Arauco War
Encyclopedia
The Arauco War was a conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche
people in what is now the Araucanía
and Biobío regions of modern Chile
. The conflict lasted three centuries, making it one of the longest wars in history.
The beginning of the conflict is usually placed at the Battle of Reynogüelén, which occurred in 1536 between an expedition of Diego de Almagro
and a well-organized and numerous group of Mapuche soldiers, near the confluence of the Ñuble
and Itata
rivers.
Its end, however, is more difficult to pin down. After 1609, each governor of Chile held Parlamentos with the Mapuche chiefs, in which they discussed the maintenance of a treaty between both parties, violations of which were quite frequent. Spain ended its war with the Mapuche after the 1803 Parliament of Negrete.
During the Chilean War of Independence the Spanish negotiated an alliance with Mapuche chiefs against the Chilean patriots during the 1814 Parliament of Quilín. Thus the conflict was inherited by the Republic of Chile. Following the defeat of Spain hostilitieas were ended for a time by the 1825 Parliament of Tapihue. However, conflict later resumed and Mapuche resistance was finally ended with the occupation of Araucanía between 1861 and 1883.
During the early phase of the Conquest of Chile
, the Spanish conquistador
Pedro de Valdivia
conducted a nine year campaign to secure the city of Santiago
, which had been destroyed on September 11, 1541 by the Mapochoes
under the direction of their chief, Michimalonco
. Valdivia hoped to enlarge the territory under his jurisdiction and, despite injuries from a fall from his horse, resolved to take personal command of a land expedition into Araucanía.
In 1544, sent a naval expedition comprising the bark
s, San Pedro and Santiaguillo, under the command of Juan Bautista Pastene
, to reconnoiter the southwestern coast of South America to the Strait of Magellan
. The expedition set sail from Valparaíso
, entered the bay of San Pedro
, and made landings at what is now known as Concepción
and at Valdivia
, which was later named in honor of the commander. Encountering severe storms further south, he then returned to Valparaiso.
Valdivia himself set out in 1546, with sixty horsemen plus native guides and porters, and crossed the Itata River
and were attacked by Mapuche
warriors in the Battle of Quilacura
near the Bío-Bío River
. Realizing that it would be impossible to proceed in such hostile territory with so limited a force, Valdivia wisely elected to return to Santiago after finding a site for a new city at what is now Penco
and that would become the first site of Concepción
.
auxiliaries under Valdivia. They planned to reunite on the shores of the Bay of Concepción. The expedition advanced beyond the Itata River
and Laja River
, to the shores of the Bío-Bío River
. Along the way they had several battles with groups of Mapuche
s as they explored the region killing many with little loss to themselves. After spending over a week in the area and encountering increasing opposition, the Spanish marched toward the Sea through the valleys of the Laja and Bío-Bío rivers, towards the coast at Penco. On the banks of the Andalién River
, they camped for two days between the river and a lake, where they were attacked on the second night by a large force of Araucanians
under their toqui
Ainavillo
in the Battle of Andalien
. The night attack was defeated in a furious battle, the Spaniards suffered one killed and many wounds to men and especially their mounts. After a day treating their wounds they continued towards their rendezvous at the Bay of Concepción. There Valdivia began building a fort at what is now Penco.
On February 23, Pastene's fleet anchored in the bay, brought supplies, reinforcements and provided materials to finish the fort. On March 1 Valdivia founded here the city of Concepción del Nuevo Extremo
. On March 3 of that year, the fort was completed and was attacked nine days later by the largest force of Mapuches yet seen in the Battle of Penco
. This force was broken and routed despite the small size of the Spanish forces. Despite the resulting submission of the local tribes, Valdivia sent an emissary to the Viceroy of Peru, asking for additional forces; he knew that it would not be possible to complete the conquest of Araucanía with only the forces at his disposal. After reinforcement at Concepción in 1551, he organized another expedition to establish the fort La Imperial
on the banks of the Imperial River
. He then returned to Concepción to prepare another expedition and await the reinforcements the Viceroy had promised to send by sea.
Leaving orders that the new troops should disembark on the Tierras de Valdivia that Pastene had discovered earlier, Valdivia left with two hundred soldiers in the direction of Fort Imperial. Once he had passed it on his way south, he ordered Jerónimo de Alderete
to drive inland and establish a fort, with the goal of securing his eastern flank. To this end, Alderente reached Lake Villarrica
and established a fort
there. Meanwhile, Valdivia's column advanced southwards and joined the reinforcements sent from Peru
, under the command of Francisco de Villagra
. There, the city of Santa María la Blanca de Valdivia
was established. After garrisoning these new places, Valdivia returned to his base at Concepción in 1552 where rich placer gold mines were found in the Quilacoya River
valley.
, Purén
, Confines
and Arauco
. The Araucanians didn't offer any resistance to the conquistadors in their fort-building. In October 1553, the Quilacoya gold mine was opened and large numbers of Mapuche were forced to work in it.
In 1553, the Mapuches held a council at which, because of the growth of Spanish forces in their territory, they resolved to make war. They chose as their "toqui"
(wartime chief) a man called Caupolicán
and as his vice toqui Lautaro, because he had served as an auxiliary to the Spanish cavalry, his experiences with the Spanish gave him insight into the best methods for fighting the conquistadors.
With six thousand warriors under his command, Lautaro attacked the fort at Tucapel
. The Spanish garrison was unable to withstand the assault and retreated to Purén
and Lautaro seized and burned the fort and prepared his army certain that the Spaniards would attempt to retake Tucapel. Valdivia, with a reduced force, mounted a counter-attack, but he was quickly surrounded and his army was massacred by the Mapuches in the Battle of Tucapel
. This was Pedro de Valdivia's last battle; he was captured and later killed in captivity.
After the defeat at Tucapel, the Spanish
hurriedly reorganized their forces, reinforcing fort Imperial for its defence and abandoning Confines and Arauco in order to strengthen Concepción. However, Araucanian tradition dictated a lengthy victory celebration, which kept Lautaro from exploiting the weakness of the Spanish position as he desired. It was only in February of 1554 that he succeeded in putting together an army of 8,000 men, just in time to confront a punitive expedition
under the command of Francisco de Villagra
at the Battle of Marihueñu
.
Despite this new victory, Lautaro was again unable to pursue the opportunity due to the celebrations and beliefs of his people. By the time he arrived at Concepción, it was already abandoned. After burning it, he could not continue the offensive with his remaining forces, and the campaign came to an end as the warriors demobilized.
