Esteban Lucas Bridges was an Anglo-Argentine author, explorer, and rancher. After fighting for the British during the First World War, he married and moved with his wife to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, where they developed a ranch with her brother. Bridges was the third child of six and second son of an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

missionary, the Reverend Thomas Bridges, (1842–98) and "the third white native of

Ushuaia Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital city, capital of Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of 82,615 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, U ...

" (his elder brother, born in 1872, having been the first) in

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, at the southernmost tip of South America. Bridges wrote ''Uttermost Part of the Earth'' (1948) about his family's experiences in Tierra del Fuego, the Yahgan and Selkʼnam indigenous peoples, and the effects on them of colonization by Europeans. The book was well reviewed, Madaline W. Nichols describing it as "fascinating" and "of basic ethnological importance".

Early life and education

Stephen Lucas Bridges, also called Esteban and going by Lucas, was born to Thomas and Mary Ann Bridges in

, Tierra del Fuego. The third of six children and the second of three sons, he grew up speaking English, Yahgan, and Selkʼnam. Thomas Bridges was an Anglican missionary who ministered to the indigenous Yahgan and Selkʼnam peoples, and the first foreigner to establish a permanent outpost in the Usi Yagán, or Yaghan country, in the area currently known as Beagle channel. Lucas Bridges learned the languages and cultures of both tribes from a young age. He was the only European to be made a blood brother of the Selkʼnam and was invited to witness their council. He also compiled a vocabulary of the

Haush The Haush or people were an Indigenous people who lived on the Mitre Peninsula of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. They were related culturally and linguistically to the Selkʼnam (also known as Ona) people who also lived on the Isla Gran ...

or Manek'enk, a small indigenous tribe who lived to the east of the Selkʼnam, at the end of Mitre Peninsula. Bridges witnessed the effects of change as immigrants from European cultures flooded the area, beginning in the late 19th century. There were gold and sheep booms in the region, attracting many new immigrants. The indigenous peoples were decimated. Eurasian

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmis ...

s such as

measles Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...

caused high fatality rates. Outbreaks in 1884 (following a visit by three Argentine Navy ships), 1924 and 1929 became fatal

epidemics An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of Host (biology), hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example ...

for the indigenous peoples, with devastating results. In 1886 Thomas Bridges resigned his position as a missionary; Lucas helped his father to create the Estancia Harberton (named after his mother's hometown in England), a sheep farming ranch, in a sheltered bay on the coast of the

Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan language, Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego, Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of I ...

. The location was a Yahgan safe port.

Exploration

In 1898 Lucas Bridges opened a trail north from Estancia Harberton to the east end of Lago Fagnano, where the land was better for rearing sheep. It has been improved as a hiking trail known as the Lucas Bridges Trail. In 1902 Lucas and his brothers Despard and Will founded Estancia Viamonte in the northern part of Tierra del Fuego. The new trail was used to transport sheep between the two estancias. The Selkʼnam people had asked for their help in finding a place of shelter from some of the pressures they were under. The Bridges family provided them with areas on their estancias where they could live in semi-traditional ways. Lucas Bridges became the main informant for almost every traveler, national explorer or international anthropologist in the area, and was quoted in most reports on the indigenous peoples of

. Descendants of the brothers continue to live and work at the estancias.

First World War and emigration

Bridges went to England to enlist in the Army at the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1917 he married Jannette McLeod Jardine (1890-1976). After the war the couple moved to

, where he developed a ranch with his brother-in-law. He and his wife raised their family there. Bridges returned to Argentina much later, to live out his last years and where he wrote ''Uttermost Part of the Earth.'' He died in Buenos Aires in 1949 aged 74, and was buried next to his father in the British Cemetery at

Chacarita, Buenos Aires Chacarita is a ''barrio'' or neighborhood in the north-central part of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located between Colegiales, Palermo, Villa Crespo, La Paternal and Villa Ortúzar, this is a quiet neighbourhood with tree-lined streets, a combinati ...

.British Cemetery in Buenos Aires website: Thomas Bridges

References

Sources

* "Obituary: Lucas Bridges", ''The Geographical Journal'' 114 (1949) pp. 240–241. * Bridges, Lucas, ''Uttermost Part of the Earth'', London: Hodder & Stoughton 1948, New York: E.P. Dutton 1949; London: Century Hutchinson 1987 ; Overlook Press 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bridges, Lucas 1874 births 1949 deaths People from Ushuaia Argentine people of British descent Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery History of Tierra del Fuego Argentine emigrants to South Africa Argentine expatriates in the United Kingdom