Martina Chapanay: a Legend and a Novel about the Highway Robber and a Montonera Gaucha

Abstract

Of Huarpean descent and born in the province of San Juan, Martina Chapanay was a highway robber and member of the montoneras of Facundo Quiroga and Chacho Peñaloza. In the 19th century, Pedro Desiderio Quiroga and Pedro Echagüe told her story. This article proposes the comparison of two little-studied texts, whose meanings, characters and settings are related to stories about outlaw gauchos, Facundo and El Chacho de Sarmiento, the civil wars and the stage of National Organization after the battle of Pavón. “Martina Chapanay. American historical legend” was published in the Correo del Domingo in 1865. Quiroga's story traces the heroine's military and criminal life in such a way that we find there is little difference between the montoneros and the bandits. After Peñaloza's death, Martina becomes the legendary baqueana and tracker who helps the traveller. In the novel La Chapanay, published in 1884, Echagüe erases her Federalist status and presents her as a repentant highway robber who seeks to redeem herself by becoming the "Quixote of the Cuyo travesías". In both versions, Martina's virile appearance and demeanour constitute a rebellion against the gender mandate that accompanies her matrero spirit and transcends political and legal conflicts.