Itararé

The Itararé river country lay along the route between the São Paulo interior and the southern plateau. The river later formed an administrative boundary between Sorocaba and Curitiba. Its gorge and difficult crossing were specific obstacles to the passage of travellers and animals, rather than simply an empty line through forest.

The municipal history of Itararé traces colonial landholding to three sesmaria grants made in 1725 to encourage settlement, agriculture and livestock raising. The properties subsequently came under one owner and were registered as Fazenda de São Pedro in 1836. The same account records Saint-Hilaire's passage and Debret's depiction of a narrow wooden bridge over the river. The later town and chapel developed after 1837, so their creation should not be moved backwards into this period. The earlier history concerns land grants, farms and a crossing within a region already inhabited by Indigenous communities.