Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
raids on Spanish settlements for booty and captives. One such raid
had been sparked by the usual sort of outrage committed in the two-
century-old frontier war—a Spanish attack on a peaceful village of
mainly native women and children. Two leaders, Cacapol and his
son, Cangapol, rose to lead the Tehuelche. This group roamed along
the Negro and Colorado Rivers in northern Patagonia, ranging up to
the Tandil Hills on the southern Pampas. These two chieftains united
many other tribes in the great uprising of 1740. More than 1,000
mounted warriors swept north to raid for cattle, horses, and human
captives. According to the report of a Jesuit missionary, the Tehuelche
seized more than 20,000 head of cattle and took many women and
children. The raid came in response to the expansion of the Hispanic
population onto the frontier south of Córdoba and Buenos Aires.
Indigenous groups that had seemed pacified and missionized also
rebelled, setting off a campaign against Jesuit missions in the Pampas
in 1753.
A tense standoff developed between the indigenous peoples and
the Spaniards when the government finally built in the 1770s a line
of forts along the frontier. These forts performed several functions.
As a line of defense, they prevented Indian warriors from raiding in
A MISSIONARY'S ACCOUNT
OF THE 1753 UPRISING
ON THE PAMPAS
T
There remained no other thing for the infidels to do but to get
ready for the surprise assault on the Mission village. They set the
plan of attack for the following morning, which was the 13th of January
1753. The enemies approached the village at two in the morning; on
the road they encountered two sentinels, whom they beheaded. In
order to terrorize those Indians who were within the Mission village,
they placed the heads on lances, entering the village with loud shouts.
They ran through the streets and took the lives of eight Guaraní Indian
soldiers whom the field officer had left with 12 Spanish soldiers. The
Pampas Indians, with the exception of a few who hid, discontented with
what was happening, joined the infidels. The attackers were captained
by Felipe Yahati, brother of the dead cacique José Yahati.
(continues)
