Sebald de Weert on his way back to The Netherlands stopped on that island and found a woman, who had survived the massacre.

The Natives

This is the original Dutch text by van Noort.

Below are two maps, one by van Noort (top) from 1602, with the Pinguyns Eÿlanden, and a modern one (bottom) with the only three islands in that part of the Strait, from north to south Isabella, Marta, and Magdalena. If the people the Dutch killed were on one of these islands, they were boat people, not foot indians like the Selk'nam.

van Noort map of Patagonia and Current map. A Whittall

van Noort identified four native groups and their territories (names from English and Dutch versions):

• The Enoo on the Island of Casteme next to the Talche Island
• The Kemenetes in Kaesay
• The Kennekin in Karamay
• The Karaiks (or Karayke) in Morina (or Morine)
• The Tirimenen (or Trimenen) in Coin

The first four groups were normal sized people, which by the description given, seem to be canoe people. The fourth group were the giants, at war with the others.

The Selk'nam called the Yagan people "Uowen" which does not appaer in this list, so this also proves that the boy kidnapped by van Noort was not a Selk'nam.

I have found two scholarly articles on this subject, one is a thesis (Alejandra Vidal, (2015) Proto-Chon: Fonología, morfología y léxico, who discusess her findings about the words mentioned by van Noort, most of which she writes "belong to some language of the Chon family" (see p. 71 1.6.1. La lengua de los enoo (fines del siglo XVI)).

Vidal interprets the Enoo terms as equivalent to the following Chon language terms:

• Kenneka. Selk'nam "nèné-qà" ‘belonging to the West’, "k-nèné-qr" ‘person from the West’
• Koin. Place name. Selk'nam "kʔójin" ~ "kwʔójin" ‘cordillera’ (Andes)
• Castemme (Santa Magdalena Island). Tehuelche "kašte:m" ‘land within’
• Talcke (smaller Santa Marta Island). Tehuelche "t’alk’e-" ‘be small’

This is a jumble of Selk'nam and Tehuelche terms. Which group would use such a language?

David Williams wrote an interesting paper attempting to identify: "Which ethnic group did the mysterious Enoo tribe (Strait of Magellan, 1599) belong to? / ¿A que grupo etnico pertenecio la misteriosa tribu enoo (Estrecho de Magallanes, 1599)?" Revista de Antropologia Iberoamericana, vol. 10, no. 1, Jan. 2015, pp. 99+. Gale OneFile: Informe Académico, Online

Williams suggests the enoo people were Yamaná people (Yaghans) canoe people who were inside the territory of the Alakaluf canoe people. This is far from the Beagle Channel and southeastern Islands of Fuegia, where the Yamaná people lived. What were they doing in the Strait of Magellan hundreds of kilometers north of their territory?.

I agree with Williams that the particle "aike" found in the name of the name of the Karaik or Karaike is a Tehuelche word which means "campground", "place where you live". So maybe it was the spot where the "Kar" people lived (?) what is Kar?

Over a century ago, John Cooper (Analytical and critical bibliography of the tribes of Tierra del Fuego and adjacent territory. (1917). Washington Govt. printing office.) wrote about the words reported by van Noort and stated that "Neither the tribal names or other words have been confirmed by later investigators; they are all probably erroneous, with the possible exception of Coin (= Chon?). Cf. however, Furlong, 7, p. 185: the western Onas are called Kenenica Chon."

Below is an image from Furlong's book (Furlong, Charles Wellington, (1917), Tribal Distribution and Settlements of the Fuegians, Comprising Nomenclature, Etymology, Philology, and Populations) and the entry regarding Kenenica people:

Source

Furlong and the Kenenica. Source

Furlong (1874–1967) was an American author, artist and explorer who traveled extensively and visited Tierra del Fuego in 1907-1908. He wrote several books about the area and its people. He says that the Southern Onas (Selk'nam) called the "Western" Onas "Kenenica Chon", where Chon, is the Tehuelche word for "people"** so "Kenenica" is "Western". This is in agreement with Vidal's interpretation.

