Baquiano

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Baquiano

Gauchos of the Río de la Plata developed a wide range of equestrian skills. The baquiano (or baqueano; guide or scout) provided a particularly important service on the seemingly trackless pampa. Skilled gaucho baquianos led military expeditions, wagon trains, herds of cattle, and foreign travelers across vast stretches of open plains. They navigated by the stars, landmarks, and even the taste of the grass. Because of the demand for their knowledge of terrain, trails, water holes, and such, scouts earned higher wages than the average ranch hand. Domingo F. Sarmiento singled out the baquiano as one of four special gaucho types that he described in 1845.

See alsoGaucho .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Domingo F. Sarmiento, Life in the Argentine Republic in the Days of the Tyrants, translated by Mary Mann (1971).

Richard W. Slatta, Gauchos and the Vanishing Frontier (1983).

Additional Bibliography

Assunção, Fernando O. Historia del gaucho: El gaucho, ser y quehacer. Buenos Aires: Editorial Claridad, 1999.

Lynch, Ventura R., and Pedro Luis Barcia. Folklore bonaerense. Buenos Aires: Secretaría de cultura de la nación en coproducción con RML Ediciones, 1994.

                                   Richard W. Slatta

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