John MacLean (honorary sheriff)

John MacLean (1860–1940) was a pioneer and sheriff in Última Esperanza Province, Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region, Chile.

He was born in Poolewe, Wester Ross, Scotland, emigrating at the age of 23 to the Falklands and Southern Patagonia in 1883.

MacLean hand wrote 102 letters as part of his official business, mostly in broken Spanish—it is assumed he was self-taught.

The letters were very likely delivered through private arrangements due to the lack of infrastructure in the region at that time.

His letters shed light on an otherwise unwritten period in Patagonian history.