Matías de la Fuente in Chile: Antecedents of a Tarapacan merchant in Talcahuano and Concepción (1809-1818)

Abstract

The De la Fuente and Gutiérrez de la Fuente families, possessors of some of the greatest fortunes in Tarapacá, have been studied in Peruvian and northern Chilean historiography, as recent articles, and book chapters of an academic and historical-genealogical nature show. However, their time in Chile, their commercial activities and their actions in the political and military spheres are practically unknown, despite the fact that they ended up joining the more affluent groups and even the national Creole elite within the emancipatory situation. In this article, we propose to present the figure of Matías de la Fuente y Palacios, his passage through the province of Concepción in a complex context –national independence, 1808-1818– where he worked as a merchant, producer of gunpowder and quartermaster– military. He was always loyal to Ferdinand VII, until his withdrawal in 1818 when the royalist forces based in Talcahuano decided to return to Callao, Peru. Shortly after, he continued to collaborate with the monarchist cause from Europe. Despite this, the bond between both families remained within Chilean –and Peruvian– political and economic life until after the emancipation of both American nations through his only daughter and her nephews.