“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

that the cattle in question pertained to the family and were not subject to the contractually
mandated payments. 24
In short, for Lamas to recover his tax payments under the agreement, Nunes had to
establish that the cattle Guterres extracted from the Estado Oriental were his. João Xavier
appeared in support of Nunes’ claim, detailing the negotiations that had led up to the
original agreement between Nunes, Lamas and Guterres. João Xavier testified:
[I]t was true what [Nunes] claimed . . . for the reason that the convention was
negotiated in his presence, and even more so because said Colonel Diego
Lamas, with whom the witness [João Xavier] had friendly relations would not
consent for [Nunes] to enter into possession of his lands without payment to
remove the embargo on them, paying that quantity of four contos pesos in
taxes, on whose part [divida] the deceased Liberato Guterres was obligated. 25
João Xavier’s testimony was critical to obtaining the requested relief. The rancher possessed
numerous ties to prominent merchants and politicians in Alegrete. As an “honorable
vizinho,” his word required respect. Lamas no doubt recognized this fact as well. The
testimony publicly expressed an important relationship between the two men – one that
Lamas had to honor to preserve access to Alegrete’s courts in the future. Once again,
leveraging one’s reputation by offering testimony provided a powerful means to fashion
durable alliances across the borderlands.
João Xavier’s testimony also revealed several things about his prior connections with
Lamas in the Estado Oriental. João Xavier openly testified to his friendship with the blanco
commander. This friendship proved instrumental in orchestrating the transaction in
question. An 1850 report detailing the losses suffered by Brazilian landowners in Uruguay
during the Guerra Grande makes clear that Lamas was occupying Nunes’ lands, using them to
24 Jeremias José Nunes c. Doña Delmire Caetana Guterres e seus filhos, cujo autor sequem por
appelação para a relação do distrito, APRGS. Alegrete. Cartório Civil e Crime. Ações Ordinarias,
Maço 35, No. 843 (1854).
25 Ibid. The litigation record for this proceeding does not contain page numbers.
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