Felipe Arnold Westhoff Rodhius was a 19th-century entrepreneur known for his role in the logging of ''

Pilgerodendron uviferum ''Pilgerodendron'' is a genus of conifer belonging to the cypress family Cupressaceae. It has only one species, ''Pilgerodendron uviferum'', which is endemic to the Valdivian temperate rain forests and Magellanic subpolar forests of southern Chil ...

'' and the founding of

Melinka Melinka is a Chilean town in Aysén Province, Aysén Region. It is located on Ascención Island and is the administrative center of the commune of Guaitecas since 1979. The town is on a small peninsula off the main island, and shelters a small ...

Guaitecas Archipelago The Guaitecas Archipelago is a sparsely populated archipelago in the Aisén region of Chile. The archipelago is made up of eight main islands and numerous smaller ones. The eight largest islands are from northwest to southeast: Gran Guaiteca, Asc ...

in 1860. Westhoff was an

ethnic German Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The constitution of Germany, implemented in 1949 following the end of World War ...

who migrated to South America from

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, which was then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. The first part of the

Ferrocarril Central Andino Ferrocarril Central Andino (FCCA) is the consortium which operates the Ferrovías Central railway in Peru, linking the Pacific port of Callao and the capital Lima with Huancayo and Cerro de Pasco. As one of the Trans-Andean Railways it is the s ...

that was built in Peru was the railway between

Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists ...

and

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

. To build this railway Westhoff was sent to purchase

railway sleeper A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper ( Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties trans ...

s. Westhoff arrived this way to

Ancud Ancud () is a city in southern Chile located in the northernmost part of the island and province of Chiloé, in Los Lagos Region. It is the second largest city of Chiloé Archipelago after Castro. The city was established in 1768 to function as ...

from where he administered a ''

'' () logging industry in Guaitecas Archipelago in

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

. For the purpose of overseeing the business he founded the settlement of

in 1860, the first permanent settlement in Guaitecas Archipelago. Westhoff had exclusive logging rights in Guaitecas and was granted the position of ''subdelegado marítimo'' by Chilean authorities. While he held this position of authority until the early 1870s, in reality it implied few benefits. While not longer an agent of Ferrocarril Central Andino he continued to export sleepers to Peru. Westhoff was active in the logging industry in the 1860s and early 1870s becoming a wealthy man. When retiring from the wood industry he settled in

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and ...

working as a teacher. After the retirement of Westhoff,

Ciriaco Álvarez Ciriaco Álvarez was a businessman from Chonchi, Chiloé who rose to prominence in the exploitation of ''Pilgerodendron uviferum'' () in the southern Chilean archipelagoes. His dominance of the industry led him being dubbed "The King of Pilgerodend ...

, a native from

Chonchi Chonchi is a Chilean List of towns in Chile, town and Communes of Chile, commune located in Los Lagos Region. The commune consists of the town of Chonchi and the following villages: * Rauco * Quinched * Vilupulli * Teupa * Terao * Petanes * Notue ...

, rose as the most prominent ''Pilgerodendron uviferum'' businessman in the area. Citing alleged analogies with

the Urals The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.forest fire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a bushfire ( in Australia), dese ...

s and allegedly ineffective

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

hunting techniques used by Chilotes travelling south to the archipelagoes of Guaitecas and Chonos.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westhoff, Felipe Chilean businesspeople in timber German emigrants to Chile German people of Lithuanian descent