The Conquest of the Desert (Spanish: Conquista del desierto) was a military campaign directed mainly by General Julio Argentino Roca in the 1870s, which established Argentine dominance over Patagonia, which was inhabited by indigenous peoples.

Jens Andermann has noted that the contemporary sources on campaign indicate that it was a genocide by the Argentine government against the indigenous tribes.Andermann, Jens. Argentine Literature and the 'Conquest of the Desert', 1872-1896, Birkbeck College. "It is this sudden acceleration, this abrupt change from the discourse of 'defensive warfare' and 'merciful civilization' to that of 'offensive warfare' and of genocide, which is perhaps the most distinctive mark of the literature of the Argentine frontier." Others perceive the campaign as intending to suppress specifically those groups of aboriginals that refused to submit to the white government and carried out attacks on the white and especially criolla (mixed white and indigenous) civilian settlements.See for details: Rock, David. State Building and Political Movements in Argentina, 1860-1916. Stanford University Press, 2002. Pages 93-94. This recent argument – usually summarized as "Civilization or Genocide?""Civilizacion o genocidio, un debate que nunca se cierra" by Cacho Fernandez – Qollasuyu Tawaintisuyu Indymedia – questions whether the Conquest of the Desert was really intended to exterminate the aboriginals.

Background

The arrival of the Spanish colonists on the shores of the Rio 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 aboriginal tribes, mainly the Pampas.

The Buenos Aires hinterland was acquired (some would say "stolen") from the aboriginies to be used for cattle raising, which also displaced most of the animals hunted by the aboriginal people. The natives responded by liberating cows and horses from the farms and, in retaliation, the European colonists built fortresses and defended their assets from the attack of the frequent aboriginal malones.

The line dividing the colonial farms and the free territories moved outwards from Buenos Aires; at the end of the 18th century the Salado River (Buenos Aires) became the limit between both civilizations. Many aboriginals were forced to abandon their tribes to work at the farms and mixed with the white population; this is the way the gauchos were born.

After the independence in 1816 there were many internal political conflicts between the provinces, but once settled there was certain urgency effectively occupy the lands claimed by the young republic, as well as increase the national production and incentive the immigration offering new lands.

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 the time Chile founded Punta Arenas in Magellan Strait in 1845, threatening the Argentine claims in Patagonia. Later in 1861 Chile begun the occupation of the Araucania which alarmed Argentine authorities about 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, they even speak the same language.

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

The cattle stolen in the incursions (malones) would later be taken to Chile through the mountain passes and traded for goods, especially alcoholic beverages. There is evidence that Chilean authorities knew and consented this, expecting to strengthen their influence over patagonian territories they expected to eventually occupy in the future.

Alsina's campaign

In 1875 Adolfo Alsina, Minister of War under President Nicolas Avellaneda, presented the government with a plan which he later described as aiming to populate the desert, and not to destroy the Indians"Resena sobre la historia de Neuquen" Government of the Neuquen Province .

The first step was to connect Buenos Aires and the Fortines (fortresses) with telegraph lines. Then a peace treaty was signed with cacique Juan Jose Catriel, only to be broken shortly after when he attacked, together with cacique Namuncura, Tres Arroyos, Tandil, Azul, and other towns and farms in an even bloodier attack than that of 1872.

Alsina answered by attacking the aboriginals, forcing them to fall back, and leaving fortines on his way south to protect the conquered territories. He also constructed the 374 km long trench named Zanja de Alsina ("Alsina's trench") that in theory would serve as a limit to the unconquered territories. With its three metre width and two metre depth, it served as an obstacle for the transport of stolen cattle.

The aboriginals continued stealing cattle from farms in the Buenos Aires Province and south of the Mendoza Province, but found it difficult to escape as the animals slowed their march, and had to face the patrolling units that would follow them. As the war went on, some aboriginals eventually signed peace treaties and settled among the "cristianos" behind the lines of forts. Some tribes even allied with the Argentine government and either stood neutral or fought for the Argentine army. In return, they were granted periodical shipments of cattle and food. After Alsina died in 1877, Julio Argentino Roca was named the new Minister of War, and decided to change Alsinas strategy.

Roca's campaign

Julio Argentino Roca, in contrast to Alsina, believed that the only solution against the aboriginal threat was to extinguish, subdue or expel them. Roca set the following task for himself:

At the end of 1878 he started the first wave to "clean" the area between the Alsina trench and the Rio Negro River by continuous and systematic attacks to the aboriginals' settlements.

With 6,000 soldiers armed with new breech-loading Remington rifles supplied by the United States, in 1879 he began the second wave reaching Choele Choel in two months, where the local aboriginals surrendered without giving battle. From other points, southbound companies made their way down to the Negro River and the Neuquen River, a northern tributary of the Negro River. Together, both rivers marked the natural frontier from the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean"Poblamiento Pampeano" – Ministry of Culture of the La Pampa Province . This attack led to a large migration of Mapuches into the zone around Pucon, Chile.

Many settlements were built on the basin of these two rivers, as well as a number on the Colorado River. By sea, some settlements were erected on the southern basin of the Santa Cruz River mainly by Welsh colonists.

The final campaign

Roca followed Nicolas Avellaneda as president. He thought it was imperative to conquer the territory south of the Negro River as soon as possible, and ordered the 1881 campaign under the control of colonel Conrado Villegas.

Within a year Villegas conquered the Neuquen Province (he reached the Limay River). The campaign continued to push the aboriginal resistance further south, to fight the last battle on October 18 1884. The last rebel group of over 3,000 members under the command of caciques Inacayal and Foyel surrendered two months later in present Chubut Province.

References

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Conquest of the Desert