Conquest of the Desert

A series of Argentine military campaigns, especially in the 1870s, that extended state control over Indigenous territories in Patagonia and the Pampas through conquest, displacement, and land seizure.

Julio Argentino Roca: An Argentine military officer and politician who led the 1879 campaign and later served as president. As war minister, he directed the campaign that carried the advance deep into Indigenous territory.
Spanish colonization of the Americas: The conquest and settlement of the Americas by Spain beginning in the late fifteenth century. Spanish colonial expansion established earlier patterns of frontier conflict and Indigenous dispossession.
Indigenous peoples of Patagonia: The distinct Indigenous peoples whose ancestral territories include Patagonia in southern South America. Patagonian communities experienced military violence, displacement, and the breakdown of territorial autonomy.
Indigenous diplomacy in Argentina: Negotiations and political relationships between Indigenous polities and colonial or Argentine authorities. Treaties and trade offered alternatives to the military occupation that became dominant.
Frontier fortifications: Military posts and defensive works established along expanding colonial or national frontiers. Forts secured supply routes and positions as Argentine forces moved south and west.
Argentina in the 19th century: The period in which Argentina formed a national state amid political conflict and territorial expansion. State consolidation and competition over national territory set the campaigns’ political context.
Tehuelche people: Indigenous peoples of Patagonia with distinct languages, histories, and regional identities. The campaigns and subsequent settlement disrupted Tehuelche access to ancestral lands.
Frontier treaties in Argentina: Agreements between Indigenous leaders and Argentine authorities concerning borders, trade, and political relations. Their use highlights an earlier strategy of managing the frontier without full territorial conquest.
Indigenous peoples of Argentina: The diverse Indigenous communities and nations whose territories now lie within Argentina. Their communities faced military attack, forced displacement, and loss of land.
Argentine Civil Wars: A series of armed conflicts among Argentine provinces and political factions during the nineteenth century. The campaigns followed decades of internal conflict that had delayed national consolidation.

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