Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Instead, colonial authorities granted a royal provision to the young
German botanist Thaddeus Haenke, then employed by the Spanish gov-
ernment, for a June 1799 expedition to the Salinas of Echoi. He was in-
structed to inform the colonial tribunal of the “cost and utility” that the
public could expect from the “benefits and use of these Salinas,” whose
salt was widely held to be superior and healthier than that used in the city
of Santa Cruz. Haenke's report caused the new government of the Provin-
cia de Chiquitos to issue an order on November 9, 1799, that “all possible
means are used to develop the Salinas” found south of Santiago, and
to take all necessary measures to ensure “its extraction and benefits, not
only to supply that province, but also the province of Moxos.” Indeed,
the salt of Echoi was reportedly greatly desired in the regional capital of
Santa Cruz for the intensity of its flavor and supposed health benefits.
Soldiers and administrators began gathering salt from the Salinas in the
dry season of 1800.
Approximately ten years later, however, resistance by Ayoreo-speaking
people forced the Crown to give up these plans. After the governor of
the province sent a military expedition to “conquer” and reduce Ayoreo-
speaking bands living near Echoi, these Indians “frequently damaged
the exploitation of the Salinas, attacking the Indians of Santiago and San
Jose that headed there every year,” until they were left “in peace” in the
forest. 24
By 1886, Ayoreo-speaking inhabitants of Echoi were regarded as sav-
ages living in a natural wilderness. In his topic Las Misiones Franciscanas
entre los infieles de Boliva , Franciscan missionary José Cardus makes special
mention of the “savage tribes” living near the Salinas. Cardus's entry
on the “Zamuco” is remarkable for its vivid detail. In his description
of these Indians, Cardus mixes frontier anecdotes with information ob-
tained from “an Indian woman of said nation that was taken prisoner.”
With this anonymous slave as his guide and informant, in 1875 Cardus
traveled to “those places that she knew” near the Salinas, surveying vil-
lage sites, gardens, and discarded tools.
After the expulsion of the Jesuits, Cardus writes, these Indians “re-
turned to their ancient way of life, to their independence, without com-
munication.” They lived “in the same place where the Mission was,”
which according to him, was fifteen leagues to the south of the Salinas of
Santiago. Another group of them are nomadic, moving “near the Salinas
of Santiago and San Jose and their confines.” These Indians, he says, “live
a very anguished and miserable life, which is doubtlessly in part due to
their customs.” He notes the small “ridiculous” gardens, how they would
sleep “piled one on top of another like so many pigs,” the “well crafted”
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