Once Uruguay was established, the state, for nearly a century, had no resources to preserve historical monuments. Thus began the decline of the Fortaleza de Santa Teresa. Nevertheless, it fulfilled its role as a watchtower on the border during the presidencies of Fructuoso Rivera and Manuel Oribe, between 1830 and 1843. During the so-called Guerra Grande in the mid-nineteenth century, it was occupied by Manuel Oribe, but afterwards the structure was abandoned. In 1895 it was reoccupied as a prison. However, the total abandonment came about and it served to shelter cattle and bats, the latter inspired the former president Dr. Baltasar Brum to write a literary composition based on an Indian legend of the place.