Montes Claros

Montes Claros stands in the northern backlands of Minas Gerais, amid hills and valleys that drain toward the São Francisco. The settlement grew from a cattle estate established on lands granted to Antônio Gonçalves Figueira in 1707. Its name, “clear hills,” recalled the surrounding landscape, while Formigas referred to a stream near the original settlement.

Figueira had taken part in expeditions into the interior before receiving his grant. Cattle raising formed an important part of the occupation of the northern sertão, and a community developed around the estate and its chapel. Known as Montes Claros de Formigas, the settlement became a parish in the eighteenth century and was raised to a town in 1831. Its position brought together the routes of the inland cattle country and the valleys leading toward the São Francisco.