Ivan, how much does your friend sell those knives for?
Just a little more history excerps that I found for anyone who cares:
gaucho , cowboy of the Argentine and Uruguayan pampas(grasslands). The typical gaucho, a familiar figure in the 18th and 19th cent., was a daring, skillful horseman and plainsman. As fighters, revolutionary soldiers, and campaigners in frequent internal struggles, they played a significant role in national life. They were an especially strong political force in the early years of the Argentine republic. Gaucho support of the federalists was instrumental in overthrowing the government of Juan Martín de Pueyrredón and in bringing to power such caudillos as Juan Facundo Quiroga and Juan Manuel de Rosas. The immigration of large numbers of European farmers to the Pampa in the late 19th cent. marked the beginning of the gaucho's gradual disappearance. The payador, a wandering minstrel of the plain, was a type of gaucho. An extensive gaucho literature was developed in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil. Most notable are the epic poems Martín Fierro (1872) and La Vuelta de Martín Fierro (1879), by Argentine José Hernández, and the novel Don Segundo Sombra (1926), by Argentine Ricardo Güiraldes. Rural inhabitants of the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil are also called gaúchos.
History
Pre-Columbian Argentina was farmed by sedentary Indian groups such as the Diaguita and used as a hunting ground by nomads. Indian resistance inhibited Spanish incursions and discouraged Spanish settlement. Buenos Aires was not successfully established until 1580, and remained a backwater for 200 years. A declining and unevenly distributed Indian population, which could not be milked for its labor, led to the creation of huge cattle ranches, known as haciendas - the genesis of the legendary gaucho (cowboy) and the source of great wealth for a lucky few.
GAUCHO, a cowboy or herdsman of the pampas, or prairies, of Argentina and Uruguay, who lived on the grass plains of southern South America from the mid-18th to the mid-19th century. Gauchos were essentially nomadic mestizos (people of mixed Indian and Spanish descent). Bold and skillful riders, they earned an adventurous livelihood on cattle ranges or by illegal horse and cattle trading at the Brazilian frontier. The weapons used by the gaucho in capturing wild horses and cattle, often for their hides, were the lasso and the bola, a cord-and-weight type of sling thrown to entangle the legs of quarry. Leather making was an additional source of income for the gauchos, and many of them were also wandering minstrels. Politically, they played an important role as Indian fighters and revolutionaries in the history of Argentina.
The characteristic apparel of the gaucho included a flat, brimmed hat; baggy trousers over boots; a wide belt of silver or coins; a woolen poncho; and a colorful scarf.
In the latter part of the 19th century, the modernization of the cattle-raising business, the arrival in South America of European farmers, and the portioning of the pampas marked the passing of the gaucho's hardy, independent way of life. Like the cowboy of North America, however, he lives on as a heroic figure in the folklore, music, and literature of South America.
