Miguel Antonio de Arrascaeta

Miguel Antonio de Arrascaeta (Córdoba, 21 January 1719 – Fuerte del Sauce, 9 July 1767) was a Spanish military officer and explorer who served in the Governorate of Tucumán, then part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, during the reigns of Ferdinand VI (1746–1759) and Charles III (1759–1788).

He attained the rank of Maestre de Campo in the militias of Córdoba and led several expeditions into the Gran Chaco as part of the peace and defense policies implemented along one of the most unstable frontiers of the colonial domain. According to expedition diaries, Miguel de Arrascaeta carried out explorations in the Chaco with the assistance of the cacique Colompotop, referred to in the sources as a “friendly and allied Indian.”

In a letter sent to the Viceroy of Peru in 1766, the Governor of Tucumán, Juan Manuel Campero, praised his merits, training, and military discipline, considering him capable of "competing with the most seasoned veterans."

In recognition of his services—and those of his ancestors—to the Spanish Crown, Arrascaeta was granted a royal land grant (merced real) for himself and his successors. In the text of this grant, he stated that he had served "from my earliest years [...] at my own expense and without pay," and that his ancestors had served the Crown "in all the political and military offices held by this city since its first founding".

Origins and family He was the son of maestre de campo Antonio de Arrascaeta Hemasabel and Micaela Ferreyra de Acevedo. He belonged to one of the founding families of Córdoba, as recorded in the royal land grant documents, which note that his ancestors rendered political and military services to the Spanish Crown since the city's original founding.

Historian Raúl López, a member of the Municipal Historical Board of La Carlota, has highlighted Arrascaeta among those individuals who played a strategic role in the historical formation of the settlement.

Documentary evidence indicates that acceptance of this post was not merely an honorary appointment, but entailed an active military commitment and continuous exposure to frontier risks. During the same period, Arrascaeta was granted a royal land concession (merced real), understood as recognition for services rendered and as a means of securing land rights for his desce

Diplomacy and Indigenous policy Arrascaeta's activities formed part of broader efforts to secure pacification through agreements with Indigenous peoples, in accordance with prevailing derecho indiano, which regulated relations between the Spanish Crown and Indigenous communities and recognized local authorities (caciques) within their ancestral territories.

The Recopilación de Leyes de los Reinos de Indias (1680) established in Book IV, Title XII, Article 20 the so-called Order to Avoid War and Violence, which prohibited unjustified warfare and dispossession against Indigenous peoples.

Grant of a royal land concession in 1757 In recognition of his loyalty and of the services rendered in war, the governor and captain general granted Miguel Antonio de Arrascaeta and his descendants a land concession that would bear his name. The official deed, countersigned by the deputy secretary of government José Justo Guerrero and the secretary Joaquín Espinosa—by mandate of His Majesty—formalized the concession in November 1757. It was later confirmed by a royal decree (cédula real) in favor of his wife and children.

The text of the grant specified the scope of the rights conferred upon the beneficiary:

“Accordingly, and by virtue of the aforementioned powers and faculties conferred upon me, I hereby grant said concession to you, Maestre de Campo Don Miguel de Arrascaeta, of the aforementioned lands, as described and with the boundaries contained in the said petition, for you and your successors, so that you may establish estates and settlements upon them, sell them, exchange them, or otherwise dispose of them as your own property, acquired through your services and those of your forebears. In this regard, I order and command the loyal judicial authorities of this said city that, upon proof of payment into the royal treasury of the corresponding half-annuity royal tax (media anata), calculated on the intrinsic value of said lands, they shall place him in possession thereof, and no person of whatever rank or condition may dispossess him of said possession without first being heard and lawfully overcome by due process, it being understood that this is a royal grant.”

On 13 September of that year, the expedition was surrounded in the Lacangayé area by a coalition of approximately 700 Indigenous people led by the cacique Lachirikin.

The travel diary of the 1764 expedition also records the personal items handed over by Arrascaeta to cacique Lachirikin during the negotiations, including silver spurs, a fire striker, a dagger with a silver hilt, and his poncho balandrán.

This expedition made it possible to reach initial peace agreements with key Indigenous leaders, such as the caciques Lachirikin and Paikín, which would later be resumed and formalized in 1774 during the governorship of Gerónimo Luis de Matorras.

In particular, during the 1764 expedition, the troops under his command were equipped with clearly insufficient resources to cope with the arid conditions and severe water shortages, while advancing toward an active conflict zone in the Chaco Gualamba. With the organization of the Argentine state, the Assembly of the Year XIII recognized the validity of pre-existing royal titles, a criterion later reaffirmed by the National Constitution of 1853–1860 under the principle of legal continuity, and by the Civil Code of Vélez Sarsfield in 1869.

Litigation with the Provincial state By around 1883, in a context marked by rapid railway expansion and the rising valuation of land, the Province of Santa Fe auctioned privately owned lands as if they were public (state-owned) property, without enabling legislation or prior compensation.

The lands corresponding to the Arrascaeta land grant (Merced de Arrascaeta), strategically located due to their proximity to ports and railway lines, were offered and promoted in regional newspapers highlighting their high fertility,

However, various historical and administrative records indicate that the province did not fully comply with the Supreme Court’s decision, leaving some heirs without the compensation ordered by the Court.