But, why would the people in Penguin Island use a Southern Selk'nam term?

** See Alexander Chamberlain (On the Puelchean and Tsonekan (Tehuelchean), the Atacameñan (Atacaman) and Chonoan, and the Charruan Linguistic Stocks of South America, American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1911), pp. 458-471. Online) who confirms that "... Tsoneka (Tsoneca), or Tsonek, Chonek, etc., the term by which they call themselves, said to signify "men," "people.""

This identifies two words: "Coin" = "Chon" (people) and "Kenenica" = "West". We will never know for certain who any of these people were, including the Trimenen giants.

Mateo Martinic (Los canoeros de la Patagonia meridional, Journal de la société des américanistes, 1989, 75 pp. 35-61. Source) identifies the "Karaike" with the Alakaluf canoe people and the "Enoo (Enooke, Enuke)" with the "Laguediche, Aveguediche, Poykes, Poyukes Indians of the Strait and adjoining waters".

Martinic does not identify these natives, but Alcides D'Orbigny, who visited Patagonia, did so in the 1830s when he listed the names given by mariners who visited the area or those who interacted with the Patagonians: "Beauchene-Gouin only mentions two [tribes] the Laguediches in the east and the Aveguediches, in the west of the Strait. Boungainville calls them Pecheraís because he heard them pronounce that word many times. Molina calls them Caucau, Falconer [Falkner] who never saw them gives them the name of Key Yus or Keyos to those who are on the west of the Strait of Magellan and the name of Yucama Cunny to those in the east" (Source. p. 231)

I have not been able to find any coincidences between the words mentioned by van Noort and those listed in this Spanish-Alakaluf / Alakaluf-Spanish dictionary.

Thomas Falkner didn't visit Patagonia, but he had excellent sources. He wrote in his Description of Patagonia (1774) about the southernmost Tehuelche groups, along the Strait of Magellan:

"The last of the Tehuel nations are the Yacana-cunnees, which signifies foot-people; for they always travel on foot, having no horfes in their country. To the north, they border on the Sehuau-cunnees [these are named for some black hares!: "Sehuau signifies, in the Tehuel dialect, a species of black rabbit, about the size of a field-rat; and as their country abounds in these animals, their name may be derived from thence; cunnee signifying people."] to the west, on the Kej-yus or Key-yuhues, from whom they are divided by a ridge ot mountains : to the east, they are bounded by the ocean; and to the south, by the islands of Tierra del Fuego or the South Sea. These Indians live near the sea, on both sides of the straits, and oftentimes make war with one another. They make use of light floats, like those of Chiloe in order to pass the straits. They are sometimes attacked by the Huilliches, and the other Tehuelhets, who carry them away for slaves, as they have nothing to lose but their liberty and their lives. They live chiefly on fish; which they catch, either by diving, or striking them with their darts. They are very nimble of foot, and catch guanacoes and ostriches with their bowls (sic) [bows?]."

These "floats" or coracles were used by the Aonikenk people, who seem to be these Yacana-cunnees (probably the name given to them by the Northern Tehuelches, as foot Indians). The Selk'nam to the south may also have used floats to trade across the Strait of Magellan, so it is possible that the natives on Penguin Island were Aonikenk or Selk'nam. The "western people" would have been the Key-yus, possibly the Kemenetes in Kaesay. Mountains separated them from the Aonikenk.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025 by Austin Whittall © 

Boroan "white Indians" and FitzRoy

In a recent post I mentioned a group of fair, blue-eyed, white-skinned natives reportedly living in the Arauco region (Boroa) in Chile, in the 1700s. Today's post will add a comment by Captain FitzRoy, who visited the region several times between 1826 and 1835 while surveying it for the Royal Navy.

