Colonia 25 de Mayo

History and Legends

At the beginning of this agricultural colony at the end of the XIX century, the history of primitive settlers and newcoming colonists mingles with the institutional organization of the country.
In 1914, a devastating flood coming from an Andean lagoon on its way to the Atlantic sweeps away all the area of the colony, what determines, years later the construction of the dock over the Colorado river, and the installation of a hydroelectric power plant: Central Hidroeléctrica Los Divisaderos, thus allowing the development and irrigation of the area.

Legends

The Fox and the Partridge
from Cuentan los Mapuches, by Cèsar A. Fernàndez, Ed. Nuevo Siglo, compiled by Ana Fernandez Garay, 1993

When I was a little boy, my father used to tell me this story about the fox and the partridge.
It happened that the partridge was very good at whistling. All day long she walked around whistling. The fox would have loved to be able to whistle like the partidge, so when he met her on his way, he asked her:
-How can you whistle? The partridge made e demonstration of her ability, and the fox, enthusiastic, asked her to teach him .
So the partidge proposed to sew his mouth, and so they did: they sewed his mouth, but leaving a little opening.
- Whistle! - they said, and the fox whistled. He was full of joy. Shortly after, the fox found a mule, rode on it and off he went, whistling, of course.
Around he skulked, whistling and whistling. But a problem came up: he could not eat because his mouth was sewn. He could only whistle. The partridge, instead, was fine: she ate whatever she wanted.
Once the fox walked by near the partridge, but he did not greet her. So she thought:
-I´m going to fly to stop him on his way, the fox is going to fall, and then, he is going to greet me.
As she had planned, it happened. The fox came whistling, and did not see her, so the partridge flew, he fell down, and his mouth split up.
That is why the fox could not whistle any more.