Port Louis, Falkland Islands

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Port Louis is a settlement on northeastern East Falkland. It was established by Louis de Bougainville in 1764 as the first French settlement on the islands, but was then transferred to Spain in 1767 and renamed Port Soledad (cf East Falkland is known as Isla Soledad in Spanish).

[edit] History

For a time, the town became the Spanish capital of the islands, which were claimed by Spain as part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. The Spanish abandoned the settlement in 1811 after Argentina became independent.

On 6 November 1820, Colonel David Jewett, an American sailor at the service of Buenos Aires, and captain of the frigate Heroina, raised the flag of the United Provinces of the River Plate (Argentina) at Port Louis. He warned the British and American sealing ships present that they did not have authorization to hunt seals in the area, and then returned to Buenos Aires; the sealers ignored his warning.

The Heroina at Port Louis in 1820

In 1823, Argentina granted fishing rights to Jorge Pacheco and Luis Vernet, who finally succeeded on establishing a permanent settlement three years later. After a fishing rights dispute, the USS Lexington destroyed Port Louis in 1832, an act which was later condoned by the American ambassador in Buenos Aires, who declared the Falkland Islands free from any power.

Amid the turmoil, the British took over the settlement in 1833 -see 1833 invasion of the Falkland Islands- and the name reverted to Port Louis. In April of that year, Charles Darwin visited on the Beagle. After they transferred the administration to Stanley in 1845, it became the quiet sheep farming settlement it is today, known for its nineteenth century houses, waterfowl and wading birds.