The Treaty of Petrópolis, signed on November 17, 1903, in the Brazilian city of

Petrópolis Petrópolis (), also known as the Imperial City, is a municipality in the Southeast Region of Brazil. It is located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, northeast of the city of Rio de Janeiro. According to the 2022 Brazilian census, Petrópolis mun ...

, ended the Acre War between

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

over the then-Bolivian territory of Acre (today the Acre state), a desirable territory in Bolivia-Brazil border during the contemporary rubber boom. The treaty, drafted by Brazilian foreign affairs minister José Maria da Silva Paranhos, gave Brazil the territory of Acre (191,000 km²), in exchange for over 3,000 km² of Brazilian territory between the Abunâ and

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

rivers, a monetary payment of two million

British pound Sterling (Currency symbol, symbol: Pound sign, £; ISO 4217, currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of account, unit of sterling, and the word ''Pound (cu ...

s, paid in two installments, and a pledge of a rail-link between the Bolivian city of Riberalta and the Brazilian city of

Porto Velho Porto Velho (, ''Old Port'') is the capital (political), capital of the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of Rondônia, in the upper Amazon River basin. The population is 460,434 people (as of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, ...

, which would bypass the

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep stream gradient, gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Flow, gradient, constriction, and obstacles are four factors that are needed for a rapid t ...

on the Madeira. The rail line was called the Madeira-Mamoré Railway. It was supposed to go as far as Riberalta, on the Rio Beni, above that river's rapids, but had to stop short at Guajará-Mirim. This was the third such attempt. In the 1870s, during the rubber boom, the American George Church was defeated twice by the heat, the difficulty of the terrain, and the appalling loss of life from fever. Another American,

Percival Farquhar Percival Farquhar (1865–1953) was an American investor and financier with extensive interests in Latin America and pre-Soviet Russia, including railways, mines, hotels, and restaurants. Early life Farquhar was born to a wealthy Maryland-Penn ...

, won the contract for the Madeira-Mamoré railway required by the treaty. Construction began in August 1907 and was completed on July 15, 1912.Revista História Viva, nº 14, pg 30-41. "Dossiê Madeira-Mamoré". Editora Duetto.

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. (2004). The project cost US$33 million. At least 3,600 men died building the 367 km of track Guajaramirin-Station (popular estimates say that each one hundred sleepers cost one human life). The Madeira-Mamoré railway had about a year of full operation before the combination of the collapse of rubber prices, the opening of a railway from Bolivia to the Pacific via

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, and the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

rendered it uneconomical. It was kept in operation until 1972. The

BR-364 BR-364 is an inter-state highway in Brazil connecting the southeast state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo to the western state of Acre (state), Acre. The highway was opened in the 1960s and paved in the 1980s. It has brought economic development ...

road eventually subsumed the route as railway bridges were taken over, leaving what remained of the track to enthusiasts to salvage what they could.

References

Bibliography

* * 1903 in Bolivia 1903 in Brazil Bolivia–Brazil border History of Acre (state) November 1903 Treaties concluded in 1903 Petropolis Treaties of Bolivia Treaties of the First Brazilian Republic Acre War {{Treaty-stub