On this date in 1865, 153 Welsh settlers landed in the clipper ship Mimosa near the Chubut River in Patagonia to establish Y Wladychfa Gymreig ("The Welsh Settlement"). The settlers were recruited and financed by Michael D. Jones, a Welsh nationalist nonconformist preacher, with the goal of establishing a more isolated Welsh colony than in the United States, where he felt they too quickly lost their Welsh language and identity. Jones wrote, "(Patagonioa is) in complete possession of savage people ..., and it is undoubtedly possible to make a colony in a land like this." People lived in Patagonia perhaps as early as 12,500 BC. In the 16th century, Mapuche-speaking people crossed the Andes and settled in eastern plains and down to the far south. They came to dominate the other peoples of the region, and are the principal indigenous people today. European navigators visited the region in starting the early 16th century. The nomadic Charrúa also inhabited the region, but were massacred by the Argentines in 1831, before the Welsh settlers arrived. The newly-formed nation of Argentina offered the Welsh settlers 100 square miles of land along the Chubut River. The settlers had been told the land was like lowland Wales, but when they arrived, they found an arid semi-desert with little food or drinking water. Some died and a baby was born on the march across a parched plain to reach the valley of the Chubut River. It was a year before they contacted the indigenous Tehuelche people. After some conflict, they established friendly relations, and the Tehuelche helped them survive early food shortages. The Welsh built an irrigation system from the Chubut River to create fertile wheatlands. Today there is a Welsh-Argentine community of 70,000 centred on Gaiman, Dolavon, Trelew, and Trevelin. The remaining Patagonian Welsh speakers are estimated at about 1,500 to 5,000. During the Falklands War, Welsh-speaking British soldiers from the Welsh Guards were surprised to be addressed in Patagonian Welsh by an Argentine POW being repatriated to Puerto Madryn. Over the years since, close ties between Wales and Y Wladfa have been reestablished. Credit: https://w.wiki/EryW Today I rode with Jim from Hawaii, who has been staying with us here in L.A. for work. He often rides in Hawaii and brought his 40-year-old steel Raleigh to ride in L.A. I showed him some of my favorite climbs today, and he proved plenty stronger than me when climbing, although I'm faster (more foolhardy) descending. The weather was perfect, cool, and cloudy until later in the ride. Thanks for joining me, Jim!