Jaguarao

Jaguarão developed beside its namesake river in the border country disputed by Portugal and Spain. A Spanish military presence preceded the Portuguese guard from which the later town grew. In the early nineteenth century, after campaigning in the area, Portuguese forces left a smaller garrison beside the river. Houses and other settlement activity gathered around this military nucleus.

In 1812 the settlement became the parish of Divino Espírito Santo do Cerrito, and in 1832 it was raised to the rank of vila. Political rivalry did not end movement across the river. Families, informal commerce and cattle properties on both sides maintained connections that crossed the emerging frontier. The settlement faced the territory that became Uruguay as well as the Brazilian hinterland. Military occupation and pastoral exchange thus shaped its beginnings together, before the region entered the upheaval of the Farroupilha revolt in 1835.