DE SU BURBUJA - Vitis Magazine

en sepia vintage shots
hasta fines de
la Colonia el
Maipo solía ser
navegable a partir
del verano hasta
comienzos de
otoño, desde su
desembocadura
hasta Melipilla.
Momofuku ssäm
Las islas del Maipo corresponden a un accidente geográfico ya
desaparecido por la acción humana. originalmente, aquella zona del
curso medio del río, donde éste deja atrás el torrente que lo transporta
desde la alta cordillera, apacigua su caudal permitiendo que se genere
un fenómeno que los especialistas denominan “anastomosado”, lugar
donde por acción del transporte de materiales del río se generan vados,
terrenos inundables y pequeñas islas en el lecho, que se ensancha
formidablemente. Las terrazas del río se desplazan en ambos sentidos
de forma estacional, lo que en el caso del Maipo se materializa en dos
crecidas al año.
sabemos que hasta fines de la época colonial, el Maipo solía ser navegable
a partir de comienzos del verano hasta mediados del otoño,
desde su desembocadura en el pacífico hasta el “pueblo de indios” de
Melipilla, por pequeñas embarcaciones que se internaban por Llo-Lleo
hacia el oriente. Mucho antes, los indígenas de la cultura aconcagua
transitaron esas rutas, desde la costa hacia el interior del valle, itinerario
de transhumancia que seguía el camino de guanacos que iban tras las
pasturas tiernas de la precordillera hasta las planicies litorales. Luego
de sucesivas modificaciones iniciadas con la construcción de defensas,
diques y canales desde finales del siglo Xviii y tras la construcción del
embalse el Yeso en el siglo XX, que retiene gran cantidad de agua en la
alta cordillera, el río fue progresivamente modificando su curso, siendo
66 ▼ Vitis Magazine l novieMbre 2008
a place where fords, floodplains and small islands
are formed on the riverbed, which gets significantly
enlarged. the terraces of the river move in both
directions on a seasonal basis, which in the case of the
Maipo means two rises of the river levels.
We know that through the end of colonial times,
people were able to navigate across the Maipo river
since the beginning of summer to middle fall, from its
mouth in the Pacific ocean to the “town of indians” of
Melipilla, by means of small vessels that went into llolleo
towards the east. Aconcagua culture indigenous
people had long before traveled these routes, from
the coast into the valley, a seasonal migration itinerary
that followed the guanacos that traveled looking for
the tender herbs of the lower cordillera to coastal
plains. After successive changes that began with the
construction of embankments, dikes and channels from
late 18th century and after the construction of el Yeso
dam in the 20th century, which holds plenty of water in
the high mountain range, the river gradually changed
its course, being contained in its permanent flow
terraces, so the archipelago began fading away leaving
at sight vast lands of the former “lonquén ford”
(spanish word for the Mapuche term for “passage”)
turned into infertile estates full of aggregate.
EUROPEAN INFLUENCE
the history of what we currently know as isla de Maipo
shifted radically in early last century. As a result of the
huge and adverse consequences of world wars, the
Great depression (1929/30) and the spanish Civil War
(1936/39), this quiet place witnessed the arrival of a
great number of european families in the area, among
which are spanish, italian, French, German and swiss
immigrants. Many of them purchased these lands
scorned by “distinguished” neighbors and with effort
and perseverance they turned them into lands suitable
for agriculture, under the skeptic eye of the so-called
islanders. they built river defenses, sluices and trenches,
turning a major part of the Mapocho old river band
into a true agricultural land in less than twenty years.