Geschichte der Juan Fernández Inseln
The first documented human to find Robinson Crusoe Island was the sailor Juan Fernández, on November 22, 1574. He dedicated the discovery to Spain and named the three major islands Más a Tierra (today known as Robinson Crusoe- 47 km2), Más Afuera (today known as Alejandro Selkirk- 22 km2), and Santa Clara (still known as Santa Clara- 3 km2). Advancing to the Spanish Crown’s wishes, Fernández settled the islands bringing 60 Indians, goats and chicken. He began the killing of fur seals in order to extract their natural oil and sell it at very high prices in Perú. When the ship that Juan Fernández used to carry his products sank, Fernández lost all of his capital and because of this he learned that The Crown had denied his petition of supremacy (dominion) on his arrival in Chile. Flourished and old, he retired and moved to Quillota in Central Chile. The island were neglected by the Spanish Crown and they were used by used by pirates and bucaneers as a major stronghold in their attacks to Chile and Perú. In the mean time there were only sporadic visits of shipcrews, so the goats Juan Fernández had taken to the island in his colonization proyect had multiplied. Diego de Rosales, a Jesuit who came a century later was astonished to see them when he stopped at Robinson Crusoe. He stayed at the island for a few days to plant trees and vegetables, in order to feed the crews of visiting ships.
During the XVIII century after numerous attempts by England and France to take over the island, Spain decided to use its strength and used the island as a prison for dangerous criminals. Spain put the criminals in seven big caves where they were maintained behind bars made out of “luma” wood. In the XIX century, during the “Reconquista” (Re-conquest of Chile by the Spanish) period (1814-1818), Mariano Osorio the spanish general who defeated the chilean patriots sent to the island a group of ninety six Chilean patriots, some of whom were Don Manuel de Salas, Don Juan Enrique Rosales, and Don Pedro Nolasco. The first goal that the young Chilean Navy acomplished was the takeover of these Islands in 1818. From then on they belong to Chile. In 1823 Lord Cochrane, the first Admiral of the Chilean Navy, although he was English, and María Graham, an English writer, visited Más a Tierra. Only in 1877 the colonization of Robinson Crusoe Island started by the Chilean government, although the driver was a Swiss, Baron Alfredo de Rodt. Many of the people who still lives on the island are direct descendants of him. But other Europeans, also setteled on the Island. Names such Charpentier, Schiller and Greene are very common among the 500 habitants.
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