This article maps the roads around Diamantina (Minas Gerais) and analyses the working conditions of mule trains, responsible for the transportation of people and goods in the Upper Jequitinhonha region on the turn of the 19th to the 20th Century. Regional environmental variables, like topography, types of soil, temperature, rainfall, river characteristics and useful natural resources etc., are seen as decisive factors, on one hand, to explain the road's permanent precariousness and, on the other hand, to discourage local investments in roadways and carrier services. Thus, the ancient circulation system survived in the region well up to the mid-20th century.
Environment; Roads; Continuity of mule trains
