Don Pedro Félix Soto González: memory of a man from the León Valley

The wind of Patagonia often carries away words, but some stories remain. They stay in the land, in the fences raised by hand, in the trails opened on horseback, and in memories that withstand the passage of time.
This is the story of Pedro Félix Soto González, a man born on the shores of Lake General Carrera, who made the hard life of the south a source of dignity.

The origin

Pedro Félix Soto González was born on November 20, 1938, in Puerto Guadal, on the shores of the immense Lake General Carrera, in the Aysén region.

His father had arrived from Lago Blanco, Argentina, crossing mountains and borders like many pioneers of Patagonia. His mother, on the other hand, came from Temuco, in southern Chile. They met in Puerto Guadal and decided to stay there, forming a family in that land of strong winds and open horizons.

Pedro was one of four siblings: two women and two men. But life, from a very early age, taught him that childhood can also be fragile.

When he was only two or three years old, his mother passed away while giving birth to one of his sisters. The family was shattered by that blow.
The older sister was taken by some uncles to the north, to Temuco, where she was placed in a nunnery. The youngest remained in the care of an aunt. Pedro, too small to understand it all, grew up almost alone with his father.

He remembers that he followed him everywhere.

—The old man took me with him... wherever he went —he would say many years later.

But his father's life also became difficult. Over time, he ran out of resources, and it was then that a godmother who would change the child's fate appeared.

The years in Argentina

Pedro's godmother had a large business back then and decided to take care of him. This is how the boy crossed the mountains and arrived in Los Antiguos, Argentina, a small town that then had just a couple of houses.

He spent almost eight years of his life there.

He studied, grew up, and got to know another reality, although always keeping the memory of Chile. Finally, around the age of ten, he returned to be with his father.

That return marked the beginning of a different life.

Learning to work

From a very young age, Pedro understood that in the field every hand counts.
By the age of 12 or 13, he was already working small jobs, helping as much as he could.

He chopped wood.
He carried water from the lake.
He helped with the shearing.

One of his first jobs was as a kitchen helper during the shearing seasons. There he carried water, chopped wood, and brought lunch to the shearers who worked with the flock. All under the watch of Doña Isabel, wife of Catalán, the cook who ran the operation.

They were long days, but for him, they meant something important: learning to earn a living.

Military service

In 1957, when he was 19 years old, Pedro did military service in Coyhaique.
He left the following year, already at twenty and certain that his path lay in working the land.

But he still had to find his definitive place.

Arriving at León Valley

That moment came in 1960.

Pedro moved to León Valley, an isolated area where, at that time, there were no roads, and almost everything was done on horseback or by boat.

There he worked with Carlos Vargas, taking care of cattle and performing field work. One day he decided to stop by to greet an old acquaintance, the owner of a ranch who had promised to help him: Don Augusto Zumelzu Vásquez.

That meeting would change his destiny.

—This year Julio Berrocal is going to hand over the position —he told him—. Why don't you come work with me?

Pedro accepted without hesitation.

He was offered to take care of the cows on the ranch. The salary was 25 escudos and a 20% share of the calves born.
If ten were born, two would be his.

For a young man, it was a huge opportunity.

And he took advantage of it.

The first land during difficult times

After working with Augusto Zumelzu, Don Pedro worked for fourteen years with absolute dedication at the Santa Marta ranch of Dr. Robinson Rebolledo Fonseca.

He accepted without thinking too much.

Fences, livestock, animals, work from sunup to sundown. Everything he had learned since he was a child began to bear fruit.

At the beginning of the seventies, agrarian reform arrived.

The land Pedro managed was 1,900 hectares and was expropriated. It was planned to be distributed among new settlers and they wanted Pedro to join the settlement, even asking him to be its president.

But Pedro refused.

He had a prior agreement with the owner and decided to respect it. That decision brought him problems and enmities.

Many did not understand his position.

They were tense years. But finally, after the military coup of 1973, the land was returned to its original owner.

Over the years, and thanks to constant and quiet work, Pedro managed to buy from Dr. Rebolledo a piece of land of 600 hectares. It was not just a business nor the acquisition of land; it marked the beginning of his true life as an independent settler. For the first time, the dream of having something of his own ceased to be a hope and transformed into reality.

As the years continued to pass, Pedro put down deep roots in that place. There he built his life, created his story, and watched his family grow. And there he remained.

Until today.

Love, losses, and family

Pedro married for the first time when he was 19 or 20 years old. His wife was Magdalena Soto Arabena, with whom he had three children:

• Maruja
• Silvia
• Orlando

But life struck him again.

Magdalena passed away when he was around 30 years old, leaving him alone with three small children. To continue working, he temporarily left them in the care of relatives.

