The railway to Bolivia. The process of settlement in the regions of Puna, Quebrada de Humahuaca and Valleys in the province of Jujuy

Abstract

The impact produced by the railway in the Argentine territory has no similarities in history, before or since. The occupation of the territory involved a new order based on the insertion of a network of railways and towns with extractive and economic purposes. This work responds to an analysis of the process of settlement emerged as a result of the installation of the railway from Jujuy to La Quiaca. The process is explained from the understanding of the structure of the territory before the arrival of the railroad, planning trace, the changes in the territory and the introduction of the settlement. The research was based on field work along the whole line. We also worked with various documentary sources as census mapping, satellite photography, provincial and national laws, current mapping, considering fundamental, Moneta’s Report (1867), the tender for the construction of the railway of Jujuy - La Quiaca (1902) and the mapping of De Moussy (1866).