In Santiago
, Villagra reorganized his forces, and that same year of 1554, he departed again for Arauco and reinforced the strongholds of Imperial and Valdivia, which allowed the garrisons and their Indian friends to make many raids on the surrounding Mapuche settlements, burning houses and fields and killing all they found. Resulting devastation produced a famine
and an epidemic
among the hostile Mapuche around those cities. Meanwhile, in the north during 1554, news of the victories of Lautauro lead to uprisings by the previously subdued Promaucaes
in the valley of the Mataquito River
and the Picunche
in the valley of the Aconcagua River
but these were put down.
In 1555, the Real Audiencia in Lima
, ordered Villagra to reconstruct Concepción, which was accomplished by Capitan Alvarado and 75 colonists. When he learned that it was being rebuilt, Lautaro again attacked Concepción with 4,000 warriors. Alvarado attempted to defeat Lautaro's army outside the city then fled to the city pursued by Lautaro's army. Only 38 Spaniards managed to escape by sea from this second destruction of the city. Following this victory in 1556, the Promauces sent a message to the Mapuche of Arauco promising food to support their army and warriors to join it in a war against the Spanish in Santiago.
. With the ravages of the recent epidemic and the needs of the campaign against the Spanish still occupying cities within Mapuche territory still going on, he was not able to draw many troops from the main Mapuche army for his campaign to the north. He had to rely on recruiting warriors among the people north of the Bio Bio River among subjugated Mapuche and the Promaucaes north of the Itata River
, who were now inspired by the previous successes of Lautaro to revolt again.
But when he entered the places subject to Santiago, he began taking reprisals against the Promaucaes who refused to join him, doing great damage and depopulating the land. The refugees fled to the city for aid and protection.
In October 1556 he reached the Mataquito River
in his northward march. There he built a fortified camp near Teno
in a place called Peteroa
as a base of operations against Santiago. Lautaro ambushed a first probe by a small Spanish force from Santiago. A larger force under Pedro de Villagra
later attacked the fortress at Peteroa
over several days but were not able to take it and were forced away by flooding. However, with unfavorable losses and more Spaniards coming to Villagra's support, Lautaro retreated towards the Maule River
hoping to establish himself there. However, the Spanish cavalry of Juan Godíñez
pursued to the Maule River cutting down stragglers and one of Lautaro's detachments was cut to pieces. Lautaro's army gave them the slip, but was forced to fall back beyond the Itata River
. Captain Gudiñez returned victorious from this pursuit and put great fear into the Promaucaes by punishing them with destruction of their herds, fields and houses and by cutting off some heads, as a lesson not to call upon the Mapuche army or give aid to them.
In January 1557, Francisco de Villagra
marched south to aid the remaining cities against the Mapuche army led by Caupolicán. Informed by his allies the city of Santiago was now relatively unprotected, Lautaro evaded Villagra, letting him pass to the south while he marched again toward Santiago with a new army including allies under Panigualgo. However Lautaro's mistreatment of the intimidated local Indians to extract provisions had created dissension among his allies. His allies separated from him after the army reached the Mataquito River at Lora
, after a dispute over his actions with an allied leader named Chillan who accused Lautaro of acting like the Spaniards. He moved his remaining army over a league up river and again established a fortified camp on the Mataquito River amid a carrizal at the foot of a wooded hill. However, its location was betrayed to Francisco de Villagra by local Indians previously abused by Lautaro. Villagra sent word to Juan Godíñez near Santiago to meet him as he hurried north. The Spanish forces met without Lautaro being alerted and made a surprise night march over the hills of Caune, to the hill overlooking Lautaro's camp, on the shore of the Mataquito River. On April 29, at dawn Villagra began the Battle of Mataquito
with a surprise attack on the camp in which they killed Lautaro and obtained a decisive victory, destroying his army and dispersing his allies.
After the death of Jerónimo de Alderete in Panama
while returning to Chile, García Hurtado de Mendoza was designated the interim governor of Chile in 1557, and immediately sailed south from Peru, this time with a much stronger force than before: 600 soldiers, 6 pieces of artillery, and 1,000 horses. He landed in La Serena and had the rival contenders for the governorship, Francisco de Villagra and Francisco de Aguirre
arrested and sent to Peru and put his own men in control of the province. Sending his cavalry by land he sailed south in winter and landed in early June 1557 on the island of La Quiriquina at the mouth of the Bay of Concepción. He ordered a party to land at Penco and reconstruct the fort of Concepción. A Mapuche army attempted to storm the fort but were defeated by artillery and gunfire. After his cavalry and horses arrived overland from Santiago, Mendoza began his advance to the south of the Bio-Bio and another Mapuche army including Galvarino
attempted to stop them in the open field in the Battle of Lagunillas
but again were defeated after hard fighting and as a result their fortress at Andalicán
the gateway to Arauco
was left undefended and was captured soon after the battle.
Caupolicán lead the Mapuche unsuccessfully resisting the advance of Hurtado de Mendoza by attacking him from ambush in the Battle of Millarapue
. After further fighting near the site of the ruined fortress of Tucapel, Mendoza built the fort and city of Cañete de la Frontera and continued to the south. There he established the city of Osorno
and explored southward to the Gulf of Ancud
. Attempting to throw off the Spanish occupation Caupolicán attacked the fort of Cañete expecting the gates to be opened by the treachery of a yanacona
within but he was betrayed instead and was badly defeated by Captain Alonso de Reinoso
. Although he was able to escape immediately after this last battle when Spanish cavalry did not arrive in time to pursue, he was eventually betrayed and captured in the mountains by Pedro de Avendaño
, sentenced to death by Alonso de Reinoso and executed by impalement
in Cañete.
After the death of Caupolicán, García Hurtado de Mendoza thought that they had subjugated the Mapuche. On the contrary, the manner of the death of Caupolicán inspired the Mapuches to continue the struggle with a guerrilla war in which there was no day that some yanaconas or once in a while some encomendero did not die at hands of Mapuches. When the number of missing or dead reached 400 yanaconas and 10 Spaniards, the governor was convinced that he had been mistaken. In Quiapo, the Mapuches under their new toqui Caupolicán the younger
constructed a fort that was to stop the forces of Mendoza from marching into Arauco and rebuilding a fort there. Mendoza advanced from Cañete and crushed another Mapuche army at the Battle of Quiapo
. After the battle, Hurtado de Mendoza had most of the captured Mapuche executed, but saved Peteguelén, son of Cuyomanque, an important cacique in the Arauco region. Through his help and that of the grateful father, he was able contact and to bring most of the leaders of Arauco and Tucapel to submit to Spanish rule following the reconstruction of the fort in Arauco. Mendoza also founded the city of San Andrés de Angol or Los Infantes
not far from the old fort of Confines.
