In 1865, the Welsh
Colonists, landed on the coast of the Patagonia Argentina. The
"Mimosa" ship carried 151 passengers, most of them were
miners and workers who had sailed from England in order to acquire
cultural freedom and they were also escaping from the starving
time. For many English people, the begining of the nineteenth
century was a time of hunger and suffering. When they arrived
to Argentina, Bartolomé Mitre, a minister of this country, offered
them lands freely, and asked Welsh people to preserve their language
and customs in order to save their identity. They had not got
drinkable water, so the emigrated to the Valley of the Chubut
river. Fortunately an Indian tribe that lived there, taught Welsh
people how to survive in those inhospitable places and the secrets
of the hunting techniques. From that moment they started to trade
among them. Welsh people took advantage of the artificial irrigation
so they could grow wheat. In 1878, they were 759 inhabitants who
cultivated 1500 hectares. Ten years later, those people started
to spread out and after that, they founded Esquel and Trevelin,
which is a Welsh word meaning hamlet of the mill. That name was
a tribute to John Evans, who was the only survivor of the expedition
to the Chubut river, although he was killed by the indians when
he was looking for gold.
Nowadays, Welsh
people still live there, living in brick houses, eating black
cakes and drinking tea at five o"clock.