In 1542, Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was the first European to discover what is now called Iguazu Falls. He was drawn by the noise of the water, which can be heard at a distance of several kilometers. When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, the Guarani Indians were the principal inhabitants of the area.

Despite its early exploration, the area remained occupied only by the Guarani until 1880. In 1881, the province of Corrientes, which at that time included what is now Misiones, sold 50 square leagues (13,000 square kilometres (5,000 sq mi)) at the current site of Puerto Iguazú near the falls. The land changed hands three times in the course of just two years, and ended up as the property of Gregorio Lezama. At that time Misiones separated from Corrientes. Lezama funded a scientific expedition to explore the territory, enlisting Carlos Bosetti and Jordan Hummel for that purpose. Those two explorers later organized the first tourist trip to the falls. In 1888 Lezama also sold the land, this time to Martín Errecaborde and Company.