Human History

“Birds.. so silly, they know not how to flee” wrote Frey Tomas de Berlanga in a letter to Charles VI of Spain describing his journey. The first official record of the archipelago was marked in 1535, islands famed by their inspiration to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. But they were host to various other characters in history, bishops, pirates, whalers, and settlers. A history of extinctions, mysterious murders, scientific discovery, and tears.

Pirates and explorers

A thick misty rain known as garua engulfs the Galapagos, creating an illusion of them disappearing, as the mist evaporated, they’d appear again as if from nowhere. When Captain Diego de Rivadeneira visited the Galapagos in 1546 he referred to them as Las Encantadas (‘enchanted’ or ‘bewitched’). It wasn’t until 1569 that actual names such as “y: de los galopegos” (“Islands of the Tortoises”) started appearing on maps. The name ‘galapago' (an old Spanish word for 'tortoise') goes back to another quote by Frey Berlanga, the quote translates to “nothing but seals, turtles and such big tortoises that each could carry a man on top of itself”. Unfortunately, no sooner had the Galapagos Islands been put on the map, word got out of their abundant, slow-moving and apparently flavorsome residents. Giant tortoises have been under threat since the day they were discovered.

In 1593, British Buccaneer, Richard Hawkins was probably the first pirate to set foot on the islands, starting a trend of many pirates visiting during the 17th century. Pirates stalked the waters around the Caribbean and South America. The Galapagos was a safe place to hide, repair ships, plan raids, and stock up on fresh tortoise meat. Giant tortoises can survive up to a year without food or water, this was to their demise as they were captured & stacked below deck as the pirates and whalers made their long voyages.

In 1684, Captain of the ‘Bachelor’s Delight’, John Cook fell ill and had to take refuge. A crew member, by the name of William Ambrose Cowley, drew up the first basic navigational charts while at the Galapagos Islands.

In 1697, one of the most important British explorers, William Dampier, published his book A New Voyage Round the World. The Galapagos was shown from a naturalist perspective; Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is said to be inspired by Alexander Selkirk’s story, who was rescued when Dampier returned to the islands in 1708 (rescuing Selkirk’s on the way). 

whalers, fire, moby dick, and Irish pat

In 1793, James Colnett, a British Royal Navy explorer and trader sailed to the Galapagos, made a description of the flora and fauna, drew the first accurate navigation charts of the islands, and suggested that they could be used as a whalers base in the Pacific Ocean. This set off a highly destructive period of whaling while also devastating the tortoise population, an easy source of protein for hungry sailors.

No one had lived permanently on any of the islands up until Irish sailor Patrick Watkins. The legend of “Irish Pat” mentions him being marooned on Floreana between 1805 & 1807, he grew vegetables that he bartered with whaling crews and, apparently, spent a good portion of time drunk on rum. He left the island in 1809, his voyage inspired many stories & tales.

In 1820, a fire on one of the islands burned out of control, the entire island was devastated and a couple of species were possibly lead to extinction. The fire was set by a crew member on ‘The Essex’, a whaling ship from Nantucket. Later that year, a whale rammed the Essex and sank it. Herman Melville visited the Galapagos Islands during his time as a whaler, the Essex’s unusual incident was one of the inspirations for his book Moby Dick.

At the same time as the extraction by whalers was occurring in the 19th century, early human settlement of the islands brought further threats to the tortoises.

ecuador, settlers, and darwin

General Jose de Villamil convinced Ecuadorian government to take possession of the Galapagos. Colonel Ignacio Hernandez, with instructions from General Juan José Flores, Ecuador's first president, annexed the islands and planted the Ecuadorian flag on Floreana Island in 1832. One of the early uses for the remote island was as a penal colony. General Villamil became the governor. The convicts and General were joined by farmers and tradesmen, the first true human inhabitants of the islands. Habitats were cleared for pastures & crops and feral animals (donkeys, goats, pigs, & cattle) were introduced to the islands. The settlement failed by 1851.

In 1835, Captain Robert Fitz Roy arrived to the Galapagos on the "Beagle" as part of a trip around the world, a young naturalist by the name of Charles Darwin was on board the ship. Darwin’s visit marks the real beginning of research on the Galapagos’ flora and fauna, he took numerous specimens while exploring the islands. He was not the first naturalist to visit but he was certainly the first to bring back collections of such size, a collection on which he later based his theory of evolution by natural selection.

In 1866, Manuel J Cobos arrived on San Cristobal and became the island’s first land owner. San Cristobal is one of the largest islands and one of the only ones with a steady supply of fresh water. Cobos founded a colony called ‘El Progreso’ and in 1879 he decided that the colony would cultivate sugar cane and coffee. The “Cobos Empire” infamously used prisoners and indentured laborers until his disgruntled “workers” assassinated him in 1904. 

In 1893, a third attempt to colonize Floreana was made by Antonio Gil. He abandoned his efforts and moved to Isabela, where he founded the settlements of Puerto Villamil and Santo Tomas. By 1905, there were 200 people living on Isabela, exporting sulfur and lime.

america, tourism, and the galapagos affair

In the late 1920s, as San Diego based fishermen shifted their attention to the Galapagos, tuna fishing became a feature in the waters surrounding the Islands. Until 1937, as much as 70% of the tuna arriving in California may have come from waters near the Galapagos Islands.

Visiting the Galapagos became easier with the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914. Between 1923 & 1926 books by William Beebe, Galapagos - Worlds End and The Arctus Adventure, were an inspiration for a wave of wealthy tourists visiting the islands, transforming them into a “naturalist’s paradise”.

In 1925, Norwegians colonized Floreana and later moved to Santa Cruz when their initial plans didn’t work. Other Norwegians had arrived on Santa Cruz and San Cristóbal in 1926, they focused on fishing and canning turtles, lobster, and grouper, a venture that ended after the cannery boiler exploded in 1927. Those still living on San Cristobal eventually moved to Santa Cruz in 1928 as well.

In 1929, German colonists arrived in Floreana, leading to a wealth of stories about the eccentric Dr. Friedrich Ritter, Dore Strauch, Baroness Eloise Wagner de Bosquet, and the Wittmer family. The stories ended in tragedy in 1934, when the Baroness and one of her partners disappeared, Ritter died of food poisoning, and another inhabitant ended up mummified on Marchena Island. The tragic occurrences remain a mystery to this day.

protection, war, and tears

In 1935, Victor Wolfgang von Hagen led an expedition to the Galapagos to mark the centenary of the Beagle’s visit, he also erected a bust of Darwin on San Cristobal. One of von Hagen’s objectives was to establish a scientific research station and mobilize scientists to conserve the Galapagos. Leaders from the American Committee for International Wild Life, the Carnegie Institution, the British Museum, and the California Academy of Sciences began to express concern about the future of the islands; In 1936, concerns lead the Ecuadorian government to declare the Galapagos Islands a national reserve and establish a national Scientific Commission to design strategies for the conservation of the islands, protecting key species, regulating collections, and controlling visiting yachts. A 1936 US Tariff Act and Customs Order backed the initiative by mandating confiscation of all Galapagos fauna taken in violation of Ecuadorian law.

Around the time of WW2, the civilian population of the Galapagos Islands was about 800 people. When the US established a military base on Blatra in 1942, it was home to 3,000 US personnel; This was the largest colonization of the islands to that date, the arrival of so many people increased the demand for water, fish, and agricultural products. Base crews constructed a water pipeline from the highlands to Wreck Bay in San Cristóbal and used barges to transport water to Baltra Island. The availability of water in Wreck Bay made San Cristobal more livable and attractive for immigration, it became the largest settlement until the end of the 1960's.

In 1944, as the war was reaching its end, the Ecuadorian government established a third penal colony but this time on Isabela. The prisoners were tasked with constructing a wall, done purely to fill time and keep them out of trouble. In 1958, there was a rebellion leading to the closure of the prison. The “Wall of Tears” remains as a testament.

The “charles darwin” foundation

On the one hundredth publication anniversary of The Origin of Species, the Charles Darwin Foundation was incorporated in Belgium; It began operations in the Galapagos in 1960 and inaugurated the Charles Darwin Research Station in 1964. With that, work on eradicating invasive species had begun and some of the damage began to be reversed. In 1965, the research station began a program of collecting tortoise eggs, bringing them to the station where they would be hatched and raised, before being returned to their native islands, this occurred just in time to save the Espanola race of tortoises from extinction (only 11 females and 2 males remained at the time). Declines in the populations of other races were reversed as well. Later in 1976, a similar program was initiated for land iguanas.

Also in 1959, Ecuador declared the Galapagos a National Park, covering 97% of the islands. It was not until 1968 that the national park service was established. Later in 1986, under the park's jurisdiction, the surrounding ocean was declared a Marine Reserve. In 1998 Ecuador passed a special law for the conservation & development of the Galapagos (LOREG) and created the Marine Protected Area. UNESCO expanded the World Heritage Site status to include the Marine Reserve in 2001.