Here’s a chunk of the Ushuaia Wiki:
The Selk’nam Indians, also called the Ona, first arrived in Tierra del Fuego about 10,000 years ago. The southern group of the Selk’nam, the Yaghan (also known as Yámana), occupied what is now Ushuaia, living in continual conflict with the northern inhabitants of the island.
For much of the latter half of the 19th century, the eastern portion of Tierra del Fuego was populated by a substantial majority of nationals who were not Argentine citizens, including a number of British subjects. Ushuaia was founded, informally, by British missionaries, following previous British surveys, long before Argentine nationals or government representatives arrived there on a permanent basis. The British ship HMS Beagle, under the command of Captain Robert FitzRoy, first reached the channel on January 29, 1833 during its maiden voyage surveying Tierra del Fuego. The city was originally named by early British missionaries using the native Yámana name for the area.
One of the interesting things about the Yaghan tribe was that they ran around naked. I know, you’re immediately thinking that with the year-around freezing temperatures this must have been embarrassing for the guys, but whatever. When the British missionaries clothed them they got sick and many died from the various bugs in the clothing
The Beagle Channel from above the town
The setting is gorgeous
We forget that we have solo round-the-world sailing brothers that share this important waypoint. This (approx 80′) steel ketch was Dutch registered. Suddenly I got an idea
But anyway, what really got Ushuaia going as a town was the building of a jail in 1896 for dangerous criminals and reoffenders from Buenos Aires. So off we went. It’s not hostile looking at all
I was surprised at how few cells there were
The common area
There were small naval boats in the harbour flying colours
There was a gathering at the park around a sculpture of the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands. It was the 32nd anniversary of the war
Children, officers and cadets
A military band played
The Vets
The park was ringed with war images. Most were powerful and I photographed them all. I asked an older guy a bunch of obvious questions
Hanging white crosses for the men from Ushuaia who the British killed
A veteran boat
Saludos
