The Gauchos of Argentina and Ecuador

ESTANCIA EL OMBU, SAN ANTONIO DE ARECOSome presume that the name gaucho is derived from the Mapuchecauchu, meaning ‘vagabond’. Others consider the Quechua wordhuachu, meaning ‘orphan’, to be a better candidate.Whatever its roots, the word ‘gaucho’ came into existence for thefirst time in the late 1800s to describe a roguish individual thatwould ride alone, sometimes with a woman, whose only baggagewas a facon (knife), boleadoras (three iron or stone ball…