In times of almost non existent roads communications were mostly fluvial, and the two largest Banda Oriental rivers´ confluence was a strategic enclave. In the first colonial years the right Uruguay River bank supplied wood, coal and canes to the growing cities on the other bank. After the natives were more or less pacified, Negro River water was shipped to Spain where it was appreciated for its curative properties. Many episodes in the Uruguay independence fights started in the area: national hero José Artigas lived in Villa Soriano (1790-1804); The Asencio Cry (1811) that fired up the revolution was uttered a few kilometers Negro upriver; the Thirty Three Easterners Liberation Cruzade (April 19, 1825) started in Agraciada Beach, Uruguay downriver and its first significant military victory -the September 1825 Rincon Battle- took place in the "corner" formed by Uruguay and Negro rivers. In 1826 During the Cisplatine War the Argentine squadron confronted the Third Imperial Division of Brazil in Yaguarí creek, starting operations that would end in the battle of Juncal. In independent times, Lobos Island was refuge for the Colorado faction in the Great Civil War (1839-1851).