Gualamba

Gualamba is an old name associated with the Gran Chaco, the broad lowland east of Santiago del Estero. The Salado River marked an important frontier between colonial settlements and the Indigenous country beyond. During the eighteenth century Spanish authorities and Jesuit missionaries attempted to bring Chaco peoples into settlements along the river. These included San José de Petacas, founded in 1735 for groups known collectively as Vilelas.