Chuy

History

In the late 17th century, Portugal and Spain began the occupation of the Banda Oriental; they succeeded in founding Colonia del Sacramento in 1680, Montevideo in 1726, the Fuerte de San Miguel in 1737, and the Fortaleza de Santa Teresa in 1762. The Treaty of Madrid (1750) settled boundaries between the mouth of the creek Valizas and Cabo Polonio. By order of the Governor of Montevideo, José Joaquín de Viana, in 1751, frontier military posts were created, with colonial guards on both sides of the Chuy stream, the result of the discussions that had prevailed in the courts of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns. The treaty expired in 1761 with the signing of the Treaty of El Pardo. In Europe came the Seven Years' War. At that time, Pedro de Cevallos ousted the Portuguese colony of Santa Teresa and San Miguel, and Chuy came to dominate the southern Rio Grande do Sul. The situation was unstable, however, and the signing of the Treaty of San Ildefonso on October 1, 1777, led to a clearer demarcation of dominions in South America. In 1762 after the surrender of Colonia del Sacramento, Pedro de Cevallos went to the Portuguese, demanding the "eviction of the Yacuí River and areas of Rio Pardo, Santo Amaro, Rio Grande, San Gonzalo, San Miguel and Chuy, as well as Martín García Island and Dos Hermanas Island." In 1763, the Military Command at Maldonado was created to take care of security in the east. In 1772 Bernardo Lecocq developed the fortifications of Fuerte de San Miguel here. Eventually, however, Spain would lose influence over these territories. For the sake of demarcating the Hispano-Lusitanian boundary, both Spain and Portugal brought to the area a significant number of scientists. Work in the Guardia de Chuy began in February 1784. It is presumed that in 1826, there…

Geography

The town lies on National Route 9, 340 kilometres northeast of the capital, Montevideo,

Most-observed species

• Southern Lapwing

  Vanellus chilensis (Molina, 1782) · Aves
  307
• Great Kiskadee

  Pitangus sulphuratus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  271
• Monk Parakeet

  Myiopsitta monachus (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  263
• Rufous Hornero

  Furnarius rufus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  250
• Eared Dove

  Zenaida auriculata (Des Murs, 1847) · Aves
  227
• White-faced Ibis

  Plegadis chihi (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  221
• Saffron Finch

  Sicalis flaveola (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  199
• Brown-chested Martin

  Progne tapera (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  185