Cantagalo

Cantagalo lies in the forested hills of Rio de Janeiro State. Its colonial origin dates to 1755, when the Portuguese nobleman Manoel Henriques, described as a clandestine gold miner, left Minas Gerais with followers in search of unexplored wealth. They built a settlement on a small tributary of the Paraíba River, about eighty miles northwest of Rio, and searched the local rivers. The place was first called Sertões de Macacu after the nearby Macacu River.

By 1784 it had about 200 houses, enough growth to attract authorities who held a monopoly over gold exploration. Viceroy Luiz de Vasconcelos e Souza sent expeditions after Henriques. A local tradition holds that a search party was preparing to return after finding nothing when a soldier heard a rooster crow and decided to investigate. The hidden group was found, and Henriques was deported to Africa in disgrace. The rooster's crow gave the place its name, Cantagalo, officially adopted in 1786.