Elena Greenhill Blaker

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Elena Greenhill Blaker (1875–1915) was a British-born outlaw who operated in Patagonia in the early 1900s. She was born in Halifax, England, and moved with her family to South America as a teenager as part of a frontier settlement program.

In 1894, at about 19, Elena married Manuel de la Cruz Astete Pinto, a cattle raider who smuggled cattle from Argentina to Chile. They lived in towns in Río Negro Province, Argentina. Manuel taught Elena to shoot, and she became an excellent marksman with a Winchester rifle. In 1904 Manuel was found dead near their home; Elena was initially suspected of the crime but was later cleared.

A farm worker who had been involved with Elena was arrested for Manuel’s murder. The lawyer who helped secure Elena’s release was Martin Coria, who would later become her husband. Elena and Coria moved to Montón Nilo and ran a general store that was used as a front for stolen merchandise. They had two children, and because of the danger of their life, Elena sent them to boarding school in Buenos Aires.

In 1909 Elena and her husband were accused of stealing 3,000 sheep from a farm in Telsen, northern Chubut. Police came with a large force to arrest them, and a shootout broke out at their home. Elena caused a distraction that allowed them to escape, and a police chief, Calegaris, was briefly taken hostage. The family fled north to Buenos Aires. The rival Altamirano police chief died in 1914.

Elena later married one of her associates, Martín Taborda, and returned to a life of bandit activity. She even wrote a will, perhaps thinking she might not return.

On March 31, 1915, Elena and Taborda were ambushed by police near Gan-Gan, Chubut. The shootout lasted about an hour. Elena was wounded and killed by a police officer who shot her in the neck, reportedly to make sure she could not pretend to be alive. She was about 40 years old. Taborda escaped but was arrested the next day. The officer, Valenciano, was fired, imprisoned, and later released after a year; he eventually joined the police and was later involved in other controversial actions.

Elena’s body was buried in Gan-Gan until 1949, when her family moved her remains to Cementerio Británico in Buenos Aires. Elena and Manuel left behind two children. A nearby hill is named La Inglesa in her memory.