From Emilio Frey to Perito Moreno and other pioneers who took part in historic expeditions

The picture is circulating on the Internet with the caption that it was taken on May 31, 1902, when Perito Moreno turned 50.

The original contains the papers of Emilio Frey, Moreno’s associate at the Limits Commission, but there is no information on the back to confirm this information. It just says: “Country dinner of the British delegate Colonel Holdich and the Argentine expert Dr. Moreno in the pampas of the Senguer River.” You can see some empty bottles, a sleeping dog and Moreno and a Baqueano who are about to eat.

In 1901 and 1902 the two traveled to several parts of Patagonia whose borders were in conflict. April 30, 1902 was the day the Welsh declared themselves Argentine before the English referee at Trevelin. This contributed to the 16 de Octubre Valley, the Bolsón area, Lago Puelo and part of what is now Los Alerces National Park being left to Argentina.

Back in Britain, Holdich published The Countries of King’s Award (1904), where he recounts his experiences. Of the 94,000 km2 in the conflict, 54,000 km2 were in Chile and 40,000 km2 were in our country.

John Murray Thomas (1847-1924) was born in Wales. He traveled with his sister Gwenllian and her husband Abraham Mathews on the Mimosa, the ship that brought the first 153 Welsh people to Argentina. He worked in Buenos Aires at the company J. Younger y Cía, dedicated to the wool and leather trade, where he became an accountant. In 1873 he returned to Chubut and opened a general business in Rawson. He was a successful businessman. As an amateur photographer, he was first a documentary filmmaker of the colony and then a portraitist. He can be considered one of the pioneers of local photography in the 19th century. He was active until 1915. He died at Rawson.

In this picture, taken on October 1, 1891, at the mouth of the southern rift in Santa Cruz Canyon before departure for Tecka, a group of Welshmen are seen on their way to a gold deposit. They are believed to be, from left to right: Back, Meiric Hughes, Elías Owen, two unidentified people, Captain David Richards and Arthur Philips; Striker, Richard Roberts New York, John Henry Jones, Rev. William Phillips and Morris Humphreys.

This image is part of a series of three images from the Frey archive. They date from 1899 and show a camp led by the engineer Emilio Frey (in the middle, seated, wearing a cap) as he explored Patagonia to create maps to help address the border question with Chile. In such situations, only bosses had access to tables and chairs. In the second photo of the dining tent, Frey is sitting at the table with a tablecloth. In the third picture, the figures form a semicircle, almost all of them crouching or standing. Theodolites, tripods, rulers and other measuring devices can be seen here.

Frey was born in Baradero in 1872. He was the son of Emil Heinrich Frey, a Swiss who arrived in 1863 to join the first colony of that origin in this city. In 1870, Rudolf married the native Bernabela Borda. Emilio studied in Switzerland and received his degree as a land surveyor there. After his return in 1896, he joined the team of the expert Francisco Moreno. He was co-founder and first president of the Bariloche Andean Club. He died in Bariloche in 1964.

He was a German geographer who came to Chile in 1889 to work as a professor of history and geography in teacher training at the Pedagogical Institute of the University of Santiago. Between 1893 and 1899 he undertook several expeditions to the border conflict areas of Patagonia. As the Chilean representative, together with the Argentinian representative Francisco Moreno, he accompanied the British delegate to the arbitration court, Sir Thomas Holdich, on his inspection tour of the region. Their investigations and findings were incorporated into the British arbitration award of November 20, 1902.

In the picture from 1893 he can be seen with a bowler hat along with the scientists Wiederhold and Schierwagen and other residents of Palena.

He became ill with his lungs, retired and left Chile in 1913. He settled in Switzerland and sought a cure in the renowned clinics of his time. He died on April 7, 1936 at the age of 71 in a town near Davos.

There is very little data about this explorer, who probably financed his expedition to Bolivia in 1908 and was interested in studying the Indians in the south of that country. This image is part of the Caras y Caretas archive, but was not published there. On the other hand, it can be found in the 187th issue of the magazine PBT, along with others in which Mr. Neumeyer shows his treasures: “Mouthpieces of the Mataco Indians, Chiriguano comb, ear studs used as ear decorations by the Droroto Indians, skins of light parakeets, ounces and anteaters hunted in Santa Cruz de la Sierra,” among others. The Indian who accompanies him acts as a guide. He was photographed with him in Tarija when he returned from his trip.

He was a German explorer who traveled to several countries in the Americas with the intention of writing a book entitled “Hospitality among the Different Peoples of the World.” In reality, the plan he had set out to undertake was very ambitious: to travel the whole world without giving or receiving money for food or travel.

In our country it took at least ten years. In this picture, published in Caras y Caretas on October 2, 1909, he is seen in Salta before leaving for Chaco. There he recounts the adventures and misfortunes he experienced as he faced the bureaucracy of the War Department, which had originally allowed him to join the 5th Cavalry Regiment to accompany him to the capital Chaco, and later revoked the permission upon his arrival in Nueva Pompeya.

After many unheeded requests, Schiffler ventured to Resistencia alone, leaving his luggage at the headquarters headquarters. The note concludes: “Mr. Schiffler has long been demanding in vain the return of his luggage, the reimbursement of the animals that fell into the hands of the Indians during the journey, and his compensation in the question of costs.”

Therefore it is very unlikely that it served its purpose.

With the intention of promoting the development of Bariloche, the Minister of Public Works, Ezequiel Ramos Mejía, founded the Commission of Hydrological Studies, which operated between 1911 and 1913. Its director was the American Bailey Willis (seated in the middle), and his assistant was the engineer Emilio Frey (standing, far right in the picture). Furthermore, Dr. Benito Vereertbrugghen (petting the dog) and his wife can be seen in the dark coat.

In addition to providing water, they were responsible for promoting tourism on the San Pedro Peninsula, building a hotel on the summit of Mount Runge, and planning an industrial center on the left bank of the Limay River. This also included a dam in the amphitheater area, so that the first few kilometers of the Limay riverbed became a lake. The idea was to install turbines that would power the industry. The plan was approved, the center’s new streets were designed, but times changed and the power station was never built.