In 1899, German explorer Hans Steffens set out along the Baker River and discovered the valley on which Cochrane lies today.
By the early twentieth century, more precisely in 1908, the Magellanic cattle raisers, owners of Sociedad Explotadora del Baker, rented the lands where sheep husbandry was encouraged under the management of estancia Valle Chacabuco.
In 1930, the Chilean government laid out the urban grid on rented lands. In 1954, public services were settled and the site was founded under a different name: Pueblo Nuevo (New Town), with a surface of 8,500 square kilometers and approximately 3,000 denizens.
The city is surrounded by the glacial action and deposits of the Northern Ice Field. One of the most important river systems in the country -that represented by the Baker River- is located at this spot, where cattle raising is the main activity in the community.
Besides, the snow-capped mountains in the Northern Ice Field, the native forest and the wonderful wildlife made up by protected huemules at Tamango National Reserve turn this place into an attractive tourist destination.
