Album Containing Forty-Six Photographs of an Exploring Mission Mostly in Patagonia, c. 1890s

Mostly Patagonia, 1890. Printing-out paper prints, the images measuring 3 1/4x4 1/2 to 4 1/4x6 inches, and the reverse, each with a caption, written on a label affixed to the mount below the prints. 4to, blue pictorial cloth. 1890s. In this bound photo album, forty-six photographs document a group traveling from pastoral locations in northern Argentina to breathtaking views at the southern tip of the continent. The photographs were taken by an accomplished photographer, and handwritten captions in English provide brief descriptions of the locations and people documented. Apparently a member of an exploration commission, the photographer and his team travel first from Bahia Brazil to Buenos Aires and La Pláta, then on to the southern tip of the continent, and back up the continent through remote lakes and mountains on both sides of the Chilean/Argentinian border.

While the photographer's name and nationality are not clear from the album, there are two photographs with a Sr. Moreno, who is likely the Argentinian explorer Francisco 'Perito' Moreno. The photographs of "Sr. Moreno" bear a clear resemblance to photographs of Francisco Moreno, and they are taken in La Plata, which is where Moreno was the first director of the natural history museum Museo de La Plata. On the album page following the one with photographs of Sr. Moreno, there are photographs of the Museo de La Plata building and grounds. Museo de La Plata was established in 1884, and Moreno's personal collection of 15,000 pieces formed the core of the original collections (Farro). In order to fill the exhibit rooms, he sought more materials, and carried out collecting campaigns in Patagonia. At times, he hired naturalists to travel into remote parts of Patagonia to gather samples of flora, fauna, geology, and artifacts of indigenous people's culture (Farro). Museo de la Plata was exhibiting anthropological remains and indigenous material culture at the same time that Argentina was expanding into indigenous territory (Farro). In this way, Museo de la Plata was not just a natural history museum, it was also a force of colonialism.

Not only was Argentina in the process of colonizing Patagonia, but also it sought to claim and maintain territory in relation to Chile. A sixty year boundary controversy between Argentina and Chile resulted in the Treaty of 1881, in which the two countries agreed for the first time on the boundaries in Patagonia (Perry). Even after 1881, vague language in the treaty that the boundary be "the most lofty peaks that divide the waters" extended the dispute until 1902 (Perry). Because Patagonia had not been colonized extensively, scientific exploration of the region was tied with nation-building and establishing these borders. In 1896, the Argentinean government appointed Moreno as the Expert Representative in the border dispute with Chile. He led commissions of naturalists and surveying engineers through the disputed border regions along the Andes Mountains (Museo de La Plata, n.d.). Moreno's work had parallels in Chile's attempts to establish borders, too: "Through the work of these explorers, the state was able to...draw up laws and decrees regarding environmental destruction and more effectively defend its position in the limits conflict with Argentina" (Etchegaray, 2018).

We do not know whether the exploration commission in this photo album was affiliated with Moreno, the collections of Museo de la Plata, or the boundary controversy. However, given the route to the tip of the continent and the back up along the newly established border, it seems possible that this commission could have played some role - whether directly or indirectly - in the process of exploration and nation building occurring at that time.

References

Etchegaray, J. L. (2018). Cataloging the nation: Explorations and the incorporation of North Patagonia into the Chilean National Ordering, 1856-1902 [Thesis, San Francisco State University]. In AS36 2018 HIST .E83. http://dspace.calstate.edu/handle/10211.3/213510

Farro, Máximo E. (n.d). The Business of Museums: Towards a History of Collections in La Plata's Museum, 1888-1906 - World Archaeological Congress. Retrieved June 15, 2021, from https://worldarch.org/world-archaeological-bulletin/the-business-of-museums-towards-a-history-of-collections-in-la-platas-museum-1888-1906/

Ryan, C. (2011). Indigenous possessions: Anthropology, museums, and nation-making in Argentina, 1862-1943 [Ph.D., The University of Wisconsin - Madison]. Retrieved June 15, 2021, from http://www.proquest.com/pqdtglobal/docview/885379045/abstract/E55A419FE8D54C0DPQ/1

Museo de La Plata. (n.d.). Retrieved July 2, 2021, from https://www.museo.fcnym.unlp.edu.ar/museo.