Early history The presence of Dutch, French, and English explorers in the estuary of the
Amazon River has concurred for the settlement of Portuguese expeditionaries in the current territory of the State of
Pará, and also for the expedition of
Francisco Caldeira Castelo Branco which, in 1616, has founded the city of
Belém. After the foundation of the
captaincy of Grão Pará, the foreigners were gradually expelled by the government, by means of various expeditions which had as goal to destroy the settlements created. Among these expeditions, the one headed by captain
Pedro Teixeira reached for the first time (in 1626) the
Tapajós River. This expedition established a friendly contact with native people in the site currently known as Alter-do-Chão bay. In 1639, Pedro Teixeira returned to the
Tapajós River, being followed the
Jesuits. Several villages were founded by the Jesuits, along the Tapajós River, during this period. Some of these villages were "Tapajós", in 1661, "São José" (or Matapus), in 1722, "São Inácio" (or Tupinambaranas), in 1737, and Borari and Arapiuns. During the administration of the governor and captain-general
Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado, the government retracted the Jesuits from these villages, and raised the Tapajós village to the category of town, with the denomination of Santarém. There were also changes in the villages of Borari and Arapiuns, in 1757, which were denominated Alter-do-Chão and Vila Franca, respectively. And, in 1758, the villages of São Inácio and São José were denominated as Boim and Pinhel. During the administration of
José de Nápoles Telo de Menezes the village of
Aveiro was founded. In this village was installed, in 1781, the parish of
Our Lady of Conception (
Nossa Senhora da Conceição). It is known, from the footage and historical evidence available, that the place of Itaituba already existed by the year of 1812, since it was mentioned in the travel list of Miguel João de Castro alongside the Tapajós River, as a center of exploration and trade of specialties of the High Tapajós. With the Revolution of Cabanagem and the events that occurred during this period, the village of Brasília Legal was founded, in 1836, as a place for resistance of the rebels, on the left bank of the Tapajós River. According to Ferreira Penna, in 1836 Itaituba was an indigenous village, belonging to the province of
Grão Pará, in which a small military base was installed. Among the most relevant people associated to the foundation of Itaituba, one of remarkable importance is Joaquim Caetano Corrêa, because of its pioneer work on the exploration of the tapajonic region, being even regarded as the founder of the municipally seat. Itaituba depended on the parish of Pinhel until 1853, when it was transferred to the jurisdiction of Boim. == Geography ==