It was a tough stage.

Over time, he met Lidia Serón Soto, born in the Murta area, daughter of parents from Puerto Montt and Los Muermos.

They got married.

And life began anew.

With Lidia, who was the secretary of the farmers' committee in Puerto Guadal, he formed a new family and had three more children:

• Robinson Soto Serón
• Carolina Soto Serón
• Pedro Soto Serón

Today they have been married for over 50 years.

His entire family life has unfolded in León Valley, where his children grew up and where the field remains the center of everything.

Building community

In the sixties, there wasn't much in the area. No roads, no organization.

Pedro participated in forming the neighborhood council and served as president during two terms. Among the inhabitants, they organized community work:

• cleaning land
• building fences
• opening roads

Institutions like INDAP began to support these efforts.

It was a time when progress was built together.

Living in Patagonia

The difficulties were many.

To get the wool from the field it had to be loaded onto carts and crossed the León River. When the river grew, they had to cross it at a deep point, risking losing everything.

Sometimes they had to skirt the river twice.

But that was life.

And no one gave up.

The lost sister

There is a story that still hurts in Pedro's memory.

His older sister, María Sotera Soto González, who was about nine years old when taken by some uncles to Temuco to continue her studies, disappeared from the family's life. Since then, Don Pedro has never seen her again.

With the years they tried to find her:
Carabineros, civil registries, family investigations.

Some traces appeared.

It was discovered that she lived in Puerto Montt.
Later, that she crossed from Futaleufú to Argentina around the year 2010.

After that, nothing more.

Pedro still holds onto hope.

That someone has met her.
That she has children.
That some news exists.

Today

At 87 years old, Pedro Félix Soto González continues to live in the place he chose over six decades ago.

The León Valley.

The land he raised with hard work.
The family he formed with Lidia.
The memories of an entire life marked by effort, losses, difficult decisions, and also by the satisfaction of having built something of his own.

When he looks back, his story is that of many settlers in Patagonia:

children who grew up among mountains,
men who learned to work from a young age,
and families who built their lives where there was once nothing.

Pedro often says it simply as someone who has lived a lot:

—Everything I have... I made it by working.

And in that brief and direct phrase lies an entire life.

I have been waiting for you all my life

Sometimes it is thought that a man's life is measured by the lands he worked, by the animals he raised, or by the family he managed to build. Pedro did all that. He built fields where there was once forest, opened roads where only paths existed, and raised a family through the silent effort of someone who never asked for anything in return. But even the strongest men carry an absence that time cannot fill. Because there is something that neither the work of a lifetime, nor the years, nor the harshness of Patagonia could erase: the memory of a girl who left one day and never returned. Perhaps Pedro can no longer remember exactly the sound of her voice or the details of her face, but there are memories that remain in a place deeper than memory: they remain in the heart. And perhaps, after more than eight decades, what he still waits for is not to recover lost time; it is simply to be able to look at his sister once more and say: "I have been waiting for you all my life."

A call from the heart: let's help find his sister

After a lifetime of work in southern Chile, Don Pedro Félix Soto González, now 87 years old, still holds on to a deep hope: to know about his older sister María Sotera Soto González, whom he has not seen since they were both children.

When Pedro was only two or three years old, his mother passed away. In the midst of that difficult moment, his older sister —about 9 years old— was taken by some uncles to the north, to Temuco, where she would have been placed in a nunnery to study. Since then, the family lost all contact with her.

For many years there was no news.
However, over time, some evidence surfaced that keeps hope alive:

• It was reported that she lived for a time in Puerto Montt.
• Subsequently, Carabineros records indicated that around the year 2010 she crossed from Futaleufú to Argentina.
• Since then, there has been no further information about her whereabouts.

Don Pedro and his family have conducted searches through Carabineros, the Civil Registry, and relatives, but to this day they have not been able to find her.

That is why they are making a public appeal today.

Perhaps someone has met her.
Perhaps someone has heard her story.
Perhaps some child, daughter, grandson, or acquaintance can recognize this tale.

It is possible that she now has another life, another family, or even another last name. But for Don Pedro, she remains his sister, the girl who was taken away one day and whom he could never hug again.

If you have information

If anyone believes they have any information about María Sotera Soto González, a recollection or information that could help find her, no matter how small it may seem, the family would deeply appreciate it if you would contact Lidia Serón at +569 7651 4308, or directly reach out to Produncan Lands.

Sometimes, a tiny clue can change an entire story.

After more than 80 years, Don Pedro's wish remains the same:
to know what happened to his sister and, hopefully, to find her again.

Because some stories should not end in silence.
And we still have time to help reunite a family.

Photo in Puerto Guadal