In February 1561, Phillip II
relieved García Hurtado de Mendoza, replacing him as governor with the victor over Lautaro, Francisco de Villagra. Mendoza left Chile with the belief that he had overcome the Mapuche. He was one of the few governors who obtained a certain degree of success in the War. This success was due to the large numbers of experienced soldiers, equipment and arms that he brought which were not available to the previous conquerors and because the Mapuche did not have a strategist to equal Lautaro.
The Mapuches pretended peace, but secretly continued to prepare for a new revolt. Soon after the defeat at Quiapo the surviving leaders gathered and elected Illangulién
as the new toqui. With most of the nations warriors dead or wounded and the population decimated by the effects of war, starvation and disease he decided to retreat into the marshes of Lumaco
and there gather their strength and train a new generation of warriors for a future revolt. The Mapuche had learned to work iron, use Spanish weapons (including firearms and cannon), ride horses captured from their conquerors and learned better strategies and tactics. The defeats inflicted by Mendoza had made the Mapuche a united people and one committed to renewing the war against the Spanish to recover their freedom.
with the killing of the hated encomendero and corregidor of Cañete Pedro de Avendaño and two other Spaniards in July 1561 in the valley of Puren. Spanish punitive expeditions from Angol and La Imperial drove the insurgents into the refuge of the Lumaco marshes. However, the news of the killing was spread by the Mapuches and it initiated a new general rising greater than the previous ones. With Villagra's arrival also came its first smallpox
epidemic that ravaged the native population of Chile.
The toqui of the Arauco region, Millalelmo
, with a local army laid siege
to Arauco from May 20 to June 30, 1562. At the end of 1562, the Mapuches under a leader named Meuco, had fortified a pucará in the province of Mareguano, three leagues from the city of Los Infantes. Arias Pardo Maldonado destroyed the pucará but he did not gain a complete victory, since most of the Mapuches escaped. Elsewhere the corregidor of Cañete Juan Lazarte was killed at the gates of Cañete trying to recapture mounts stolen by thirty mapuches.
The Mapuches reconstructed the pucará near Los Infantes in January 1563, but Pedro de Villagra was sent again to destroy it. Once again the Mapuche rebuilt it, but this time with sections readily accessible to the cavalry, despite suspicions of veteran Spaniards they attacked the location, and many fell into well-disguised pits. There the governor's son, Pedro de Villagra "el Mozo" and forty two other Spaniards died. This disastrous military defeat forced governor Francisco de Villagra to order the city of Cañete to be abandoned. News of the abandonment of Cañete spread the revolt.
When Francisco de Villagra heard the news of his son's death he became ill and left for Concepcion leaving his cousin, Pedro de Villagra, in charge of the campaign. The Mapuches, now under Colocolo
attacked on two fronts against the forts of Los Infantes and Arauco investing
them but were unable to take them. Again Petegüelen offered peace to the Spaniards and Villagra accepted, but this peace was deceptive since the Mapuches needed to harvest their fields.
In April of 1563, the Mapuche reestablished the siege of Arauco. This lasted 42 days with the Mapuches losing 500 warriors mostly from dysentery
contracted from drinking contaminated water. Finally they chose to retire and to raise the siege. Shortly afterward, Francisco de Villagra died in Concepcion on June 22, 1563, leaving his cousin Pedro de Villagra as interim governor.
marched over the rain soaked mountains and flooded rivers to Angol. The Mapuche destroyed the fort shortly after the garrison left and harassed their march. Regarding the abandonment of Arauco as a victory, it inspired the Mapuche north of the Bio-bio River to revolt.
In 1564, Pedro de Villagra, took measures to protect all the towns and forts he still held and gathered a field army in Concepcion drawn from all these posts. He knew that one of the Mapuche objectives was to surround Concepcion and preparations were made to support a long siege
. After a brief fight Loble
defeated the troops of captain Francisco de Vaca in the Itata River valley who were coming with reinforcements from Santiago. In addition, Millalelmo
ambushed Spanish reinforcements coming from Angol to the south under captain, Juan Perez de Zurita
, at a crossing of the Andalién River
. Both defeats cut off the city and garrison of Concepcion from outside aid by land. The defeated survivors had to retreat to Santiago and were in no condition to break through the investment
around Concepcion. On the other hand, encouraged by these victories in the north, Illangulién resolved to destroy Los Infantes
before marching to Concepcion.
At Los Infantes the Mapuche blockade grew tighter as they moved closer and closer to the city protected in their well-sited pucaras. Its commander Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado judged them too well defended to attack until they started to build their third pucara close to the city. Then in the Battle of Angol
Lorenzo Bernal drove the Mapuche army out of their pucara and pursued them down to the river and pushed them back into it killing Illangulién and a thousand of his men with many others wounded or captured and the rest of the army dispersed. Afterward Paillataru
was elected as Toqui.
Meanwhile the caciques Millalelmu and Loble with 20,000 warriors from the area between the Itata and Bio-Bio rivers, settled down to the Siege of Concepcion
in February 1564. The Mapuche entered the city, sacking and burning it, crowding all its population within the walls of its fortress with its garrison under Pedro de Villagra. The siege lasted around two months until at the end of March two ships arrived bringing food that would permit the siege to continue for a much longer time. On the other side the Mapuche had used up local sources of food and were finding it difficult to maintain their large force. With the harvest season coming and with the news of their defeat in the Battle of Angol they were nervous that their families might starve or their undefended homes might be attacked from Angol or Santiago. They raised their siege on April 1, and dispersed to their homes for the winter.
After the siege was raised Villagra became aware of an effort to replace him as governor by Martin Ruiz de Gamboa, son-in-law of Rodrigo de Quiroga. Villagra tried to arrest Gamboa who fled overland to Santiago but Villagra sailed to Valparaíso
in a few days with some of his men and arrested him in Santiago when he arrived. Villagra then tried to reorganize the surviving disheartened troops of Vaca and Zurita in Santiago and take them south in October 1564. But he was delayed much longer, spending heavily from the impoverished provincial treasury and contributions exacted from the cities of Chile with difficulty, he slowly refitted and enlarged his army over the winter and spring.
