In the 1820s, the Uturburu brothers (the spelling may vary from one source to another), natives of Barcus in Soule, decided to set out to make their fortune in America.
One of them, Léon, provided financial support on several occasions to Simón Bolívar, the great hero of Latin America and liberator of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia from Spanish rule.
He also maintained a lifelong correspondence with Darwin.
He eventually returned to Barcus to spend the rest of his life there.
In 1860, he bequeathed a substantial inheritance to the village.
Judge for yourself:
“I bequeath to the town of Barcus: 200,000 francs for the poor, my house on the town square, and all my property in Ecuador, the sheep in Guayaquil, and Florena Island,” he declared.
It must be said that he had made his fortune in America and had become a very important figure, particularly in Quito, Ecuador. General Villemain, whose uprising he had financed, had then gifted him Florena, one of the Galápagos Islands.
In 1912, the town’s elected officials commissioned Léon Bérard and Mr. de Lonzie to investigate the matter.
Then the war broke out, and the matter was forgotten…
Yet there was indeed an official bequest…
Does Barcus in Soule still own Florena Island in the Galápagos…?
A file in a yellowed folder is still kept in the archives of the Barcus town hall. Inside, there are various documents, newspaper clippings, photos taken on site a few years ago, and the centerpiece: Léon Uthurburu’s will.
Barcus Town Hall
Tel.: 05 59 28 90 80
Soule Tourist Office
Tel.: 05 59 28 02 37
Oloron-Sainte-Marie Tourist Office
Tel.: 05 59 39 98 00
Translated with DeepL.com
(free version)
