Carlos Scharff
Carlos Scharff was a Peruvian rubber baron who was active along the Upper Purus and Las Piedras rivers during the Amazon rubber boom in Peru. He also served for many years during his youth as an agent for the Belgian consulate in Brazil.
Between 1897 and 1909, Scharff enslaved and exploited indigenous peoples in the territory he controlled, primarily for the purpose of increasing rubber extraction for his firm. He was responsible for the displacement of numerous indigenous populations, forcing them to migrate along with his enterprise when the latter would relocate. These populations include tribes of Piro, Amahuaca, Machiguenga, Asháninka, Conibo, Yine, and Yaminawá people.
Scharff was heavily involved in a border conflict between Peru and Brazil in 1903–1904, which he had a role in instigating. Brazilian journalist Euclides da Cunha referred to Scharff as the "great land lord" of the Upper Purus, where many rubber exporters were dependent on him by 1905.
The Geographic Society of Lima credits Scharff with the establishment of a portage route around 1905, that connected the Upper Purus to the Madre de Dios River. Along this section of the Purus, he facilitated the exploitation of rubber sources, as well as a general increase of commercial movement along the course of the river. Scharff was killed in 1909, after a mutiny by his workforce near the Piedras River. The India Rubber World reported that at the time of his death, Scharff was $3,000,000 in debt. Anthropologist William Curtis Farabee referred to him as "the most notorious of all rubber gatherers in the Upper Amazon region."
Early life
Scharff was born on 30 October 1866 in Chachapoyas, Peru, where he received a good education. His parents had immigrated to South America from Germany. According to anthropologist Peter Gow, Scharff received a significant portion of his education in Brazil. In 1882, Scharff entered a business relationship with brothers Carl and Paul Hoepcke, who had formed the firm "Carl Hoepcke e Cia." The company was originally an import–export agency operating out of Desterro, Santa Catharina, in Brazil. Scharff joined the company as a co-manager and limited partner. At some point during the 1880s, Scharff became an agent for the Belgian consulate at Desterro. An 1884 issue of A Regeneração contains an advertisement written by Scharff regarding a ship that had been listed for sale by the Belgian consulate. The advertisement also states that he was in charge of the consulate. An almanac published by Barbosa Pinto in 1888 also lists Scharff as the agent in charge of the Belgian consulate at Desterro. At the end of 1890, Scharff resigned from his position at Carl Hoepcke e Cia, and sold his share in the company. A document published by Relatórios do Itamaraty contains a list of consulate agents working within Brazil: Scharff appears on the list, with a listed residency in Lübeck, the document also states he was nominated to the position of vice-consul on 8 August 1896. This appears to have been Scharff's last appointment with the consulate.Rubber baron
Scharff was primarily active along the Jurua, Purus and later the Las Piedras Rivers and their tributaries during the rubber boom. During Scharff's stint in the Amazon, he enslaved and exploited various indigenous populations. Some of these populations include various Yine, Matsigenka, Cushitineri, Etene, Kudpaneri, Nachineri, Amahuaca, Ronohuo, Yaminahua, Asháninka, Conibo, Huitoto, and Mashco-Piro peoples. At one point, Scharff's enterprise was valued at £1,200,000 and at that time he was exporting rubber to Paris, London, New York, as well as towards Iquitos and Manaus. According to Sociedad Geográfica de Lima, Scharff controlled such a large portion of the Upper Purus basin that it would take twenty days of travel by canoe through portage routes to get from his post in Hosanna to his station at Alerta.In a 2006 article titled "'Purús Song': Nationalization and Tribalization in Southwestern Amazonia", Gow refuted the claims that the Isthmus of Fitzcarrald, as well as the portage route between the Sepahua and Cujar tributaries, were discovered in the 19th century. Gow states that "These were standard routes used by Piro people moving between river systems, and are regularly mentioned in the earlier literature... What the 'discoveries' related in the histories actually relate is the increasingly direct articulation of this trading system with the burgeoning rubber extraction industry in the latter half of the nineteenth century." This information also disputes Scharff's discovery of the portage route along the Las Piedras River, which connected the Purus River to the Madre de Dios River. Like other rubber barons, Scharff implemented his indigenous workforce to clear paths through the forest to create better transportation routes between his rubber stations and along the portage routes. This workforce was also forced to migrate with Scharff's enterprise periodically due to the nature of rubber extraction in the Upper Amazon.