Villagra left the city in mid-January 1565, with 110 Spaniards and gathered 800 Indian auxiliaries from their repartimientos as he marched south to the Maule River. There he linked up with 30 Spaniards under Pedro Hernandez de Cordova
who were observing the frontier with the Mapuche after the Mapuche had blocked their prior attempt to reinforce Concepcion. During the seven months Villagra was in Santiago, the Mapuche north of the Bio-Bio had built a strong pucara on the Perquilauquén River, blocking the road south to Concepcion and in the Second Battle of Reinohuelén Villagra rapidly took it and destroyed the Mapuche army holding it. Soon afterward Villagra ambushed Loble as he was bringing reinforcements and unaware of the defeat he was surprised defeated and captured. Subsequently Villagra established fort San Ildefonso
in the region and was able to suppress the Mapuche revolt north of the Bio-Bio.
by Rodrigo de Quiroga
as the temporary governor in 1565. Quiroga launched a new campaign, organized by Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado
who reconstructed Cañete, and repopulated Arauco
in 1566. He accomplished the conquest of the island of Chiloé
, sending Martín Ruiz de Gamboa
to establish the city of Castro
there, and pacify its inhabitants, the Cuncos. Quiroga returned to find he was to be replaced by the Real Audiencia of Concepcion
in August 1567. In September 1567, the king named Melchor Bravo de Saravia y Sotomayor
to take over the civil and military government of Chile, with the title of governor and he arrived from Lima
in 1568.
became a problematic region of continual warfare where it became increasingly difficult to get soldiers to serve. The Spaniards would possibly have abandoned it if they not feared its colonization by another European nation. Several Spanish generals and nobles were assigned posts in Chile in an attempt to finish the war with the Mapuche.
arrived from Lima in 1568 and recruited 100 new soldiers and gathered food in Santiago province and marched south to join the army near the mouth of the Tavolevo River
in Catirai
.
Toqui Llanganabal
Battle of Catirai
1570 Concepción earthquake
Pailacar
Battle of Purén
Toqui Paineñamcu
or Alonso Diaz
1575 Valdivia earthquake
Juan de Lebú
Governor Martín Ruiz de Gamboa
Tasa de Gamboa
arrived in Chile in 1583 and had to judge accusations against his predecessor, who had become extremely unpopular for the Tasa de Gamboa which had prohibited the payment of taxes by the Indians in the form of labor. Sotomayor later absolved Gamboa entirely but abolished the Tasa de Gamboa and reinstituted the Tasa de Santillán
, with new provisions to humanize the old system, in an attempt to avoid the excesses of the encomenderos against the Indians.
Despite his early successful campaign when he captured Alonso Diaz in 1584, he wanted to extend the conquest of Chile by building a series of forts which would protect each other, the cities and their surrounding lands. They were also to hem in the Moluche and become the secure bases of future campaigns. In 1584, Sotomayor founded the fort of San Fabián de Conueo
in Coelemu
securing communications between Santiago and Concepcion. In 1585 he ordered the construction of forts around Catirai
, Santo Arbol de la Cruz
where the Guaqui River
enters the Bio Bio River, Espíritu Santo
near the mouth of the Tavolevo River
with Santísima Trinidad
directly across the Bio Bio River and in the upper reaches of the Culenco River
, fort San Jerónimo de Millapoa
. In Purén
he also raised another fort, where he placed a small garrison.
Opposing these moves by Sotomayor was the Toqui Cayancaru
who attempted a siege of the fort at Arauco that failed, leading to his abdication of his office in favor of his son Nangoniel
in 1585. Nangoniel returned to invest Arauco again, his cavalry (operating with the army for the first time) prevented the Spaniards from supplying the fort and they were forced to evacuate it. He next moved against the Santísima Trinidad but clashed with a division of Spanish troops, under Francisco Hernandez, where he was wounded and soon hunted down and killed. Cadeguala
was proclaimed Toqui in his place the same day and began operations against Angol, breaking into the city, however he was repulsed by a counterattack. He followed this with a siege of Purén the following year. He drove off a relief force with his cavalry and offered the garrison terms but was refused. He next challenged the commander of the fort, Alonso García de Ramón
, to single combat to decide the fate of the fortress. The two leaders fought on horseback with lances, and Cadeguala fell, killed by his opponent. His army raised the siege but after electing Guanoalca
as toqui returned to successfully drive the poorly supplied Spanish from Purén and burned it in 1586.
Putaén
Janequeo
Fort Livén
Meanwhile Sotomayor had the distraction of an attack by English
pirates under Thomas Cavendish
. When they anchored in Quintero
on April 9, 1587, he was defeated by the Spanish, losing 10 men and continued up the coast of South America
.
Sotomayor rebuilt Purén in 1589 and built a new fort on the heights of Marihueñu
. Guanoalca directed his army against the new Spanish fort but finding it too strongly held, diverted his attacks against Espíritu Santo and the fort of Santísima Trinidad on the opposite shore of the Bio Bio River.
Toqui Quintuguenu
Toqui Paillaeco
Toqui Paillamachu
Governor Pedro de Viscarra
, famous for his capture of Túpac Amaru
was appointed as Captain General
directly by Philip II, who thought him the most likely candidate to finish the Arauco War. Loyola insisted in penetrating Mapuche territory with an army of soldiers coming directly from Panama. He established fort Santa Cruz de Oñez
on the Rele River
near the confluence of the Bio-Bio and Laja River
s in May of 1594. The fort was elevated to the rank of city in 1595 giving it the name of Santa Cruz de Coya
. Later, on 21 December 1598, Oñez de Loyola became the second governor of Chile to die in war with the Mapuches, surprised by Pelantaro
in the Disaster of Curalaba
.
that eliminated all Spanish settlements south of the Bio-Bio River
with the exception of those in Chiloé Archipelago
. The viceroy of Peru hastily appointed Francisco de Quiñónez
as replacement for the deceased Loyola. He was an experienced military man with great prudence but with little aptitude for the crisis that he was called upon to face. This governor discovered the terrible state of the colony and asked urgently for reinforcements. Meanwhile he tried to support those places that were possible to defend. Nevertheless, things were soon out of his control despite everything done to stabilize the situation, and he sickened and asked for his relief.
In September 1600, Alonso García de Ramón
the old maestro de campo of Alonso de Sotomayor, arrived as the interim governor of Chile. Using extraordinary measures he organized an army of 400 men and relieved the cities of Chillan and Concepcion and attempted to advance to relieve Villarica but turned back when the Mapuche besieged Arauco.
arrived in Concepción in February, 1601.
Toqui Huenecura
Battle of Boroa
Toqui Aillavilu
Toqui Anganamón
Luis Merlo de la Fuente
Juan de la Jaraquemada
at the specific request of Father Luis de Valdivia
. Valdivia was the originator of a new system of defensive warfare in Chile. He planned a static frontier
separating the Spanish zone from the Indigenous zone, permitting none but missionaries to enter the south from the Spanish side. The king was in agreement, and although Ribera himself did not totally agree, he followed the royal orders and established the defensive system.
