LA LEY ES UNA MONEDA EN EL DESIERTO 1: AGENTES ESTATALES, EMPRESARIOS MINEROS Y CONFLICTOS DE INTERESES EN LA PERIFERIA DEL ESTADO NACIONAL CHILENO: TALTAL, 1850-1900

AbstractThe article approaches the process of construction of the national Chilean State in the north periphery of the country from the analysis of the installation of state agencies. The work centres on the application of justice and the existing problems on the region to possess a judicial independent device in a space dominated by the mining businessmen.For the effect, two periods are identified, namely, an initial phase between the beginning of the explorations and the first developments until 1870, marked by the businessmen’s control as Jose Antonio Moreno and other mining owners who were imposing his particular interests in the region; in the second instance, the work centres in the last three decades of the 19th century, analyzing the problems of the justice and the complejización of the state device in Taltal and his hinterland, which was not exempt from similar problems to faced in the decades previous to 1870.Key words: National State - state agencies - mining businessmen - judges.