Conquest of Chile – Universal History

Diego de Almagro had left for the south in 1533, sent by Francisco Pizarro, who expected him to leave his remains there, since he knew the ferocity of the Indians in the region, where not even the Incas had been able to penetrate.
Almagro left Cuzco, entered Chile from the north and founded the city of Copiapó before reaching the Maule River, the border that the Incas did not cross. After bloody struggles, not finding the long-awaited gold and given the poverty of the area, he returned to Peru.

Expedition to Chile

Francisco Pizarro, already in power in Peru, organized another expedition in 1538, at the head of which he placed a soldier from the wars in Italy and his countryman, Pedro de Valdivia who, with some one hundred and fifty soldiers and supplies, entered Chile. After eleven months of marching and fighting, he founded the city of Santiago del Nuevo Extremo, the future capital of Chile. Beat the mapuche, who destroy Copiapó and Santiago. When he did not obtain benefits in his company, Valdivia returned to put himself under the protection of Pedro de La Gasca after founding other cities.

Spanish defeat

The tribes of the region recovered and elected as chief or toqui (Araucanian cacique) to Lautaro, who had been Valdivia’s page and knew European tactics. On the Tucapel plain, he defeated the Spaniards, captured Valdivia, tortured him, killed him, and performed an act of ritual collective anthropophagy on him (1553).

conquest of Chile

He was succeeded in command by Francisco de Villagrán, who defeated the Indians. Lautaro, before being taken prisoner, ordered his men to kill him.
The conquest of southern Chile up to the Strait of Magellan was concluded by García Hurtado de Mendoza, who faced the araucanosled by Caupolicán, a feat that originated the poem the araucanawritten by Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga.