Editing Tierra del Fuego (section)

===European colonization and extinction of Native Americans (1860–1910)===
{{Multiple image|direction=vertical|align=right|image1=00 124 2490 Puerto Williams - Südamerika (Feuerland - Tierra del Fuego).jpg|image2=Ushuaia6a (js).jpg|width=200|caption1=[[Puerto Williams]] (2005)|caption2=The city of [[Ushuaia]] (2000)}}
{{See also|Tierra del Fuego gold rush|Selk'nam genocide|Patagonian sheep farming boom}}

During the second half of the nineteenth century, [[Salesians of Don Bosco|Salesian]] Catholic missions were established in Río Grande and [[Dawson Island]].

[[Anglicanism|Anglican]] missionaries, who had established missions on [[Keppel Island]] in 1855, established new missions in 1870 at [[Ushuaia]]. These missions continued to operate through the nineteenth century. Missionary [[Thomas Bridges (Anglican missionary)|Thomas Bridges]] (1842–1898) learned the native language and compiled a 30,000-word Yaghan grammar and dictionary while he worked at Ushuaia.<ref name="NY Times"/> It was published in the 20th century and is considered an important ethnological work.<ref name="NY Times">{{cite news|title=Cook Tried to Steal Parson's Life Work|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/05/21/104935739.pdf|access-date=30 May 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=21 May 1910|archive-date=18 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181018054635/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/05/21/104935739.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

An 1879 Chilean expedition led by Ramón Serrano Montaner reported large amounts of [[placer deposit|placer]] gold in the streams and river beds of Tierra del Fuego. This prompted massive immigration to the main island between 1883 and 1909. Numerous Argentines, Chileans, and [[Croatians]] settled on the main island, leading to increased conflicts with native [[Selkʼnam]]. These late nineteenth century gold rushes led to the founding of numerous small settlements by immigrants, such as the Argentine settlements of Ushuaia and [[Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego|Río Grande]] and the Chilean settlements of [[Porvenir, Chile|Porvenir]] and [[Puerto Toro]].

[[Julius Popper]], a [[Romanian people|Romanian]] explorer, was one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the region. Granted rights by the [[Government of Argentina|Argentine government]] to exploit any gold deposits he found in Tierra del Fuego, Popper has been identified as a central figure in the [[Selkʼnam genocide]].

Following contact with Europeans, the native Selkʼnam and [[Yaghan people|Yaghan]] populations were [[Population history of Indigenous peoples of the Americas|greatly reduced]] by unequal conflict and persecution by settlers, by [[infectious diseases]] to which the Indigenous people had no [[immunity (medical)|immunity]], and by mass transfer to the Salesian mission of Dawson Island. Despite the efforts of the missionaries, many natives died. Today, only [[Selknam genocide|a few Selkʼnam remain]]. Some of the few remaining Yaghan have settled in Villa Ukika in [[Navarino Island]]; others have scattered throughout Chile and Argentina.

Following the signing of the [[Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina|Boundary Treaty of 1881]], Tierra del Fuego was divided between Argentina and Chile; previously, it had been claimed in its entirety by both countries.