Chapter VIII
The Influence of Mining on a Desert Settlement
For one hundred and fifty years after the first Spanish settlement Copiapó figured chiefly as a station on the north- south road, especially for the mule trains passing to Potosi, then at the height of its fame. The valley produced grain and fruits and was renowned for its wine. The production of this commodity and the exploitation of the pastures were in fact the industries upon which the early life of Copiapó de- pended. Characteristic both of the prominence of the wine- making industry and of the primitive simplicity of trade was the general use of the “ arroba of wine” as the unit of currency. Other considerable industries were also related to wine making. The fabrication of wine jars stimulated the native pottery arts and concentrated the Indian population on the clay-yielding areas. Brea, a resin obtained from a small shrub growing in the border zones of the desert, afforded a varnish for the wine and spirit jars and was also exported as an ingredient of calk for ships. Similar uses of the brea may be found on the northern extremity of the great coastal desert, in the department of Piura. The brea shrub is also valuable as pasture, and it is not surprising to find the apparently unattractive ‘‘breadales" the subject of frequent litigation. Besides brea and wine, sulphur, early mined in considerable amount, and copper formed the principal commodities of a small export trade by sea that began in the mid-seventeenth century. The outlet for these products was Puerto Caldera, first mentioned in the archives in 1652-1653 when a boat is recorded to have carried 310 ar- robas of wine to Coquimbo.
The First Mining: Gold
In the early eighteenth century Copiapó was roused by the first indications of what was subsequently the most important
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