declined at a rapid rate. No alteration in this state of affairs was
effected by the final Declaration of Independence, made at Tucuman, July
9, 1816; and in 1820, Buenos Ayres, the seat of the government which
claimed to be supreme, was seized by a confederacy of the provincial
chiefs, who secured, by the destruction of the Directorial Government,
complete and unchallenged independence for themselves. During this
anarchical period, the famous Artigas was harrying the Banda Oriental;
Rosas and Lopez were preparing for their blood-stained careers; Bustos,
Ibarra, and a host of other _caudillos_, ruled the interior provinces; and
Juan Facundo Quiroga was raised to irresponsible power.

In his native province of La Rioja the mastery had for many years been
disputed by two powerful houses, the Ocampos and the Dávilas, both
descended from noble families in Spain. In the year 1820 the former were
triumphant, and possessed all the authority then wielded in the province.
From them Facundo received the appointment of Sergeant-Major of Militia,
with the powers of _Comandante de Campaña_, or District Commandant.

In any other country the nomination to such a post of a man rendered
notorious by his contempt for authority, who already boasted of no less
than thirty murders, and who had voluntarily placed himself in the lowest
ranks of society, would be a thing absolutely incredible; but the Ocampos
probably felt the insecurity of their authority, and were sufficiently
sagacious to attempt, at least, to render that man a useful adherent or
ally, who might, if allured by their foes, prove a terrible weapon against
them. But they found in Quiroga no submissive servant. So openly did he
disregard the injunctions of his superiors, that a corps of the principal
officers in the army entreated their general, Ocampo, to seize upon and
execute the rebellious Gaucho, but failed in inducing him to adopt their
advice. It was not long before he had occasion to repent his leniency, or