The town of Comandante Luis Piedrabuena is on the north bank of the river, just downstream from the island.

On the Beagle's second voyage in 1834, when Charles Darwin was part of the exploring party, Captain Robert FitzRoy called it "Middle Island".

[2] In 1868 Piedrabuena was granted possession of the island by the government of President Bartolomé Mitre.

[1] In 1873 a 650-ton Chilean corvette, the Abtao, arrived at the tiny settlement on Pavón and tried to intimidate the settlers into leaving.

[2] Citations Sources' This article about a place in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina is a stub.