Conquest of The Desert - Background

Background

The arrival of the Spanish colonists on the shores of the Río de la Plata and the foundation of the city of Buenos Aires during the 16th century led directly to the first confrontations between the Spanish and the local Indian tribes, mainly the Pampas.

The Buenos Aires hinterland was acquired from the local Indians to be used for cattle raising, which also displaced most of the animals hunted by the natives. The Indians responded by attacking the cities, killing their inhabitants and releasing/stealing cows and horses from the farms. In retaliation, the European colonists built fortresses and defended themselves from the frequent attacks.

The frontier dividing the colonial farms and the Indian territories moved outwards from Buenos Aires; at the end of the 18th century the Salado River became the limit between both civilizations. Many Indians were forced to abandon their tribes to work on the farms and mix with the white population; in this the way the gauchos were born.

After independence in 1816 there were many internal political conflicts between the provinces, but once settled there was an urgent drive to effectively occupy the lands claimed by the young republic, as well as increase the national production and by offering new lands to prospective immigrants.

In 1833 coordinated offensives by Juan Manuel de Rosas in Buenos Aires Province and other military leaders in the Cuyo region attempted to exterminate resistant tribes, but only Rosas had any success.

By this time Chile had founded Punta Arenas in Magellan Strait in 1845, which threatened the Argentine claims in Patagonia. Later in 1861 Chile began the occupation of the Araucanía which alarmed Argentine authorities because of Chile's growing influence in the zone. The now defeated Mapuches in Chile had strong ties to the nomadic tribes in the east side of the Andes, with whom they share the same language.

The decision of planning and executing the Conquest of the Desert was probably triggered by the 1872 attack of Calfucurá and his 6,000 followers on the cities of General Alvear, Veinticinco de Mayo and Nueve de Julio, where 300 settlers were killed, and 200,000 head of cattle taken.

The cattle stolen in the incursions (malones) would later be taken to Chile through the Rastrillada de los chilenos and traded for goods. There is evidence that Chilean authorities knew about this, and gave their consent, expecting to strengthen their influence over Patagonian territories they expected to eventually occupy in the future.