Bariloche - History

Man appears in Patagonia between ten and thirty thousand years B.C., during the higher Palaeolithic Period. Testimony of this are the findings of numerous negative rock paintings of hands, similar to the ones found in Europe.

During the latter part of the Stone Age there was a peaceful coexistence, around Nahuel Huapi, between three different Indian tribes. This ended around the 17th century with the arrival of the Araucanos. Due to the relentless Spanish invader, the Mapuche or Araucanos came over from Chile and their culture absorbed the previous tribes.

Fifty years earlier, Captain Don Francisco de César, heard rumours of the existence of a fabulous city built of gold and precious stone on the shores of a large lake in the southern territories. The Church and the Army set off in a vain attempt to find the city. They found it impossible to civilize the Indians and met a tragic death.

For more than a century there was no more news from this area until new expeditions started around 1860. The "Desert Campaign" totally subdued the Indian remnants in 1879.

White man - the Europeans - completely took over the archaeological remains and destroyed the remaining Indian culture of the Lake District.

Carlos Wiederhold built the first general store in the area in 1895, but San Carlos de Bariloche is officially founded on the 3rd of May, 1902. It was named Carlos in honour of Mr. Wiederhold and Bariloche, from the Indian term "Vuriloche". Thanks to the visit of president Theodor Roosevelt in 1913, the first road was completed. In 1921 the first plane arrived at Bariloche from San Fernando, province of Buenos Aires, where it left the day before with three stop-overs. A decade later the first train arrived.

In 1936 several important buildings such as the Cathedral, the Civic Centre , Llao Llao hotel and San Eduardo Church made up the centre for a future tourist attraction.