Conquest of the Desert
| Conquest of the Desert | |||||||||
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 Conquest of the Desert, by Juan Manuel Blanes (fragment showing Julio Argentino Roca, at the front) |
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 ArgentinaTehuelches |
 Mapuches
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Julio Argentino Roca Conrado Villegas |
Manuel Namuncurá | ||||||||
The Conquest of the Desert (Spanish: Conquista del desierto) was a military campaign directed mainly by General Julio Argentino Roca in the 1870s with the intent to establish Argentine dominance over Patagonia, which was inhabited by indigenous peoples. Under General Roca, the Conquest of the Desert extended Argentine power into Patagonia and ended the possibility of Chilean expansion there.
Argentine troops killed more than a thousand indigenous people and displaced over 15,000 more from their traditional lands. Ethnic European settlers developed the lands for agriculture, turning it into a breadbasket that made Argentina an agricultural superpower in the early 20th century. The Conquest is commemorated on the 100 peso bill in Argentina.
The Conquest is highly controversial. Apologists have described the Conquest as bringing civilization, while revisionists have labeled it a genocide.
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 Querandí (also called the Pampas). The Spanish had purchased the Buenos Aires hinterland from the local Indians to be used for cattle raising. This use displaced most of the animals traditionally hunted by the natives. The Indians responded by attacking the towns, killing settlers and releasing or driving off many cattle and horses from the farms. In retaliation, the Spanish colonists built forts and defended themselves from the frequent attacks.
The frontier dividing the colonial farms and the Indian territories gradually moved outwards from Buenos Aires; at the end of the 18th century, the Salado River was the boundary between the civilizations. Many Indians were forced to abandon their tribes to work on the farms. Some assimilated or intermarried with the white population. The group known as gauchos developed from working on the ranches.
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