Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Brief history
Trinidad was founded in 1686 by
Father Cipriano Barace
, a pioneering Jesuit missionary
who introduced the first cattle herds to the region. The town prospered under the Jesuits, but
fell into rapid decline after their expulsion in 1767, with many of its indigenous inhabitants -
drawn from several different tribes from the surrounding area but known collectively as the
Mojeños
- being dragged off to work as virtual slaves on plantations near Santa Cruz. The
Mojeños were still strong enough to play an important role in the Independence War, when
an indigenous government led by Pedro Ignacio Muiba was briefly established in Trinidad in
1810, before being ruthlessly crushed by a royalist army, which also stripped the town of its
last valuable Jesuit ornaments.
