Native communities, mainly Huilliches –which stands for “people from the South”- settled down all along the shore of Lake Ranco. These communities were peaceful and had a harmonious relationship with the natural environment that provided them with food. They would hunt, fish, raise cattle and work the land. They also had cultural expressions.
The integration between these native peoples and the Spaniards was relatively non-aggressive in this region of Chile. The contribution of the Jesuit missions at the fortifications of Quinchilca, in the North, and San José de Alcudia, in the South, had much to do with this. All of them lay to the West of the great lake. The first expedition members that became established on the margins of Lake Ranco arrived in the late nineteenth century and settled in the western area of the lake basin, in the sectors known as Hueimen and Ignao.
The beauty of this place and the immense richness of the native woods motivated various German colonies to choose this area as their new residence. The descendants of the Konust, the Daniel and the Rettig families still keep the thriving spirit of their ancestors at this location.