Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe was established on the north shore of Chile’s Strait of Magellan in 1584. When an English navigator came across it several years later, few survivors remained

This coin was found near Chile’s Strait of Magellan. Richard Bezzaza / Centro de Estudios Históricos y Humanidades

Spain had ambitious plans when it established a colony around Chile’s Strait of Magellan in the 16th century, but within a few years, both the settlement and the empire’s dreams had gone awry. The majority of the settlers at Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe—later dubbed Puerto del Hambre, or “ Port Famine ”—succumbed to starvation, the elements and various diseases.…