Although Villavicencio, the capital of the Department of Meta, is located just 120 miles from Bogoto, the 19,000-foot-high eastern Andean Cordillera lies between the two cities.

Although Villavicencio, the capital of the Department of Meta, is located just 120 miles from Bogotá, the mountains of the eastern Andean Cordillera lie between the two cities. As a result, after its founding in 1842, Villavicencio remained an isolated frontier outpost for more than one hundred years. From Frontier Town to Metropolis recounts the history of the town and explains how, by the twenty-first century, it became a thriving metropolis with a population nearing three hundred thousand. During the next sixty years, it became the principal urban center of the Llanos despite the continual presence of militant guerrillas, paramilitaries, and drug traffickers. Noted researcher Jane M. Rausch offers a detailed treatment of the development of Villavicencio and the Department of Meta as a microcosm of Colombia's eastern frontier.