Luis de Valdivia arraigned the Parliament of Catirai in May 1612 to make a peace with the Mapuche of the region. The terms of the peace were that the two sides would not make war on each other and captives would be returned by both sides. The Spanish were to dismantle the Fort of San Jerónimo
, and the Mapuche would warn the Spaniards of the arrival of pirate ships on their coast. Spanish missionaries and messengers were to be permitted in Mapuche territory. In November of the same year the Parliament of Paicaví was held to make a similar peace with the regions of Elicura and Purén and the Spanish promised the destruction of the fort of Santa Fe
. However the peace collapsed when a Spanish woman the Toqui Anganamón held captive and some of his wives left him to take refuge with the Spanish. When the Spanish would not send them back he attacked and killed the priests Valdivia sent into Mapuche territory and their Mapuche escorts in the Martyrdom of Elicura on December 14. Hostilities then resumed as before.
Toqui Loncothegua
Lientur
Catalina de Erauso
Luis Fernández de Córdoba y Arce
Toqui Butapichón
Battle of Las Cangrejeras
Francisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán
Francisco Laso de la Vega
Ambush of Picolhué
Battle of Los Robles
Toqui Quepuantú
Battle of La Albarrada
Toqui Huenucalquin
Toqui Curanteo
Toqui Curimilla
Toqui Lincopinchon
Parliament of Quillin (1641)
Martín de Mujica y Buitrón
1647 Santiago earthquake
Parliament of Quilín (1647)
Alonso de Figueroa y Córdoba
Francisco Antonio de Acuña Cabrera y Bayona
The last major uprising came in 1655 when Mapuche armies under Clentaru overwhelmed the Spaniards and came to the shores of the Maule River
. After that, the Spanish tactics varied from a "defensive war" proposed by Jesuit missionaries, and parliaments with lonco
s to make agreements with the Mapuche in so called parliaments. This allowed the growth of commerce and increased the mestization
.
from 1682 to 1692, had proposed to embark on a major campaign against the Mapuche
s to the viceroy of Peru
, Melchor de Navarra y Rocafull
Duke of La Plata, and the King of Spain. He planned that the Mapuche chiefs and elders be invited to a conference where they were to be imprisoned so that Araucanía could be pacified relatively bloodlessly. However, in 1686, King Charles II of Spain
rejected the plan as deceitful. In 1685, Garro decreed the depopulation of the Isla Mocha, with the goal of denying resources to pirates who were then ravaging the Pacific coast of Chile. The islands Mapuche natives were settled in a reducción
on what is now the modern site of Concepcion
.
The government of Tomás Marín de Poveda of was marked by the brief flare up of the War of Arauco in 1694, with the Toqui Millapán when the Mapuche were incited by the unauthorized activities of Antonio Pedreros against the machi
s of the Mapuche. Pedreros died of wounds when his force tried to cross the Quepe River
to attack the army of Millapán. The Spanish army of the Kingdom of Chile
was then sent against Millapán under Maestre de Campo Alonso de Cordova y Figueroa
and the Sargento Mayor
Alonso Cobarrubias. It was impossible for Millapán to resist and he had to capitulate. The governor then held the 1694 Parliament of Choque-Choque with the Mapuche, realizing Pedreros had been the source of the dispute and made a peace that lasted for nearly thirty years.
Mapuche Uprising of 1723.
Toqui Vilumilla
Gabriel Cano de Aponte
Parliament of Negrete (1726)
1751 Concepción earthquake
Mapuche Uprising of 1759
Antonio de Guill y Gonzaga
Parliament of Nacimiento 1764
Curiñancu
Mapuche Uprising of 1766
Juan de Balmaseda y Censano Beltrán
Lebian
Francisco Javier de Morales y Castejón de Arrollo
Taipilabquén
Parliament of Negrete (1771)
Agustín de Jáuregui y Aldecoa
Parliament of Tapihue (1774)
Ambrosio de Benavides
Treaty of Lonquilmo (1784)
, Ambrosio O'Higgins were ordered by the Spanish King to open a way between Maullín
and Valdivia over Huilliche
territory. This caused alarm among the Huilliche of the Llanos of Osorno (flatlands of Osorno) who decided to ally with the Huilliche Aillarehue
s of the Río Bueno
Valley and around Lake Ranco in the north to ask for the intervention of the Governor of Valdivia, Mariano Pusterla. Mariano Pusterla had good relations with the Huilliches of Río Bueno and Ranco because of his support for pacific contact and missionary campaign, refusing establishing any new fort in their territory. The Governor of Chiloé, Francisco Hurtado, supported instead a hard line against the Huilliches and threatened with a military invasion.
On February of 1789 the Peace Treaty of Río Bueno was signed between Huilliche chiefs and colonial authorities. This treaty diverted a possible invasion from Chiloé and gave the Huilliches of Osorno support against the malón
es of the Aillarehue of Quilacahuín
from the authorities of Valdivia. At that point the Huilliches offered to facilitate the opening of the new Camino Real
and to allow Spaniards occupy Osorno, a city that had been abandoned in 1602. The treaty also allowed Spaniards to settle and form hacienda
s north of Bueno River
.
Abuses from the Spanish and the fast advance of them in establishing new haciendas made several chiefs change mind and form an alliance of the following cacique
s; Tangol from Río Bueno
, Queipul and Catrihuala. The Huilliche Rebellion of 1792 began with this event, and they soon started to pillage haciendas, missions with the ultimate aim of assaulting Valdivia, which despite being well defended from north and west, seemed vulnerable for a land attack by the southeast.
Despite the limited extent of the rebellion, that never really menaced Valdivia, the Spanish authorities responded to it with rigour. Governor O'Higgins choose the captain Tomás de Figueroa to lead the reprisal. Figueroa set fire to ruca
s and croplands where his troops passed and arrested a large number of male Huilliche
s as suspected rebels. After that, the Spanish considered it convenient to sign a new treaty with the Huilliche leaders, for which a parliament was held in Las Canoas, in what is now modern day Osorno
, in 1793. While in the treaty of Río Bueno the Spanish had been allowed to form haciendas north of Bueno River
, establishing that watercourse as a de facto
frontier, the Spanish now went on to set up haciendas south of it.
