Miraflores

The first settlers began to establish themselves in the area around 1910, following the course of the Bermejo River. 

They were mainly Creole families from eastern Salta and Santiago del Estero, who “came down” to the Chaco in search of new lands for grazing.

They didn’t arrive by boat or train. They arrived on horseback, in wagons, herding cattle, crossing the forest we know today as El Impenetrable. They were men and women accustomed to the dry climate, experts in forest livestock and in adapting to a challenging territory.

Between 1910 and 1920, the first permanent settlements began to take shape near natural water wells. These wells became the center of social and economic life, and even today many places still bear that name: “Well of…” 

Coexistence was direct and daily with the Qom and Wichí communities, great connoisseurs of the forest. During the first decades, the economy was based on subsistence: Creole livestock and forestry. Later, in the 20s and 30s, the state promotion of cotton cultivation attracted a second wave of settlers.

In 1939, the National State decreed the reservation of lots for the creation of the “Villa Rural Indígena” (Indigenous Rural Village).

On September 21, 1940, the name “Miraflores” was formally proposed, and on October 5, 1940, the National Executive Branch officially established it through Decree No. 73.746.

Miraflores grew looking toward our own neighboring provinces. While other cities in Chaco developed with strong European influence, here the imprint of the “gaucho salteño” was consolidated: the guardamonte (leather leg protectors), the wide-brimmed hat, rural culture, and the deep bond with the forest. 

Our identity was forged among Creoles and indigenous peoples, between droughts and floods of the Bermejo River, between livestock, cotton, and community life. A history of constant adaptation that still defines our character today.