This article analyzes the discursive construction of Triumpho, in Paraná/Brazil, as a “regional invention” articulated by political-intellectual elites from the late 19th century onward. It examines how memorial narratives, travel accounts, cartography, and municipal legislation forged an identity of Paraná centered on the myth of progress, attributed to the labor of European immigrants and the exploitation of yerba mate. It argues that this narrative, while legitimizing the occupation of the territory, produced a sterilized past, consolidating an idealized image of the state’s hinterlands.