The same year, 1793, a new parliament was held in Negrete on the northern frontier with the aim of ratifying and renewing the older Treaty of Lonquilmo from 1783. Copying older treaties, the King of Spain was confirmed as the sovereign of the Araucanía, while the possession of the land was reserved for the Mapuche
s, which resulted in a de jure
sovereignty of the King of Spain but in a de facto
independence of the Mapuche-controlled lands. The treaty was held from March 4 to March 7, with many banquets of wine and meat being held for the numerous participants. The whole treaty cost 10.897 pesos, which was, according to Diego Barros Arana
, an enormous amount of money, considering the size of Chile's treasury.
Gabino Gaínza
negotiated with Mapuche chiefs during the Parliament of Quilín in 1814 and gained their support against the Chilean patriots.
In 1817 and 1818 the royalists had suffered many defeats, but continued resistance in south Central Chile together with the aid of some Mapuches. José de San Martín
who had liberated north-central Chile with Bernardo O'Higgins
launched a series of actions against armed bands in the mountains, consisting of assorted outlaws, royalists, and Indians who had taken advantage of the chaos of military expeditions and forced recruitments to pillage and sack the countryside. This time of irregular warfare was later called the Guerra a muerte
(Fight to the death) for its merciless tactics, as neither the guerillas nor the government soldiers took prisoners. Only after the band of Vicente Benavides
was liquidated in 1822 was the region around Concepcion finally pacified. Peace was fully established only on January 7, 1825, during the rule of Ramon Freire, the Parliament of Tapihue was held, between Chile and the Mapuches south of the Bio Bio River, which fixed that river as the border between Chile and Araucanía, ending the state of war which had lasted fourteen years, with the Republic of Chile.
and Toltén River
(Araucanía). With the proclamation of the Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia
by Orélie-Antoine de Tounens it became a priority to incorporate the Araucanía even if Orélie Antonie never was a serious threat.
The authorities decided to apply the plan proposed by General Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez
which included a mix of military and cultural penetration together with agreements with local chiefs. The plan also included the foundation of cities, building of roads and other public infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.
and founded the city of Angol
, together with the forts of Mulchén
and Lebu
in 1862. From Valdivia
in the south the troops also succeeded in advancing along the coast into the Toltén River. This first phase of occupation was carried out with relatively low levels of resistance, but soon after the lonco
Quilapán started a revolt near Malleco River.
When the War of the Pacific
started in 1879 much of the troops in the south of Chile were moved north to fight Peru
and Bolivia
. In 1880 several Mapuche tribes took advantage of this situation and launched a series of spontaneous attacks on to the Chilean forts established in the frontier.
With a victorious Chilean army returning from the War of the Pacific, the government of Domingo Santa María
launched the final campaign to incorporate the heartland of the Mapuches into Chile. Colonel Gregorio Urrutia was chosen for this task.
The old Spanish town of Villarrica
was refounded and the forts of Carahue
, Lautaro
, Pillánlelbu, Temuco
, Nueva Imperial
and Pucón
where founded. The tribes living close to this forts their territory, and about 10,000 Mapuche Indians were killed in skirmishes by the Chilean army. Many of the survivors escaped to mountains where they joined with the Pehuenche
s and other tribes escaping from Argentine territory. Some indigenous remnants were placed into reductions and their land was given to Chilean and foreign settlers. Some historians consider the occupation of the Araucanía to be the end of a 300-years long War of Arauco.
Another modern conflict has been the fight against foreign transnational forest companies that substituted (when it was legal) native forest with Douglas Fir, Pinus radiata and and eucalyptus globulus
plantations. More militant, yet controversial groups, such as the Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco
have re-initiated decades long disputes over land. Today many of these movements are isolated and have lost significant popular backing due to accusations of government infiltration and sabotage.
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
people in what is now the Araucanía
Araucanía Region
The IX Araucanía Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions and comprises two provinces: Malleco in the north and Cautín in the south....
and Biobío regions of modern Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. The conflict lasted three centuries, making it one of the longest wars in history.
The beginning of the conflict is usually placed at the Battle of Reynogüelén, which occurred in 1536 between an expedition of Diego de Almagro
Diego de Almagro
Diego de Almagro, , also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo , was a Spanish conquistador and a companion and later rival of Francisco Pizarro. He participated in the Spanish conquest of Peru and is credited as the first European discoverer of Chile.Almagro lost his left eye battling with coastal...
and a well-organized and numerous group of Mapuche soldiers, near the confluence of the Ñuble
Ñuble River
The Ñuble River or Rio Ñuble is a river of the province of Ñuble, located in southern Chile in the Biobío Region. Its main tributaries are Chillán and Claro River. The Ñuble River discharges into the Itata River.- External links :*...
and Itata
Itata River
The Itata River flows in the Bío-Bío Region, southern Chile.Until the Conquest of Chile the Itata was the natural limit between the Mapuche, located to the south, and Picunche, to the north.-References:* . - External links :*...
rivers.
Its end, however, is more difficult to pin down. After 1609, each governor of Chile held Parlamentos with the Mapuche chiefs, in which they discussed the maintenance of a treaty between both parties, violations of which were quite frequent. Spain ended its war with the Mapuche after the 1803 Parliament of Negrete.
During the Chilean War of Independence the Spanish negotiated an alliance with Mapuche chiefs against the Chilean patriots during the 1814 Parliament of Quilín. Thus the conflict was inherited by the Republic of Chile. Following the defeat of Spain hostilitieas were ended for a time by the 1825 Parliament of Tapihue. However, conflict later resumed and Mapuche resistance was finally ended with the occupation of Araucanía between 1861 and 1883.
Campaigns of Pedro de Valdivia (1546–1553)
Conquest of Chile
The Conquest of Chile is a period in Chilean historiography that starts with the arrival of Pedro de Valdivia to Chile in 1541 and ends with the death of Martín García Óñez de Loyola, in the Battle of Curalaba in 1598 or alternatively with the Destruction of the Seven Cities. This was the period...
, the Spanish conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
Pedro de Valdivia
Pedro de Valdivia
Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, where he served as lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro in Peru, acting as his second in command...
conducted a nine year campaign to secure the city of Santiago
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
, which had been destroyed on September 11, 1541 by the Mapochoes
Mapochoes
Mapochoes were the name given by the Spanish to the Picunche tribes living north of the Promaucaes in Chile, in the area of the Maipo River basin of Santiago, Chile and south of the Choapa River that had been part of the Inca Empire at the time the Spanish first came into Chile....
under the direction of their chief, Michimalonco
Michimalonco
Michima Lonco was an indigenous chief said to be a great warrior, born in the Aconcagua Valley and educated in Cusco by the Inca Empire. He presented himself to the Spaniards, naked and covered by a black pigmentation...
