The Sal de Obispo Nitrate Canton, Its Paradas Offices and Its Discoverers (1830-1870). the Base of the Industrialization of Saltpeter; [el Cantón Salitrero Sal de Obispo, Sus Oficinas de Paradas y Sus Descubridores (1830-1870). la Base de la Industrialización del Salitre]

This article is based on a case study of the Sal de Obispo canton (1830-1870), located in a quadrant to the west and surrounding of Cerro San Francisco, in Tarapacá in southern Peru (current northern Chile), which is considered one of the earliest among the nitrate exploitation areas. The historical importance of this canton is discussed due to its extension because of a salt flat, allowing the early planting of Paradas offices and the first steam engine offices in this region. Transforming into a case study that allows us to understand and analyze in all its complexity the development and development of the saltpeter industry in its initial phase (1830) until the first industrial boom (1870). From a microhistorical approach and a documentary and bibliographic methodology, a local phenomenon that had relevance on a global scale is described and analyzed, being the basis for the first nitrate boom. © 2024 Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Filosofia y Humanidades, Departamento de Literatura. All rights reserved.