“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

dealings with Vázquez and the Carvalho family. Rivera emerged as a critical link in the
original land transactions between the men. Rivera also used his political position to accord
protection to the cross-border property relationships the transaction embodied throughout
the early 1840s. For this reason, the Carvalhos, Guarch and Vázquez funneled funds back
into Rivera’s military campaign, bolstering the colorado caudillo’s political position and with it
his status as a key guarantor of borderlands economic relationships.
Borderlands Legalities, Rivertine Trade and Justo Urquiza
Perhaps no figure represented the possibilities that the borderlands commercial
revolution offered for enhancing personal and political clout better than Justo José de
Urquiza. The powerful rancher and political leader of Entre Ríos province was at the center
of the growth of the lower Uruguay’s export-oriented ranching economy. Urquiza proved
particularly adept at forging commercial associations with a number of prominent merchants
and traders along the Uruguay. Over time, these efforts permitted Urquiza to amass a huge
fortune. Urquiza’s economic might and military acumen, in turn, facilitated the entrerriano
leader’s political rise. Urquiza’s experience reveals not only the economic dynamism of the
borderlands, but also how the relationships cemented through the system of borderlands
legalities could foster the emergence of powerful political figures capable of rivaling putative
national leaders like Rosas.
Urquiza was born in Concepción, Entre Ríos, in 1801. His father, Josef Narciso
Urquiza, was one of the original European settlers in the area. By the outbreak of the
revolutions in Buenos Aires, Josef Narciso had developed a modest, although prosperous
property along the Uruguay in eastern Entre Ríos. Urquiza spent a good portion of his
childhood in Buenos Aires at the college of San Carlos. After graduating in 1816, he gained
his initial commercial experience and connections working at Buenos Aires’ port. In 1819,
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