The Ucayali River (, ) is the main headstream of the Amazon River. It rises about north of Lake Titicaca, in the Arequipa region of Peru and becomes the Amazon at the confluence of the Marañón close to Nauta city. The city of Pucallpa is located on the banks of the Ucayali.
Description
The Ucayali, together with the Apurímac River, the
Ene River and the Tambo River, is today considered the main headwater of the
Amazon River, totaling a length of from the source of the
Apurímac at
Nevado Mismi to the confluence of the Ucayali and Marañón Rivers:
-
Apurímac River (total length):
-
Ene River (total length):
-
Tambo River (total length):
-
Ucayali River (confluence with Tambo River to confluence with the Marañón):
Exploration
The Ucayali was first called
San Miguel, then
Ucayali,
Ucayare,
Poro,
Apu-Poro,
Cocama and
Rio de Cuzco.
Peru has organised many costly and ably-conducted expeditions to explore it. One of them (1867) claimed to have reached within of
Lima, and the little steamer "Napo" found its way up the violent currents for above the junction with the
Pachitea River, and as far as the Tambo River, from the confluence of the Ucayali with the Amazon. The "Napo" then succeeded in ascending the
Urubamba River upstream from its junction with the Tambo, to a point north of
Cusco.
Rubber boom
During the first Amazon rubber boom, the Ucayali River basin and its indigenous inhabitants were heavily exploited for the collection of rubber. One of Peru's first rubber barons, Carlos Fitzcarrald, based his enterprise in the Ucayali and due to his success he became the richest rubber entrepreneur on the river by 1888. Many indigenous tribes along the Ucayali were targeted by rubber barons like Fitzcarrald during
Correrias ("forays" or "chasings"), which were effectually
Slave raiding. Some of the indigenous groups that were targeted include Asháninka, Amahuaca,
Shipibo-Conibo and
Shipibo-Conibo.
Other prominent Peruvian rubber barons ran enterprises with operations on the Ucayali, including Luis Felipe Morey, along with his brother Adolfo, Julio Cesar Arana as well as the Rodriguez brothers Maximo and Baldomero. The latter of which was killed near the Sutilija tributary of the Manu River at his estate named Honoria in September of 1910 by a group of Piros.
Fitzcarrald's enterprise dominated the area around Atalaya, which is located near the Tambo and Urubamba River's confluence. According to anthropologist Søren Hvalkof, the "favourite focus of the Atalaya patrons’ correrías" were isolated Asháninka settlements around the Gran Pajonal and Ucayali.
In 1893, Fitzcarrald was credited with establishing the Isthmus of Fitzcarrald, an important portage route between the Urubamba River, a tributary of the Ucayali, and the Manu River tributary of the Madre de Dios River. In subsequent years, several other prominent rubber entrepreneurs, like Carlos Scharff and Leopoldo Collazos, attempted to establish portage routes which connected the Ucayali River to the Madre de Dios. The establishment of Fitzcarrald's portage route marked the beginning of Peruvian activity with the rubber trade in the Madre de Dios River basin. In July of 1897, Fitzcarrald and his partner Antonio Vaca Díez, a Bolivian rubber baron, drowned on the Urubamba after the steamship they were traveling on sank.
Navigation
The Ucayali's width varies from , due to the large number of islands. The current runs from , and a channel from wide can always be found with a minimum depth of . There are five difficult passes, due to the accumulation of trees and rafts of timber. Sometimes large rocks which have fallen from the mountains and spread across the riverbed cause whirlpools.
National Reserve
The Ucayali is home to the Amazon river dolphin,
giant otter, and the Amazonian manatee, which are abundant in Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, close to Nauta. The southeastern border of the reserve is formed by the lower Ucayali River.
The river gives its name to the Ucayali Region of Peru and the Ucayali Province of the Loreto Region.
See also
Bibliography
External links
