THE GAUCHO CARRERO.- PRECURSORS OF THE ROAD TO CHILE

[monira khatun]

Fate would have it that this past autumn, I met Dr. BERTHOLD ZILLY, a professor at the University of Berlin, in San Juan. He had been following the trail of an Argentine writer from a province, San Juan, named D.F. Sarmiento. In his studies on the origin of Brazilian goucho, one of the most respected and ancient authors of that country, claimed that he based his entire career on the gaucho literature that began with Sarmiento, in his book Facundo. That's why he came to see the land of this controversial and famous figure in person.



As everyone knows, the possibility of special lead connecting MERCOSUR through a tunnel via Agua Negra, Iglesia, and San Juan is currently being studied. Let's see how history, steeped in tradition, anticipated the current reality. The history of the San Juan cart, or Andean cart, pulled by efficient mules instead of tiresome oxen, has a unique episode: the crossing of the mountain range from Coquimbo to San Juan, a feat achieved, never equaled, by Indalecio Castro in 1869, according to Dr. Marín Navarro in his book "Contribution to the Study of Argentine Wine History."

The journey began in Copiapó. The caravan consisted of a troop of wagons and two smaller carriages. After stopping in Maricunga, it entered San Juan territory through the Peña Negra Pass. Great difficulties had to be overcome, as can be imagined, which at one point forced the vehicles to be dismantled and reassembled once the obstacles along the trail had been overcome. The road, or rather the mountain path, was impossible to continue, so the caravan had to move into Riojan territory through the El Leoncito Pass, descending along the banks of the La Troya River to reach Guandacol, from where the troops headed to Jáchal and finally to our city.