“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

etween himself and Abendaño, however, reflected the much larger clashes occurring
throughout the Argentine provinces as Mitre and Urquiza sought to forge national
coalitions. To defend his rights, Gelabert turned to his colorado allies in the Estado Oriental
and to the merchant community in Alegrete. As they moved to assist him, they opened up
further divisions between themselves and blanco officials. The various strands of local
relationships and cross-border reciprocal ties converging in Gelabert’s case defined the
region’s sovereign struggles. Within this framework, any dispute over property rights could
become a battleground for political rivals to exploit in their drive to control the borderlands.
Manuel Bica’s experience provides a good example. Bica came from a prominent
family of Brazilian ranchers located around Rio Pardo, Brazil, in the central portion of Rio
Grande do Sul province. His family later migrated to Alegrete and established a ranching
operation there. With the outbreak of the Farrapos War in 1835, Bica joined the republican
cause, serving until 1844. 205 Bica then married the daughter of Antonio José de Oliveira, a
wealthy rancher in Alegrete. Another of Oliveira’s daughters married Antônio Mâncio
Ribeiro, Bento Manoel Ribeiro’s son. Through his marriage, Bica forged social and political
connections with the Ribeiro family and their factional allies throughout the Brazilian
borderlands.
Bica crossed the border into Uruguay sometime in the late 1840s. There, he
developed a number of commercial and political connections with prominent members of
the colorado faction. Like many Brazilians, Bica used these connections to obtain property.
He purchased a ranch near the Brazilian border between Alegrete and Salto in the early
1850s. Bica also benefited from the 1851 Brazilian invasion of the Estado Oriental.
205 CV-3385 (March 21, 1844).
245