Two parallel processes brought about great changes in the Buenos Aires Province hinterlands in the 18th Century, one regarding cattle breeding and the other one , the indigenous population. The indiscriminate culling of cattle produced the diminishing of wild cattle and so the relevance of big estates as providers of leather for export grew. At about the same time the Araucanos from Chile started crossing the Andes and gathering cattle which they would cross back into Chile.
This situation gradually worsened producing confrontations with the Spaniards and the struggle would continue until after Independence with the Conquest of the Desert. This situation regarding frontiers created a great deal of worry for the authorities who began to occupy the desert with the aim of conquering it militarily.
In 1752, the famous “Blandengues” battalions were created and three forts were built: “La Valerosa”, “La Invencible”, and “La Atrevida Conquistadora” were the names of the battalions. This situation was consolidated by Viceroy Vertiz and his Frontiers Artillery Commander Francisco de Betbeze by building or rebuilding forts in 1779 which were later to become important Provincial localities amongst the San Pedro de los Lobos Fort.
Don Jose Salgado who had received land from the Viceroy towards the end of the 18th Century builds a chapel a little north of the fort in 1802 where the first Mass services started 9 June 1803. This is how the current pueblo was born, belonging to the Moron Parish with the Salgado family as the only inhabitants as the rest of the 141 families lived scattered in land plots or Estancias elsewhere in the area.
In 1804 Don Ramon de Urquiola, supported by the church’s authority requests from the Viceroy, the drawing of the pueblo’s limits and land for the cattle belonging to the church, but had to wait until 1811 when the limits of the Pueblo de San Salvador de la Guardia del Partido de Lobos were finally drawn.