Robert FitzRoy (1805-1865). English Royal Navy officer. Sailed to Patagonia (1826-30) with Captain Parker King, and again, on the “Beagle” (1831-36). His official report is included in the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, Between the Years 1826 and 1836. He was a member of Parliament (1841) and governor of New Zealand (1843). FitzRoy would later disagree with Darwin’s theory of evolution. He committed suicide in 1865.

Source: FitzRoy, R. 1839. Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe. Proceedings of the second expedition, 1831-36, under the command of Captain Robert Fitz-Roy, R.N. London: Henry Colburn.v2

On page 402 FitzRoy wrote about these Boroa natives:

"On the Cauten was the city called Imperial—celebrated in Araucanian story—and near its site now live the Boroa tribe, some of whom have light-coloured eyes, fair complexions, and even red hair. I saw one of these Indians at Valdivia, who had blue eyes, but dark hair. She told me that in her own country, 'Boroa,' there were many with eyes like her's; that some were 'rubios,' that is, of a red and white complexion, and that a few had red hair. Her parents had told her, she said, that those people were descended from the 'Huincas.'* How the red hair originated is rather curious; I have heard of it from good authorities at other times, while in Chile."

On page 465 he adds what he had heward "from good authorities", while visiting Valdivia:

"This hostile tribe, whose visit he was anticipating, was that called 'Boroanos,' by the Chilians ('Boroa-che,' by the Indians). I have before said that in Boroa there are fair Indians; and that I saw, when at Valdivia, one of the natives of that district. The Indian girl, whom I mentioned just now as a captive, agreed exactly in what she stated of them, with the account I had previously heard. She and the 'Boroana' at Valdivia both said, that "their fathers had told them that the 'rubios' (meaning red and white, or red-haired people) were children of the women whom their ancestors took prisoners when they destroyed the seven cities." Many of these 'rubios' had blue eyes, with rather fair complexions; and some few had red hair. If this is the true story, they must be gradually losing such striking peculiarities; and the assertion made a century ago that there were white Indians in Araucania, might well be thought erroneous now. Both of the 'Boroanos' whom I saw had dark blue or grey eyes, and a lighter complexion than other Indians; but their features were similar to those of their countrywomen, and they had long black hair."

Therefore the Mapuche people took white women captive from the Spanish cities of Arauco during the war that razed the Spanish towns of Imperial, Villarrica, Angol, Osorno, Valdivia, San Felipe de Arauco and Castro. This took place in 1598. It was a common practice for the natives to kidnap women (known as "cautivas" by the Spaniards).

So no mysterious migrations from Europe during pre-Columbian times. The explanation is simple, kidnapped white women.

Mauricio Rugendas, El rapto de la cautiva (The kidnapping of the captive woman), 1845 (top) and Della Valle, Ángel, La vuelta del malón (The return of the Indian raid), 1892 (bottom).

The practice of taking "captives" was common across America, even in the U.S., I recall visiting Oatman in Arizona, a tiny village on Route 66 not far from Las Vegas, it was named for Olive Oatman. The Oatman family, from Illinois, was attacked in Arizona by the Tolkepayas (Western Yavapai) or Apaches in 1851. Only Olive Ann Oatman (1837-1903) and her sister Mary Ann -who later died of hunger- survived. They were sold to the Mohave Indian band of Chief Espaniol, for two horses, beans, and three blankets. He took care of them and included them in his household as domestic slaves. 16 year old Olive had her face tatooed with blue ink as was the native's custom. She was freed after five years of captivity. Olive later wrote her memoir telling her story.

My mother told the story she had heard from her uncle, Robert "Bobby" Carruthers about his uncle, an old man when she met him c.1940, who had been kidnapped as a child by the Puelche-Mapuche Indians and rescued by the Argentine Army during the "Campaña de Conquista del Desierto" (1878-1884) - Desert Conquest Campaign. He was taciturn, and lived alone in a small cabin, withdrawn from society.

