Estancia Viamonte was founded in 1902, at the request of the Ona (Shelknam) indians, by the sons of the first European settler to Tierra del Fuego, Reverend Thomas Bridges. They were Lucas, author of the book Uttermost Part of the Earth, and his brothers Despard and Will. Times were hard for the natives, and the family strove to help them by learning their language and providing shelter from the advancing world.

The Bridges brothers stocked the new farm with sheep herded over the Southern Andes from Harberton, the oldest estancia on the Argentine side of the island. For many years the Ona natives helped them work the land.

Members of the fourth, fifth and sixth generations of the family currently live on both estancias.