Juan Fernández Ladrillero

Journeys of Juan Ladrillero 1540 (green) and 1557 (red)

Juan Fernández Ladrillero (* 1495 Moguer ; † 1582 ) was a Spanish explorer .

In 1557 Ladrillero was commissioned by the Governor General of Chile , García Hurtado de Mendoza , to explore the area south of Valdivia . In particular, the Strait of Magellan and its western entrance should be explored. In contrast to Fernando de Magellan , who had crossed the Strait of Magellan from east to west, this time the opposite direction was to be traveled.

Plaque in honor of Juan Ladrillero in Puerto Natales ( Chile ).

On November 17, 1557, Ladrillero set sail from Valdivia . He commanded the ship San Luis and Francisco Cortés Ojea the San Sebastián . A storm separated the ships and the flagship was lost. On December 4th Ladrillero reached a huge fjord, the Eyre Fjord, which is surrounded by high mountains and glaciers. Despite several attempts, he could not find the passage. In July 1558 he reached Cabo Virgenes at the Atlantic exit of the Strait of Magellan. In the name of Spain he took possession of the entire Tierra del Fuego . The expedition returned to Valdivia on January 15, 1559.

The journey initiated the occupation of Patagonia , which was later continued with the establishment of small military bases by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa in 1579.

The 1,665 m high Cerro Ladrillero mountain in the Reserva Forestal Isla Riesco nature reserve is named after him. It is located on the island of Riesco in eastern Patagonia . The Ladrillero Canal (sometimes Stosch Canal ) also bears his name.

Footnotes

1. ↑ 52 ° 20'S 68 ° 21'W
2. ↑ Christina Hofmann-Randall: The Tierra del Fuego Indians. Anthropological description of the first discoverers. In: Würzburger medical history reports 11, 1993, pp. 261–272, here: p. 262.

literature

Samuel Morison: The European Discovery of America: The Southern Voyages, 1492-1616 , Oxford University Press, 1974, New York