Gauchos remain a main population during the initial years of British occupation
An 1856 British engraving in *The Illustrated London News* depicts "Spanish-American gauchos" capturing horses with boleadoras in the Malvinas.
The English press documented the established presence of Rioplatense culture following the 1833 occupation—a history that supports our sovereignty.
The colonial authorities relied on them. In a British Parliament report (1843), Admiral King details the urgent shipment from the Río de la Plata of "trained horses and 6 recados (gaucho saddles)," as Luis Vernet’s own stock was exhausted.
The report highlights Antonina Roxa, a legendary Rioplatense woman who played a key role in taming cattle on East Falkland (Isla Soledad). In 1841, Colonial Lieutenant Tyssen admitted that, to venture into the interior, he was left "alone with an Indian, a boy, and Antonina." They needed her expertise.
Faced with isolation, Tyssen pleaded in his official letters for the urgent hiring of more "gauchos from Buenos Aires or Montevideo who understood the trade." They knew full well that the economy and survival of the islands were impossible without the Rioplatense criollo.
The archive reveals that the British referred to the Argentine governor as “Don Louis Vernet,” thereby acknowledging his prior role de facto.
Sovereignty is not merely a legal claim; it is etched into the land, the place names, and the documents of those who occupied the territory.
