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The purpose of this paper is to show the progress made in the research project "Textbook as a representation's builder: The image of the Patagonia (Río Negro and Neuquén, 1960-2000)". Inside the documental corpus in which we are working with, we have chosen to center the analysis in a didactic material with regional circulation: "The conquest of the dessert" by Marcelino Castro García, published in 1979 in the town of P. A. Stefenelli, Río Negro. This material turned out to be a very meaningful contribution for the construction of Patagonia's image. In the first place, it was published in 1979, date of the 100th anniversary of the Conquest of the dessert. Secondly, it was unique because of its regional circulation. Finally, because its internal structure represents an original methodology, which includes pictures and specific activities about the Conquest of the Dessert for primary students of the second and third level. In a sense, our purpose is to analyze how this book operated in the frame of the so-called Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (National Reorganization Process), building the representations about the image of the Patagonia from its particular design which combines information, pictures and didactic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]