Felipe Arnold Westhoff Rodhius was a 19th-century entrepreneur known for his role in the logging of Pilgerodendron uviferum and the founding of Melinka in Guaitecas Archipelago in 1860.
[1] Westhoff had exclusive logging rights in Guaitecas and was granted the position of subdelegado marítimo by Chilean authorities.
[1] After the retirement of Westhoff, Ciriaco Álvarez, a native from Chonchi, rose as the most prominent Pilgerodendron uviferum businessman in the area.
[1] Citing alleged analogies with the Urals, New Zealand and Colombia Westhoff believed the Chonos-Guaitecas archipelago to have great mineral wealth to be discovered.
[3] Westhoff was critical of the intentional forest fires and allegedly ineffective sea lion hunting techniques used by Chilotes travelling south to the archipelagoes of Guaitecas and Chonos.