A paper reckoned that during the Arauco War between Spanish and Mapuches in the early 1600s, roughly 12% of the Spanish women had been kidnapped by the Indians. This was a significant figure.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009- 2025 by Austin Whittall © 

Curly haired horses revisited

I came across more information while researching the sencond edition of my book, regarding these odd horses, which have also been found in Patagonia.

Patagonian curly-haired horse. Andrea Sede, Source

Gerardo Rodriguez who was born in Maquinchao, and studied to be a veterinarian and his partner Andrea Sede own Yeguada Rodriguez, a small ranch in Maquinchao in the middle of the Province of Rio Negro (map). The place is arid, and located on by National Route 23 that crosses northern Patagonia from east to west, linking the Atlantic coast at San Antonio Oeste with Bariloche on Lake Nahuel Huapi. It still has many unpaved stretches. It follows the ancient native trail (see the spot on my interactive map of Muster's 1870 journey) and the railway.

The place is at the foot of the basaltic Somuncurá plateau, with little water and continental climate with hot, dry summers, and cold winters.

In 2006 Gerardo while working as a veterinarian for the government conducted a survey of the local ranchers in Somuncurá and to his surprise, he saw a curly-haired horse, when he asked the locals they said that "the horses have curls all winter, and in the summer they go" adding that there many more in the past.

Gerardo obtained several of these animals wild horses and now breeds them (Source). The herd now has 40 horses. This is their facebook with many photographs of their horses.

Unique genetic mutation

He also managed to have their DNA tested by the Texas A&M University that found that they have a unique mutation that is not linked to the known KRT25 mutation that causes curly hair in horses. A study has "identified the KRT25:p.R89H variant as responsible for the dominant curly trait, but a second dominant locus may also be involved in the shape of hairs within North American Curly horses." Yet, as it clearly states, other genetic sites may also cause curly hair. It is probably one of these "unknown" mutations that is present in the Maquinchao curlies.

Another paper cites literature and confirms another gene in curly hair, SP6: " KRT25 and SP6 were associated with curly coat in Bashkir Curly Horses and Missouri Foxtrotters by Thomer et al. A variant (KRT25:p.R89H) in the KRT25 gene was found to be responsible for the curly phenotype in North-American and French horses." But these two modified genes are not present in the Patagonian horses.

For the North American curly haired horses, the trait is caused by the KRT25 gene. If a horse is homozygous for it, it will have coarse hair, no mane or tail.

Homozygous means it carries two copies of the same allele, one from each parent. Heterozygous means it only carries one copy of the allele (see image above). If the "b" allele causes curly hair, a "bb" horse is homozygous for it, and a "Bb" or "bB" horse will be heterozygous.

In the case of heterozygous horses they are curly and have a mane and tail, but the hairs can be pulled out easily.

The mutation causesthe hair follicle to be curved, and as the hair grows, it curves.

The other mutation SP6 is also found in North America in a line detected in a horse called Curly Jim. These horses have curly hair and also an abundant mane and tail. This gene alters the shape of the follicle making it oval, which promotes the formation of curls.

If a horse has both genes KRT25, being epistatic, supresses the SPG variant, overriding it.

Interestingly the Lakota (or Dakota) people say that these horses existed in the days before the Europeans arrived in America. A statement by Claire Henderson published in 1991, tells that the Dakota/Lakota native people firmly believe that the aboriginal North American horse did not become extinct after the last Ice Age, and that it was part of their pre-contact culture:

"According to Elders, the aboriginal pony had the following characteristics: It was small, about 13 hands, it had a “strait” back necessitating a different saddle from that used on European horses, wider nostrils, larger lungs so that its endurance was proverbial. One breed had a long mane, and shaggy (curly) hair, while another had a “singed mane.”"

See: The Aboriginal North American Horse, Statement of Claire Henderson, History Dept. Batiment de Koninck, Laval University, Quebec, Canada. Feb. 1991. Online.

