Arraias

Arraias grew in the gold country of the upper Tocantins region. At the nearby Chapada dos Negros, people fleeing enslavement established a settlement amid the gold workings. In 1740 the governor Luís de Mascarenhas visited the mining camp and took possession of the deposits; the settlement was moved to the site of Arraias. A further discovery at Ouro Podre in 1792 renewed mining nearby.