Argentine explorer Francisco Pascasio Moreno shaped Patagonia. I want to tell you more about him and this bust.
Francisco Pascasio Moreno was born in Buenos Aires in 1852. He died in 1919. Commonly called Perito Moreno, perito means specialist or expert. He became one of the most influential figures in Argentina. He helped incorporate large parts of Patagonia. He greatly influenced its later development.
Moreno came from a traditional family. He studied in local parochial schools. He spent his free time with his father. They searched for artifacts and fossils. At age 14, he created a homemade museum. It housed his extensive collections.
After graduating in 1872, he helped found the Argentine Scientific Society. He began a series of scientific expeditions. These made him well known. He surveyed the Río Negro Territory. It was largely uncharted. In 1876, he reached Lake Nahuel-Huapi. In 1877, he discovered and named Lake Argentino. He explored many rivers in Patagonia. He discovered and named Mount Fitz Roy. That was in 1877. The native people called it Chalten.
In 1880, Moreno spoke to the Anthropology Society of Paris. He discussed prehistoric skulls unearthed in Río Negro territory. He believed one skull was from the Quaternary period. The other had ritual deformation. It resembled skulls of the Aymara people. They lived in the Andes and Altiplano.
After returning to Argentina, he began his second major expedition to Patagonia. A Tehuelche tribe captured him. He was condemned to death. He escaped one day before his execution in 1880. During this time, he met the Tehuelche chief Inacayal. Inacayal was hospitable to him. Later, Inacayal resisted the government. He surrendered in 1884.
From 1882 to 1883, Moreno explored the Andes from Bolivia southward. From 1884 to 1885, he explored south of the Río Negro and Patagonia. He became chief of the Argentine exploring commission. This covered the southern territories. He joined many European scientific societies. The National University of Córdoba gave Moreno an honorary doctorate in 1877. This recognized his contributions to science.
Moreno defended Argentine interests. His surveys defined the 1881 Boundary treaty between Chile and Argentina. The Perito Moreno glacier was named after him. Moreno collected vast archaeological and anthropological data. He founded an anthropological museum in Buenos Aires in 1877.
In 1888, he founded the La Plata Museum of Natural History. It became South America’s most important museum of its kind. Moreno’s collections at both museums helped establish Argentine history. They supported the government’s claim to its territory. He brought artifacts from remote regions. These were studied at the capital’s museum.
Moreno served as the Museo de la Plata’s first director. He guided it until 1906.
In 1902, Moreno was named Perito. He disproved Chilean claims to the continental divide. He proved Patagonian lakes drained to the Atlantic Ocean basin. Glaciers had dammed them. This changed their outlets to the west and Chilean territory.
In 1903, Moreno donated land. This helped establish the Nahuel Huapi National Park. He compared it to US national parks. In 1911, he became assistant director of the National Education Council. He secured funding for the Bernasconi Institute. It was a landmark primary school. It was built on land Moreno sold to Félix Bernasconi. Its museums used Moreno’s collections.
He established Scouting in Argentina. The Argentine Boy Scouts Association started in 1912. He toured Patagonia with Theodore Roosevelt.
Late in life, Moreno joined the Argentine Patriotic League. This was shortly before his death in 1919. Moreno was first buried in La Recoleta Cemetery. In 1944, his remains moved to Centinela Isle in Lake Nahuel Huapi.
The Francisco Pascasio Moreno bust commemorates a remarkable man. He was an explorer, scientist and protector of Patagonia.