In the Upper Amazon
1897–1901: Emergence in the rubber boom
Scharff first appeared within the historical context of the rubber boom during a period of time when portage routes were being developed along the Isthmus of Fitzcarrald. The portage routes in this region would help facilitate travel from the Ucayali River basin towards the Madre de Dios. Later routes developed by Scharff and his business partners would establish movement for Peruvian rubber tappers in the Purus River. While not much is known about Scharff's business relationship with the Fitzcarralds, later sources refer to Scharff as a foreman working for Carlos Fermín Fitzcarrald. After the death of Carlos Fitzcarrald in a river accident on the Urubamba River in 1897, his brother Delfin Fitzcarrald, along with Leopoldo Collazos and Scharff, assumed responsibility over a large portion of the enterprise. Over time, Scharff became one of the most powerful entrepreneurs on the Ucayali, Urubamba Rivers and their tributaries.Another figure working with Scharff and the Fitzcarralds was Asháninka indigenous chief Venancio Amaringo Campa. Amaringo along with his group of men helped to catch and enslave other native populations that would be used as a workforce to extract rubber. Amaringo also organized "punitive expeditions" against other caucheros which Fitzcarrald had conflict or disagreements. After the river accident in 1897, Amaringo continued to provide his services to Collazos and Scharff. Amaringo managed a settlement named Washington where a group of around five hundred enslaved natives lived along the Unini River, a tributary of the Ucayali. During the dry season this group of natives was forced to migrate so that they could work for rubber barons like Scharff. When Amaringo was working with Scharff in 1901, he was apparently under the control of around one hundred indigenous families. According to Susanna B. Hecht, Scharff extensively implemented a "tribute model" across his estate and appeared to depend on discipline maintained by powerful chiefs in order to keep his workforce compliant. Amaringo is an example of one of these powerful chiefs. Hecht also noted that "Scharff used the Peruvian military based in Iquitos to mediate his local quarrels, rather than the bands of thugs that more powerful river masters typically commanded."
The organization between Delfin, Collazos and Scharff initiated a series of migrations beginning in 1899 with the intention of establishing new rubber stations along the Purus River. Migrations towards the Madre de Dios region were reported as early as 1901 – hundreds of Ashaninka, Piro, and Amahuaca natives were a part of these migrations. Leopoldo Bernucci estimates that there were approximately five hundred indigenous families migrated by Scharff. According to Gow, "many Piro people moved from the Urubamba to the Purús as debt slaves of rubber bosses like Scharff who were seeking to exploit the rich stands of the rubber-producing caucho of the latter river." Hecht writes that the decision to relocate was also partially influenced from the pressure induced by slave raids in the region, perpetrated by other Peruvian caucheros like Julio César Arana. These migrations were also encouraged by the recent development of portage routes that connected the Sepahua tributary to either the Purus or Jurua river valley.
Scharff managed rubber stations along the Gregorio and Liberdade tributaries for over two years with the help of around three hundred other caucheros. Scharff's network began to withdraw from the Gregorio at the end of 1900, and temporarily established operations along the Envira River. The Peruvians continued to carry out correrias against the indigenous population along the Envira River after Scharff had left the area. These Peruvians were enabled by the firm Lecca & Penna and Scharff's company. Years later, a newspaper from Manaus named O Paiz published an article containing a report from Brazilian colonel José Ferreira de Araújo, which stated Scharff and his caucheros were responsible for killing "thousands of indigenous people" along the Jaminauá and Paranã do Ouro tributaries of the Upper Envira River. O Paiz also claimed that Scharff and his caucheros were responsible for massacring nearly four hundred natives during slave raids on the Gregorio River. A Brazilian engineer later published information that stated this group of natives had the name "Ajubins" and they were located on the Gregorio River.
After the death of Delfin Fitzcarrald, an internal conflict started within his business network, especially between Scharff and José Cardoso da Rosa. Cardoso was the foreman and the stepfather of Fitzcarrald's widow, Aurora Velazco. There was suspicion from Cardoso towards Leopoldo Collazos regarding Delfin's death. Delfin was apparently killed by Amahuaca Natives when he was returning with Collazos from his first trip to the Purus River, and his death allowed Collazos and Scharff to assume effective control over that river. The Sociedad de Geografica de Lima provides two different accounts regarding who attacked Delfin Fitzcarrald's expedition: one says that he was killed by Yaminaguas natives, while the other states that "civilized people" disguised as natives carried out the ambush. According to Ernesto Reyna, the native population was harshly punished as a result of Delfin's death.
Another issue was that Cardoso believed that a portion of the rubber produced by Scharff belonged to his family, since the enterprise was financed by his stepdaughter's money. However, Scharff treated the rubber as his own product, he was attempting to sell his rubber in Manaus, rather than shipping it to Sepahua and therefore Iquitos. Disagreements about the rubber profits would later escalate into a larger conflict between Peru and Brazil. By the time Carlos had left the Gregorio and Envira Rivers, he had accumulated massive debts with Cardoso and Aurora, although he disputed responsibility for the payment. Scharff also left behind a trail of violence along the indigenous inhabited areas, financing slave raids. The first armed clashes of this conflict were attributed to the accumulated debts Aurora and Cardoso believed they were owed from Scharff. When the Piro natives inquired about who had initially started the fighting on the Purus River, the answer was disputed between "Scharff or Cardoso da Rosa to 'the Peruvians' or 'the Brazilians'".