Standing in the middle of Avenida Bulnes a few blocks north of the Plaza, the Sheep Herder Monument is the most honest piece of public sculpture in the city. A bronze gaucho on horseback drives a flock of sheep ahead of him, three sheepdogs at his heels — the entire economic basis of Punta Arenas, cast in metal in 1944.
It's a useful counterweight to the more grandiose monuments downtown: no European explorer here, just the work that paid for everything else. The piece is by the Chilean sculptor Germán Montero, and the gaucho's slightly stooped posture against the wind is exactly right.