Tartagal derives from the
tártago plant (
Euphorbia lathyris, a kind of
spurge). The area of modern Tartagal appears with this name in legal documents for the first time in 1853. At the time the area belonged to the
Tarija Department,
Bolivia. The foundation date of the town, however, is acknowledged as June 13, 1924; the municipality was created soon afterwards, and Tartagal attained city status only on September 22, 1949. The
Argentine Army has the
17th Jungle Cazadores Company (
Compañía de Cazadores de Monte 17) based at Tartagal. At the beginning of the 20th century, important oil deposits were discovered which lead to the founding of
Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF). YPF was founded by
Hipólito Yrigoyen in the 1922, and later privatized in 1992
, was highly valued during the governmental terms of
Juan Domingo Perón between the 40s and 50s. It was out-competing
Standard Oil, in terms of production as well as in terms of social impact, since it ensured work, social security, education for the worker's children and dozens of benefits that dignified the lives of workers, not counting the commercial flow that positively impacted the area
. Petroleum was discovered here at the beginning of the 20th century. Since 1926 the state-owned oil company
YPF employed or indirectly supported most of the local population. In 1992 the company was
privatized (becoming
Repsol-YPF) and 90% of its workers were fired, prompting violent social conflicts and, a few years later, the appearance of
piquetero (unemployed workers) movements, similarly to what happened also in other oil-producing areas like
Cutral-Co,
Neuquén, and in the neighboring
General Mosconi. rockets prepared for
solar eclipse observations at Tartagal (November 10, 1966) On November 12, 1966, several sounding rockets were launched from Tartagal during a
solar eclipse. On February 9, 2009, heavy rains caused the
Tartagal River to break its banks and flood much of the city, resulting in 11 casualties. == Tourism ==