Not many people know that when Charles Darwin, yes! The man who single-handedly created the Theory of Evolution (well almost, Alfred Russell Wallace also had the same idea) visited, and explored Patagonia during his journey as the "naturalist" on board the HMS Beagle (1831-1836).
Darwin, and the Beagle's commander, Captain Robert FitzRoy sailed around the world on a survey for the Royal Navy. Darwin disembarked and collected specimens, fossils, and slowly but surely matured the experience of his voyage into the theory of Natural Selection as the force behind evolution. Admittiedly, it took him another 30 years (and the prod given by Alfred Russell Wallace, who wrote to Darwin in 1858 requesting his opinon on a theory of evolution he had devised independently!) to publish his findings in "On the origin of species" in 1859. Darwin had, over those 30 years, collected innumerable pieces of evidence to support his theory. He had built a well-founded structure (unlike Russell Wallace) but he had lacked the moral courage to publish his work until it was challenged by Russell Wallace.
But, let's get back to South America. While charting and mapping the coasts of Southern South America, Darwin had some interesting experiences. He rode inland, finding glass from sand melted by lightining bolts in Uruguay. In Patagonia, he also met Juan Manuel de Rosas a rancher-potentate who would was the Governor of Buenos Aires province and the dictator of the Argentine Confederation between 1829 and 1853. Rosas was conducting a bloody campaign against the natives of the Pampas and northern Patagonia (he wiped out at least 3,200 natives and displaced another 15,000).
Further south, the Beagle anchored in the Santa Cruz River estuary, on April 13th, 1834, and on the 18th, a party which included Darwin and FitzRoy, set out to navigate up the Santa Cruz River. The first thirty miles of it had been explored in a previous visit: "in the morning three whale-boats started under the command of the Captain to explore as far as time would allow the Santa Cruz river: During the last voyage, Capt. Stokes procceeded 30 miles, but his provisions failing, he was obliged to return.— Excepting, what was then found, even the existence of this large river was hardly known: We carried three weeks provisions & our party consisted of 25 souls; we were all well armed & could defy a host of Indians." (Source).
The Santa Cruz River drains Lake Argentino and Lake Viedma, it receives the inflow of the melting ice of the Sothern Ice Field, it is a mighty river, with a short (385 km - 240 mi) yet winding course that cuts across the arid Patagonian steppe with a west-to-east course. It carved canyons through the basaltic mesas (mesetas) that rise up to 200 m (600 ft) above it. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean together with the Chico River that comes from the Northwest, through a tidal estuary. Its discharge, on average is 790 m3 (28,000 cu. ft.) and it is 6 to 15 m deep (18-45 ft. deep) and 150 m (450 ft) wide. Its water has a turquoise bluish color, from the glacial sediment it carries. The river's gradient or slope isn't great, it drops 180 m (590 m) from the Lake to the Ocean. It has plenty of curves along its course, and a strong current. This made Darwin's enterprise an exhausting one.
Darwin described the "navigation" method they used: "In so strong a current it was of course quite impossible either to pull or sail so that the three boats were moor fastened astern of each other, two hands left in each, & the rest all on shore to track, (we brought with us collars all ready fitted to a whale line).— As the general arrangements were very good for facilitating the work, I will describe them; the party which included every one, was divided into two spells, (at first into three) & each of these pulled alternately for an hour & a half.— The officers of each boat lived with, eat the same food, & slept in the same tent with their crew; so that each boat was quite independent of the others; After sunset, the first level place where there were any bushes was chosen for our nights lodging..."
Progress was slow, they had to haul or tow, by sheer manpower, the boats upstream. By May 2nd, Darwin wrote in his Diary "The river was here very tortuous, & in many parts there were great blocks of Slate & Granite, which in former periods of commotion have come from the Andes: Both these causes sadly interfered with our progress.— We had however the satisfaction of seeing in full view the long North & South range of the Cordilleras.— They form a lofty & imposing barrier to this flat country; many of the mountains were steep & pointed cones, & these were clothed with snow.— We looked at them with regret, for it was evident we had not time to reach them..." On May 4th, FitzRoy had had enough. He would not go any further. They ventured west on foot: "The Captain & a large party set off to walk a few miles to the Westward.— We crossed a desert plain which forms the head of the valley of S. Cruz, but could not see the base of the mountains.— On the North side, there is a great break in the elevated lava plain, as if of the valley of a river.— It is thought probable that the main branch of the S Cruz bends up in that direction & perhaps drains many miles of the Eastern slope of the chain.— We took a farewell look at the Cordilleras which probably in this part had never been viewed by other Europaean eyes, & then returned to the tents.— At the furthest point we were about 140 miles from the Atlantic, & 60 from the nearest inlet of the Pacific. 5th Before sun-rise, we began our descent." The party reached the sea in three days, advancing at 10 miles per hour (16 km/h).
Unknown to Darwin, and FitzRoy, they had ended their expeditions a few dozen kilometers east of the impressive Lake Argentino. In my interactive map I marked (approximate location) the spot they reached during their expedition. It would take 33 years until an expedition commissioned by Argentine sealer and naval officer, Luis Piedrabuena discovered Lake Argentino. In October 1867 J. H. Gardiner rode upstream with J. McDugall, Mr. Peterson, and J. Hansen, to discover the sources of the Santa Cruz River. They were the first Europeans to set their eyes on the lake.
I have mentioned Lake Argentino and the Santa Cruz River in a post, and also in my book, mentioning their "creatures" one of which was spotted by Gardiner himself in 1867 while camping by the lake close to a river by Estancia Alice, he saw "a very strange animal, the size of a dog, and dark, but I couldn’t determine what animal it was." Grouttes, the editor of Gardiner’s diary, suggested in 1881 that it was a water tiger (otter). Why would Gardiner say the animal was strange if it was just an otter?
I will end this post with a somber note. The left-leaning, pro-Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela Kirchner couple administrations, a corruption-tainted wife (Cristina) and husband (Nestor, deceased in 2010) team who were elected presidents of Argentina between 2004 and 2015, and followed by a puppet president managed by Cristina Kirchner (2019-2023), arranged for a Chinese-led consortium to build a mega hydroelectric project on the Santa Cruz River. Despite environmental concerns, the project got a green light from pro-Chinese Kirchner and surely a juicy payback. Just as a reference, among many pending corruption trials, Cristina is currently serving a 12 year jail term for corruption involving road building in Santa Cruz involving paybacks of 500 million U.S. Dollars from a crony of her late husband, who starting out as a humble bank clerk in the Santa Cruz province state-owned bank, became a billionaire road construction mogul. To make matters worse the dam which will generate 1,310 MW is located 2000 km (1,270 mi) from Buenos Aires, the main energy-demanding market of the country. Patagonia has less than 2.5 million inhabitants, and Santa Cruz province, barely 337,000 residents (2022 Census data).
The mid and upper reaches of the Santa Cruz River valley will be flooded when the dam is completed, an irreversible damage to the ecosystems and scenic beuty of the area.
Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2026 by Austin Whittall ©
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