Malal Hue

Malal Hue lies in the Andean foothills of southern Mendoza, a country of rocky valleys and passes. Its Mapudungun name refers to a place of natural stone enclosures. The region was home to Pehuenche communities, whose routes across the Andes linked the eastern valleys with the lands of Chile.

In the late eighteenth century Pehuenche groups of Malargüe figured in negotiations and conflicts over access to mountain passes. The Pehuenche Pass became an important corridor between the regions of Talca and Malargüe, traversed by merchants and their animals. The passes carried people and livestock across the cordillera, and control of them mattered to Indigenous leaders and Spanish officials alike. In 1806 Luis de la Cruz travelled through Indigenous territory on a route from the Chilean side toward Buenos Aires.