tribal confederation · South America
Salinas Grandes Confederation
Origins
Around 1835 the Mapuche leader Juan Calfucurá crossed from Araucanía to the pampas and seized control of the Salinas Grandes, the great salt flats on the edge of modern La Pampa and Buenos Aires provinces. After eliminating rival Boroano chiefs at Masallé, he built a confederation of Mapuche, Ranquel and other pampas groups.
Rule and society
Calfucurá controlled the salt trade and the cattle routes to Chile, where stolen livestock was sold. His warriors carried out malones, large raids on frontier towns and ranches. He negotiated treaties and rations with Juan Manuel de Rosas and later with the governments of the Argentine Confederation and the State of Buenos Aires, playing them against each other.
Decline and legacy
The Argentine army defeated Calfucurá at San Carlos in 1872, and he died in 1873. His son Manuel Namuncurá led the confederation until Julio Argentino Roca's Conquest of the Desert from 1878 to 1879 destroyed it. Namuncurá surrendered in 1884.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (1)
- Salinas Grandes Confederation was conquered by Argentine Republic1879 CE
More states of South America →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Salinas Grandes Confederation. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/salinas-grandes-confederation
- MLA
- “Salinas Grandes Confederation.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/salinas-grandes-confederation. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Salinas Grandes Confederation.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/salinas-grandes-confederation.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Salinas Grandes Confederation’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/salinas-grandes-confederation (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