Arrascaeta Royal Land Grant (Merced de Arrascaeta)

The Arrascaeta Royal Land Grant (Merced de Arrascaeta) was an extensive land concession granted to Maestre de Campo Miguel Antonio de Arrascaeta and his successors, in recognition of his loyalty and of the services rendered by him and his ancestors to the Spanish Crown, in what are now Argentine territories. The concession was formalized in November 1757 and was posthumously confirmed by royal decree (cédula real) in favor of his wife and children. His descendants settled on the granted territory and inhabited it continuously for at least four generations, until the emergence of the conflict with the province of Santa Fe.

The text of the land grant detailed the scope of the rights conferred upon the beneficiaries (Miguel de Arrascaeta and his successors):

"Accordingly, and by virtue of the aforementioned powers and faculties conferred upon me, I hereby grant to you, Maestre de Campo Don Miguel de Arrascaeta, the said lands mentioned, as and in the manner and with the boundaries contained in said petition, for you and your successors, so that you may establish ranches and settlements thereon, sell them, exchange them, and transfer them as your own property, acquired by your services and those of your ancestors; and in this regard I order and command the loyal justices of this said City that, upon proof that the corresponding royal right of half annuity (media anata), based on the intrinsic value of said lands, has been paid into the royal treasury, they shall place him in possession thereof, and no person of whatever rank or condition may dispossess him of said possession without first hearing him and defeating him by law and due process, it being understood that this is a land grant."

The concession comprised a strategic territory delimited between Laguna de Chaguay (present-day La Carlota, province of Córdoba) and Laguna de Melincué (in the present-day Province of Santa Fe). According to the judicial survey approved in 1864 and upheld in subsequent litigation, its surface area amounted to 287 Castilian leagues, 1,515 cuadras, and 6,262½ square varas.