The article analyzes the uses and views that some historians have of the short story by Carmo Gama "Quilombolas --lenda mineira inedita", published in 1904. I initially present the quilombola leader Ambrosio, and then verify how the facts narrated in Gama's fiction are used. The form of the fiction and the content of the document inform aspects of reality, which must be scrutinized by the historian. The narrative, in trying to establish itself through the dynamic writing of literature, does not lose its value. I sought to confront Gama's text with historiographical criticism, comparing it with the sources about Quilombo do Ambrosio, present in the Arquivo Publico Mineiro. The elements of history in dialogue with literature stood out, listed by the effort of the novelist's memory. I tried to show that the literary text and the document have the function of reference, in which the writing of history can be re-signified.