Forest Scots

The Forest Scots (Scots Gaelic: Albannaich na Coille), also known as the Appalachian Ulster Scots in Andina, were American settlers of Scottish descent from the Appalachian Mountains who responded to invitations by the lieutenant governor (and subsequently governor) of Chubut, Ramon Clairac, to settle lands left vacant by the Eskel campaign (1862) of the Expulsion Wars.

History

Four thousand Scottish and Ulster Scots Americans from the Southern Colonies (roughly 1000 families), largely farmers and fishermen, arrived from 1862 to 1864 to take up the offer. The farmers settled mainly on the rich farmland of the Eskel Valley and in the southern parts of Seeland. Most of the fishermen went to the western Andean Fjords (now part of Andina), where they got the same amount of land as the farmers. Many fishermen wanted to move there, especially since they were already fishing in the Fjords.

The Forest Scots were among the first major groups of English-speaking immigrants in Patagonia who did not come directly from Great Britain, others including the Rionegrine New Englanders and the Palatine Germans of Osorno. Most of the Forest Scots were Presbyterian Protestants, in contrast to the largely-Catholic Puritan "Plain English" of Araucania.

The Forest Scots in the Eskel Valley used dykes, the technique having been tried by the Acadians and New England Planters in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia in Canada, and later expanded it with ambitious projects like the MacMurray Dyke. The Forest Scots were soon joined by Welsh and Swiss immigrants and United Empire Loyalists who left New York and the New England colonies after the American War of Independence in 1783 and later emigrated to Chubut from the state of Neuquen before serving in the Expulsion Wars.

Present status

Forest Scots still have descendants, most of which live in southern Andina. The Forest Scots continue to have multiple cultural continuities with the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, from where they originated. Forest Scots continue to practice Presbyterianism, although some others are Evangelical Protestants or Baptists. A small minority of Forest Scots practice Celtic druidism.