. Valdivia hoped to enlarge the territory under his jurisdiction and, despite injuries from a fall from his horse, resolved to take personal command of a land expedition into Araucanía.
In 1544, sent a naval expedition comprising the bark
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
s, San Pedro and Santiaguillo, under the command of Juan Bautista Pastene
Juan Bautista Pastene
Giovanni Battista Pastene was a Genoese maritime explorer who while in the service of the Spanish crown, explored the coasts of Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile as far south as to the archipelago of Chiloé....
, to reconnoiter the southwestern coast of South America to the Strait of Magellan
Strait of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan comprises a navigable sea route immediately south of mainland South America and north of Tierra del Fuego...
. The expedition set sail from Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
, entered the bay of San Pedro
Bay of Concepción
The Bay of Concepción is a natural bay on the coast of the Province of Concepción in the Biobío Region of Chile. Within the bay are many of the most important ports of the region and the country, among them Penco, Talcahuano, and Lirquén....
, and made landings at what is now known as Concepción
Concepción, Chile
Concepción is a city in Chile, capital of Concepción Province and of the Biobío Region or Region VIII. Greater Concepción is the second-largest conurbation in the country, with 889,725 inhabitants...
and at Valdivia
Valdivia, Chile
Valdivia is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia and Cau-Cau Rivers, approximately east of the coastal towns of Corral and Niebla...
, which was later named in honor of the commander. Encountering severe storms further south, he then returned to Valparaiso.
Valdivia himself set out in 1546, with sixty horsemen plus native guides and porters, and crossed the Itata River
Itata River
The Itata River flows in the Bío-Bío Region, southern Chile.Until the Conquest of Chile the Itata was the natural limit between the Mapuche, located to the south, and Picunche, to the north.-References:* . - External links :*...
and were attacked by Mapuche
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
warriors in the Battle of Quilacura
Battle of Quilacura
Battle of Quilacura was a battle in the Arauco War, fought at night, four leagues from the Bio-Bio River, between the Spanish expedition of Pedro de Valdivia and a force of Mapuche warriors led by Malloquete on February 11, 1546.-Sources:...
near the Bío-Bío River
Bío-Bío River
The Biobío River is the second largest river in Chile. It originates from Icalma and Galletué lakes in the Andes and flows 380 km to the Gulf of Arauco on the Pacific Ocean....
. Realizing that it would be impossible to proceed in such hostile territory with so limited a force, Valdivia wisely elected to return to Santiago after finding a site for a new city at what is now Penco
Penco
Penco is a Chilean city and commune in Concepción Province, Biobío Region on the Bay of Concepción. Founded as the city of Concepción del Nuevo Extremo on February 12, 1550 by Pedro de Valdivia, it is the third oldest city in the country after Santiago founded first in 1541 and La Serena second...
and that would become the first site of Concepción
Concepción, Chile
Concepción is a city in Chile, capital of Concepción Province and of the Biobío Region or Region VIII. Greater Concepción is the second-largest conurbation in the country, with 889,725 inhabitants...
.
Founding of Concepción, Imperial, and Valdivia
In 1550, a new expedition was launched, consisting of a naval force under Pastene, and a land force of two hundred Spaniards mounted and foot and a number of MapochoMapochoes
Mapochoes were the name given by the Spanish to the Picunche tribes living north of the Promaucaes in Chile, in the area of the Maipo River basin of Santiago, Chile and south of the Choapa River that had been part of the Inca Empire at the time the Spanish first came into Chile....
auxiliaries under Valdivia. They planned to reunite on the shores of the Bay of Concepción. The expedition advanced beyond the Itata River
Itata River
The Itata River flows in the Bío-Bío Region, southern Chile.Until the Conquest of Chile the Itata was the natural limit between the Mapuche, located to the south, and Picunche, to the north.-References:* . - External links :*...
and Laja River
Laja River (Chile)
Laja River is a river in Chile, along which can be found the Laja Falls. It is located in the Bío-Bío Region. The source of the river is Laguna del Laja in the Andes, then flows westward through the Chilean Central Valley and terminates into the Bío-Bío River, being an important tributary of...
, to the shores of the Bío-Bío River
Bío-Bío River
The Biobío River is the second largest river in Chile. It originates from Icalma and Galletué lakes in the Andes and flows 380 km to the Gulf of Arauco on the Pacific Ocean....
. Along the way they had several battles with groups of Mapuche
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
s as they explored the region killing many with little loss to themselves. After spending over a week in the area and encountering increasing opposition, the Spanish marched toward the Sea through the valleys of the Laja and Bío-Bío rivers, towards the coast at Penco. On the banks of the Andalién River
Andalién River
The Andalién river is a river in the province of Concepcion that was formed north northeast of the city of Florida and flows west to and crosses part of the city of Concepción, Chile, and then north through the communes of Penco and Talcahuano, ending at the Bay of Concepción.- Source :* pg. 31-32...
, they camped for two days between the river and a lake, where they were attacked on the second night by a large force of Araucanians
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
under their toqui
Toqui
Toqui is a title conferred by the Mapuche to those who are chosen as their leaders during times of war. The toqui is chosen in an assembly or parliament of the chieftains of the various clans or confederation of clans , allied during the war in question...
Ainavillo
Ainavillo
Ainavillo, Aynabillo, Aillavilu or Aillavilú, was the toqui of the Mapuche army from the provinces of "Ñuble, Itata, Renoguelen, Guachimavida, Marcande, Gualqui, Penco and Talcaguano." They tried to stop Pedro de Valdivia from invading their lands in 1550...
in the Battle of Andalien
Battle of Andalien
The battle of Andalien, fought in early February 1550, was a night action between 20,000 Mapuche under the command of their toqui Ainavillo and Pedro de Valdivia's 200 Spaniards on horse and afoot with a large number of Yanacona including 300 Mapochoes auxiliaries under their leader...
. The night attack was defeated in a furious battle, the Spaniards suffered one killed and many wounds to men and especially their mounts. After a day treating their wounds they continued towards their rendezvous at the Bay of Concepción. There Valdivia began building a fort at what is now Penco.
On February 23, Pastene's fleet anchored in the bay, brought supplies, reinforcements and provided materials to finish the fort. On March 1 Valdivia founded here the city of Concepción del Nuevo Extremo
Penco
Penco is a Chilean city and commune in Concepción Province, Biobío Region on the Bay of Concepción. Founded as the city of Concepción del Nuevo Extremo on February 12, 1550 by Pedro de Valdivia, it is the third oldest city in the country after Santiago founded first in 1541 and La Serena second...
