Immigrant Ranching in Patagonia
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Ranching in Patagonia |
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Prior to the oil boom
in Comodoro Rivadavia, a thriving sheep ranching economy existed in Patagonia.
Throughout the provinces of Chubut and Santa Cruz, sheep ranching
attracted many European immigrants during the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries from Great Britain, Scotland, Germany, Spain, and
South Africa. Ranching soon dominated vast areas of land, and sheep began
to populate the arid location. Census data from 1895 shows that many
towns in the southern province of Santa Cruz received European
immigrants in the 1870s and 1880s. |
Beginning in the late
nineteenth century, these immigrants were primarily men. Population
statistics on British immigrants to Santa Cruz illustrate this
trend. Census material suggests that of the 157 British-born residents
of Santa Cruz in 1895, only 22- 16 percent-
were female. The prevalence of men also held for other immigrant groups
and the province of Chubut. The male-to-female ratio in Santa
Cruz remained in favor of males, but slowly declined from
2.52 males per female in 1895 to 2.51 in 1914, to 1.60 in 1920. |
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The earliest immigrants were single men or married men who had migrated
without their families. After several years, the first generation
of immigrants who acquired land or profitable
positions on others' ranches, often returned to their homeland
to find wives or sent for their families. Meanwhile, the laborers without ranches of their own remained single.
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Some immigrated for political or religious reasons,
but many relocated to Patagonia for purely economic reasons. For example,
Helena Bain’s grandfather came with five of his brothers. Their
‘humble’ farm in Scotland was to be divided between eight
children, which would not have provided sufficient means for survival.
Immigration also often occurred through familial and other
networks, as in the Bain family. Members of Helena’s
grandfather’s family immigrated individually, one at a time. |
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After the first brother came and was successful,
he sent for the next brother, continuing until six of the eight children
had immigrated. The Argentine government also campaigned to attract
Western European settlers through advertisements and promises of free
land. |
Once they arrived in Argentina, the immigrants encountered
a dry, dusty, and windy region that was sparsely populated. Some
towns did exist, but ranches were often far removed from these towns
and from other ranches. Additionally, Patagonia offered these newly
arrived settlers very poor quality roads and arduous, time-consuming
travel. There was no natural local wood supply for the construction
of houses and fences. A shortage of water prevented the cultivation
of many crops and the maintenance of large quantities of
certain types of animals such as cows. Those who were not lucky enough
to find land with natural water sources had to dig very deep wells
up to one hundred twenty meters, often by hand with only a shovel or
pick. Kokot explained the difficulty of growing crops in Patagonia because
of the weather and wind. Thus, sheep ranching became dominant in Patagonia
because of the ability of sheep to thrive in the harsh conditions. Beginning
in the 1840s and 1850s, sheep were pushed south to the less fertile
land of Patagonia after the introduction of cows and wheat in the Pampas.
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