Regarding the Dakota people, Lieut. Col. Garrick Mallery Boston published an article in the USGS Bulletin (v.iii, no. 1) back in 1877, discussing the Calendar of the Dakota Nation. The entry for 1803 reads "They stole some curly horses from the Crows Some of these horses are still seen on the plains the hair growing in closely curling tufts resembling in texture the negro's woolly pile It is not however supposed that Frémont's celebrated woolly horse was of this breed The symbol is a horse with black marks for the tufts Crows are known to have been early in the possession of horses".

We have already mentioned Fremont's curly haired horse in a previous post (this horse was discovered in 1849). Read the online article from 1849.

Origin of the Patagonian curlies

Where did they come from. According to Gerardo (Source) there are three options:

1. They are from the original horses and mares brought by Pedro de Mendoza with his expedition to found a city (Buenos Aires) on the Rio de la Plata in 1536. The expedition failed due to the hostile natives, the lack of willingness to cultivate the land and the fact that an expedition sent up the Paraná River found that the Guarani natives in what is now Paraguay were friendlier and the weather better. So they abandoned the town in 1541 and heaed for Asunció. They burned the remains of Buenos Aires, and left some mares and stallions behind. These multiplied quickly on the vast grasslands of the Pampas and when the Spaniards returned in 1580 to found the town for a second time, they found tens of thousands of wild horses. Some of these horses evolved a curly hair mutation when they reached northern Patagonia.
2. They came from the expedition of the Franciscan Bishop Hernando de Trejo (I am quoting the Source, but disagree with this information as Trejo never visited Patagonia), who "in an expedition conducted into the South of Argentina between the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century introduced specimens of this race."
3. The horses came from the north, via the Strait of Bering and were originally from the Russian region of Bashkiria.
4. The last option is outlandish: "let's not ignore the story that tells about the role played by the horses used by the Knights Templar in their long journey transporting the Holy Grail escaping from Europe where they were being persecuted, as mentioned in the company's website". (I commented about these knights in a 2010 post).

We know that they existed in Argentina. Ricardo Hogg, (1941) in an article (Sobre vacas ñatas y otros temas camperos) reported that the curly horse was rare but not unknown in the Pampas region of Argentina however, by then "the curly haired horse, variety almost extinct".

The International Curly Horse Organization mentions them too (see here), the article says that they have not yet been able to identify the gene that causes this "curly winter coat in these Patagonian curly horses."

It also adds that the DNA tests gave surprising results. The horses weree not related to the Andalusian or Lusitano horses of Southern Spain (Mendoza's expedition sailed from Cadiz, and would have brought horses from the Andalucia region). Instead, they are closer to horses from northwestern Spain, from Galicia: " they were related to the smaller Celtic type horses located in Northern Iberian Peninsula. The Patagonian curly horses were genetically close to the Mexican Galiceno horse, which is thought to be a descendent of Northern Spain’s Celtic type horses brought to the Yucatan by Cortez during his conquest of the Aztec nation. The Galiceno horse is a much smaller horse than the Patagonian curly horses standing between 12 to 13.2 hands. There are less than 100 Galiceno horses in the States and Mexico. Other relationships were established by the dendrogram. Patagonian curly horses have a close association with ancestors of the Galiceno horse, which are the Portuguese Garrano and the Spanish Galician and Asturcon."

The following "tree" is included in the above mentioned article

Why would the Patagonian and the Mexican Galiceno horses be closer on the phylogenetic tree? By the way, they are also close to the Mallorquin and Menorquin breeds from the Baleares Islands.

However, Pedro Lozano, in his Historia de la conquista del Paraguay, Rio de la Plata y Tucuman written in the mid 1700s, (see p. 272 below) clearly states that Mendoza's expedition "brought from Andalucia to these provinces" no refernce to horses from Galicia or other parts of Spain.

It is clear that the horses in Patagonia have Spanish horse genes, but, could they have admixed with native pre-Hispanic horses that somehow survived in Patagonia after the megafaunal dying?

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025 by Austin Whittall ©