Uberaba

Uberaba lies on the open uplands of the Triângulo Mineiro, between the river systems of the Paraná and Paranaíba. Roads across this country linked São Paulo with the goldfields of Goiás. Indigenous communities inhabited the region before colonial expeditions and settlers entered the plateau.

In the early nineteenth century Antônio Eustáquio da Silva Oliveira led an expedition into the region and settled near the Uberaba River. The territory belonged to Goiás until 1816, when it passed to Minas Gerais. Santo Antônio de Uberaba became a parish in 1820. The route through the district was known as the Estrada Real or Anhanguera road. The settlement grew along the inland routes, while colonial occupation brought conflict with Indigenous peoples and communities of formerly enslaved people.