Nineteenth-century travelers would relate how Pocito was the first green land they encountered after leaving
Mendoza. The founder of the city is considered to be Dr. Jose Ignacio de la Roza, who divided up the land and planned the construction of the Pocito Canal. After the
May Revolution, the province was divided administratively into urban and rural areas. In 1834, Governor
Jose Martin Yanzón and his Minister, Timoteo Bustamente, established departments in the Province of San Juan. Two departments were divided into three districts and Pocito was included in the third quarter of the Department of the South. On January 16, 1851, the Governor Nazario Benavides approved the "Rules of Irrigation". As a result, Mr. Rosendo Bernardo, the inspector of water, divided the province of Pocito into eight sections, which number was later increased to nine and then ten. On December 9, 1869, during the government of
Dr. Jose Maria del Carril, the Departmental System Act came into being. Under Article 36 of the Constitution, the Province was redivided into eighteen departments, the fifth of which was Pocito. On March 29, 1876 the Pocito Municipal Board was established, the first commissioner being Julian Mazo.
The Legend of India Mariana In Pocitanas land, there once lived an old
Huarpe Indian called Mariana, whose only company and defense was a faithful dog. She lived under a
carob tree and invariably smoked a cigar. She occupied the time telling stories of fabulous adventures to children who visited her, and sold "brilliant pebbles" to travelers and neighbors. These were nuggets of gold, which she always maintained came from the "pocito". One dark night, some Spaniards wandering nearby were attracted by the glow of a lit cigarette. Great was their surprise when, approaching the carob tree, they were attacked by the faithful dog baring his canines. The robbers fled in fear, pursued by the woman who came out laughing from under the tree. That night an
earthquake rocked the region and Mariana was seen no more. Her pocito was eagerly sought, but the source of the gold was never found.
The Statue of Liberty According to some testimonies, it was Cantoni Federico who, as an officer of that time, visited France and had the "Statue of Liberty" created as ordered by national authorities. That is why the date 1810-1910 and the Argentine shield are seen on the left of the statue. Federico Cantoni ordered that the statue be sent to the province of San Juan, its intended location being the park. This was done on the centenary of the "First Cry of Freedom", in May, 1810. On July 9, 1931, the engineer Mark Zalazar Pocito moved the statue and had it placed in the square that now bears the name "Freedom Square". == Geography ==