In 1875, William Greenwood made his home in the wilds of Patagonia, a pioneer in the territory of Tehuelche Indians. There he guided expeditions into the unmapped Interior. He lived by hunting wild cattle and horses, pumas and guanacos, foxes and ostriches, then trading their hides, pelts and feathers in distant Punta Arenas.
This was life on the South American Frontier, a southern version of the “Wild West”. There were many adventures, but also times of hunger and hardship, with only dogs and horses for company. His life was threatened by snowstorms, by a wild bull, and by a volcanic eruption. People thought him eccentric, and a loner, but this was the land and the life that he loved.
These are the memories of one of the earliest European immigrants to Southern Patagonia, written over a century ago, then lost and forgotten. No other pioneer has left a better description of those early times. His writing is humorous and wise — the voice of true experience.
