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» see original 1935 map of Estanzuela » |
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a heritage of regional history
The rocky ranges of Estanzuela were occupied for centuries
by the Comechingón native
people, a long-gone tribe of
hunter-gatherers and corn (maize) farmers. As a testimony of
their historic presence, it is possible to observe the remains of the stone houses or caves
in which they lived, one of which displays indigenous paintings. There are also grinding
stones,
leather-scrapers, and hunting stone-balls. In 1753, the Jesuit fathers settled in
Estanzuela. They built a dam fed by an adjacent stream, constructed canals and irrigation
ditches, and leveled
the adjoining plots. They built the main house and a chapel,
and
surrounded these constructions with a pirca or stone-wall. Lastly, they named the place Estanzuela, the little farm.
In 1767 the fathers of the Company of Jesus were expelled from the Americas by Charles
III, the Spanish king, but their work remains today: The layout of the ranch headquarters
still follows their original mission design. The Jesuits started the production
of lime from
the soft marble and the limestone of the surrounding ranges, and the people that followed
them continued this industry until the end of the Nineteenth Century. Partly covered by vegetation, the impressive towers and the deep trenches of the limestone furnaces survive
intact.
During the campaign of independence, Estanzuela also played
a historic role. It functioned
as a lodging place for the patriots
that crossed towards Mendoza and Chile, to join the
Latin American fight for freedom. After the royalist government of Chile fell in the battle of
Chacabuco, General San Martín sent to Estanzuela the deposed Captain General of
Chile, Marshall Francisco Casimiro Marcó del Pont. There he spent the last years of his
life, until his death in 1821. |
