The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-10-28
WELSH IN PATAGONIA.
The Remarkable Story of the
Colony at Ohubut
aI BITTER YEARS OF lpyERNTY.
The New Life that Came with
the Boon Of Water.

a Cs,s-r e Psrvss-sts The welsh La.-
s.sss-ws-, vita the Iss,..s TIE
sy-.s 81 CHASTITY s-pv,i.a ~ ,hs Arr~--
ss.s eevs-.e-t-Pesss 90 The Atr-ne-
i,s,e-. Evs<s-ees-A o-sssie. Ass-s
us-r,see-ee,<. she-p. s.s Crep.-Whst
,h. Rsiirees Des.-Aissi FOR the Fsrpst
-.sss- o. ,hs oss vysi.h
Rarely, ~ ever. In the history Of the Americas
hsvs enigrsnts from the old country been sur
rou pded bS conditions and circumstance ~ dis-
ceursrtng - those to be told In the story OF the
welsh colony that IL now hourtshing on the
hank. Of the Chubut River In Patagonia. $50
miles southwest Of Bueno. Ayres. Although one
must really ere the country 10 appreciate fully
what the coionists endured and have achieved,
yet fancy that some Of the facts are OF sum
worth the telling.
IN. colony 1. known by the name Of the river
On which II =. locatsd-Chubut. II WAS formed
By smisrsnts who left their homes. paradosical
e. Il may seem. because they were patriots.
They we're all welshmen who. because the laws
NJ Great Britain have compelled the use OF Eng
iish In all welsh schools since the year 1882,
when Prince Llewellyn fell. determined TO found
q eoloay In such AZ out-of-the-way part OF the
world that they could. unmolested. perpetuats
the mother tongue Of wales. The prime mover
in this matter was Dr. Michael Jons. Of Bsls
coliers. and he was assisted by Mr.. Lewis Jones,
who IL now . resident OF the colony.
These gentlemen looked the maps OF the world
svsr. and they read the descriptions OF all the
unsettled parts which travellers out Of the way
had written, the ultimate conclusion being that
no habitabie country In the world could ofer
such complete isolation as the Patsgonis region
NJ the Argentine Republic. There came = time
sftsrvard when they began 10 doubt whether
the land they had chosen was really habitsble.
but IL was then too late To turn back.
An appeal for q grant Of land was made to the
Argsntins Government, and that is an appeal
that IL never made In vain by any colony acting
In good faith 20 any Latin-American Govern
ment. II Is truo that efforts were made
70 dissusds the wslshmen from going TO
Patagonia, but those efforts were intend
I'd for the rood Of the colonists. They
were asked TO take tho fertile lands of the north
instead Of the desert Of the south. No one but
the promoters Of the colony believed that any
settlement could exist In the desert ana never
did promoters come nearer TO losing heart and
Jet succeed.
Il was on July 20, 1895. that the welsh Pill
grtms first landed In the region they had chosen.
A. that time the whole OF Patagonia between
Rio Negro and the Strait Of Magellan. was In
precisely the same condition that II was In when
Pedro sarmisnto's colony starved to death In
the strait. when Cavendish discovered Port De-
.ire. and when Darwin explored a part Of the
remarkable santa Cruz River. The Spaniards,
at the end Of the eighteenth century, had estsb-
itshed . colony at Port Desire. . place that In
come respects was better suited for habitstlon
than the valley OF the Chubut. and had failed
utterly. They had abandoned their well-butt
houses. their gard sns. and their orchards. OF
which traces remain 10 this day. In 1907. They
had failed because there were freezing gales out
Of season. and hot winds In the growing time
that wtthcred all vegetation. a. the fierce winds
Of like character burn mp the hopes OF the set
tiers In some unirrigated parts Of the United
States. And yet Chubut was further north
much nearer the torrid zone and so would have
nercer heats In summer and less chance Of rain
and snow In winter.
Nor was that all. War was necessarily waged
betw cen the people Of the republic lwho were
pleased 20 call themselves ChristiAns) and the
people Of the desert plains. who were called sav-
ages by the whites. And the savsges. on the
whole. had the best OF the lights. There
are men now living IN FL Carneen, the
old settlement on the Rio Negro the frontier
settlement OF Ar~gentlna-who can remember
how in those old days q solitary desert chief
was now and again known to ride down their
principal street. halt In their plaza. shake the
great fur robe from his broad shoulders, strike
the Init Of his spear on the pavement. and then.
railing the chief men OF the settlement about
him. demand In imp-rious tones an explanation
OF the delay that had been made In sending the
periodical tribute OF cattle. knife blades. indigo.
and cochineal that they paid for Immunity from
attack on their homes and safety for their herds
on the range. The white settlers always