Talk:Sierra de la Plata

del or de la?
What's the source for this article? Why is it Sierra del Plata instead of Sierra de la Plata? Tom e rtalk 17:15, 25 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Because the "metal" in "Sierra del metal Plata" is elided. The "de la" in Rio de la Plata refers to the sierra, because the hope was that the river would lead to the sierra. Fascinating, isn't it? ThePedanticPrick 17:02, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
 * 'Metal' isn't elided, it's omitted. The de la is a preposition & article, not a reference. TShilo was asking why the article uses the masculine p&a instead of the feminine one. Judging by the Spanish wiki article, it should & the page should be moved. Will fix. -LlywelynII (talk) 08:46, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

Unsourced article strangely inaccurate
Potosi, Bolivia, was in fact a mountain of silver lying near the course of a major tributary of the Plate. It's hardly fitting to describe the rumor as unfounded. However, I shouldn't emend so heavily without sources I think, & without sources, I don't know whether it's more accurate to say it was one of the rare cases of Spanish rumors turning out to be true or if the discovery at Potosi was unknown to the Indians & it was just a happy accident. Anyone know? -LlywelynII (talk) 08:55, 27 February 2010 (UTC)


 * The distances between Potosí and the River Plate are huge (2,500 km, maybe -1,800 km. in a straight line-), the terrain was particularly difficult and most Gran Chaco peoples were hostile to the Spaniards (and to the Incas). However the great number of tribes along this big area, and their diversity, the rumours (and some silver objects) did made their way from the Andes (not necesarily from Postosí itself) to the Platine area. When the Spaniards found silver objects downstream, they began searching for the source of the river. Logically. When they finally reached Potosí (many years later, from Paraguay), Potosí was already "discovered" by other Spaniards coming from Peru. So it can be both a coincidence (if Potosí wasn't mined before 1545) or a mostly consistent rumour (somewhat aggrandized) spreaded by many lowland tribes that ultimately referred to the eiches of the Andes and the Incas. In any case, the happy accident was certainly disgraceful for the mita workers for two long centuries. --200.127.171.46 (talk) 06:51, 8 February 2011 (UTC)

Translation Complete
Translated article from Spanish Wikipedia. I left out several paragraphs on the Cerro Rico and Buenos Aires at the end because the material probably belongs in other articles. I also did not include inline citations for the most part because the majority of the Spanish article's inline citations reference the Hosne book without including page numbers. I agree with the above comment that it makes sense to have this as a separate article, because it was a specific legend that conquistadors heard on the Atlantic coasts that led to multiple expeditions in the Río de la Plata basin and the foundation of Buenos Aires, Asunción, and several other settlements. On the other hand, it's likely that the legend refers to the Cerro Rico de Potosí, so I wouldn't be opposed to merging the two articles if it makes sense to do so. Vejlenser (talk) 22:19, 14 December 2014 (UTC)