Indian chiefs and colonial agents in the mission of San Pablo de Rio Bueno (1777-1820): expansion, conflict, and negotiation

Beginning with the analysis of the baptism and marriage records of Indians from the San Pablo of Rio Bueno mission, the social relations contracted by Indian chiefs and officials are studied. The hegemony achieved by Indian officials in establishing social and political ties with the indigenous people of the Llanos de Rio Bueno and the integration of several caciques from the jurisdiction of Valdivia and Osorno cities into the colonial order is highlighted. All this in a context of expansion and settlement of colonial power, where, although the construction of agreements with the indi-genous authorities prevailed, it was war that consolidated in 1792 and 1793 almost half a century of Hispanic expansion on the Frontera de Arriba or "upper borderland" of the Kingdom of Chile.