Description

A gaucho from the Campo Alegre estancia approaches us. He crosses the grassy plain of the province of Salta. The lasso and the guardamontes are made of leather. These last pieces protect the rider's legs from the thorny bushes that grow in this desert region of Argentina. His red woollen poncho shows a black band that was added by the weavers as a sign of mourning at the death of the caudillo Martin Miguel de Güemes, a native of the province of Salta. The bolas are hardly used today because of the accidents they caused, but they are present in the gaucho's saddle. - 1973

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