. On March 3 of that year, the fort was completed and was attacked nine days later by the largest force of Mapuches yet seen in the Battle of Penco
Battle of Penco
The Battle of Penco, on March 12, 1550 was a battle between 60,000 Mapuche under the command of their toqui Ainavillo with his Araucan and Tucapel allies and Pedro de Valdivia's 200 Spaniards on horse and afoot with a large number of Yanacona inclucing 300 Mapochoes auxiliaries under their leader...
. This force was broken and routed despite the small size of the Spanish forces. Despite the resulting submission of the local tribes, Valdivia sent an emissary to the Viceroy of Peru, asking for additional forces; he knew that it would not be possible to complete the conquest of Araucanía with only the forces at his disposal. After reinforcement at Concepción in 1551, he organized another expedition to establish the fort La Imperial
Carahue
Carahue is a city and commune in southern Chile. It is located 56 km west of Temuco, on the northern bank of the Imperial River.The city was founded as La Imperial April 16, 1552 by Pedro de Valdivia....
on the banks of the Imperial River
Imperial River (Chile)
Imperial River is a river located in the Araucanía Region of Chile. It is formed at the confluence of the Chol Chol and Cautín Rivers in the vicinity of the city of Nueva Imperial....
. He then returned to Concepción to prepare another expedition and await the reinforcements the Viceroy had promised to send by sea.
Leaving orders that the new troops should disembark on the Tierras de Valdivia that Pastene had discovered earlier, Valdivia left with two hundred soldiers in the direction of Fort Imperial. Once he had passed it on his way south, he ordered Jerónimo de Alderete
Jerónimo de Alderete
Jerónimo de Alderete y Mercado was a Spanish conquistador who was later named governor Chile, but died before he could assume his post.-Early life:...
to drive inland and establish a fort, with the goal of securing his eastern flank. To this end, Alderente reached Lake Villarrica
Lake Villarrica
Lake Villarrica, also known as Mallolafquén , is located about 700 kilometers south of Santiago in Chile’s Lake District in the southeast area of the Province of Cautín...
and established a fort
Villarrica, Chile
Villarrica is a city and commune in southern Chile located on the western shore of Villarrica Lake in the Province of Cautín, Araucanía Region south of Santiago and close to the Villarrica Volcano ski center to the south east. Residents of Villarrica are known as Villarriquences.Tourism, grain and...
there. Meanwhile, Valdivia's column advanced southwards and joined the reinforcements sent from Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, under the command of Francisco de Villagra
Francisco de Villagra
Francisco de Villagra Velázquez was a Spanish conquistador, and three times governor of Chile.-Early life:Born at [Santervás de Campos], he was the son of Alvaro de Sarría and Ana Velázquez de Villagra, who were not married. For this reason he took the name of his mother...
. There, the city of Santa María la Blanca de Valdivia
Valdivia, Chile
Valdivia is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia and Cau-Cau Rivers, approximately east of the coastal towns of Corral and Niebla...
was established. After garrisoning these new places, Valdivia returned to his base at Concepción in 1552 where rich placer gold mines were found in the Quilacoya River
Quilacoya River
Quilacoya River is located in the Hualqui commune of Concepcion Province of Chile. It has course of about 40 kilometers with a small volume. It originates in the southern slopes of the series of heights of Lucay that run from east to west in the southern part of the commune of Florida...
valley.
Lautaro and the Battle of Tucapel
With the goal of securing the lines of communication with the southern forts, Valdivia launched a third expedition which established forts at TucapelTucapel
Tucapel is a town and commune in the Arauco Province, Biobío Region, Chile. It was once a region of Araucanía named for the Tucapel River. The name of the region derived from the rehue and aillarehue of the Moluche people of the area between the Lebu and the Lleulleu Rivers, who were famed for...
, Purén
Purén
Purén is a city and commune in Malleco Province of Araucanía Region, Chile. It is located in the west base of the Nahuelbuta mountain range . The economical activity of Purén is based in forest exploitation and agriculture...
, Confines
Angol
Angol is a commune and capital city of the Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region of southern Chile. It is located at the foot of the Nahuelbuta Range and next to the Vergara River, that permitted communications by small boats to the Bío-Bío River and Concepción. This strategic position explains...
and Arauco
Arauco, Chile
Arauco is a city and commune in Chile, located in Arauco Province in the Biobio Region. The meaning of Arauco means Chalky Water in Mapudungun. The region was a Moluche aillarehue...
. The Araucanians didn't offer any resistance to the conquistadors in their fort-building. In October 1553, the Quilacoya gold mine was opened and large numbers of Mapuche were forced to work in it.
In 1553, the Mapuches held a council at which, because of the growth of Spanish forces in their territory, they resolved to make war. They chose as their "toqui"
Toqui
Toqui is a title conferred by the Mapuche to those who are chosen as their leaders during times of war. The toqui is chosen in an assembly or parliament of the chieftains of the various clans or confederation of clans , allied during the war in question...
(wartime chief) a man called Caupolicán
Caupolican
Caupolicán was a Toqui, the military leader of the Mapuche people of Chile, that commanded their army during the first Mapuche rising against the Spanish conquistadors from 1553 to 1558....
and as his vice toqui Lautaro, because he had served as an auxiliary to the Spanish cavalry, his experiences with the Spanish gave him insight into the best methods for fighting the conquistadors.
With six thousand warriors under his command, Lautaro attacked the fort at Tucapel
Tucapel
Tucapel is a town and commune in the Arauco Province, Biobío Region, Chile. It was once a region of Araucanía named for the Tucapel River. The name of the region derived from the rehue and aillarehue of the Moluche people of the area between the Lebu and the Lleulleu Rivers, who were famed for...
. The Spanish garrison was unable to withstand the assault and retreated to Purén
Purén
Purén is a city and commune in Malleco Province of Araucanía Region, Chile. It is located in the west base of the Nahuelbuta mountain range . The economical activity of Purén is based in forest exploitation and agriculture...
and Lautaro seized and burned the fort and prepared his army certain that the Spaniards would attempt to retake Tucapel. Valdivia, with a reduced force, mounted a counter-attack, but he was quickly surrounded and his army was massacred by the Mapuches in the Battle of Tucapel
Battle of Tucapel
The Battle of Tucapel is the name given to a battle fought between Spanish conquistador forces led by Pedro de Valdivia and Mapuche Indians under Lautaro that took place at Tucapel, Chile on December 25, 1553...
. This was Pedro de Valdivia's last battle; he was captured and later killed in captivity.
Campaigns of Caupolicán and Lautaro (1554–1557)
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
hurriedly reorganized their forces, reinforcing fort Imperial for its defence and abandoning Confines and Arauco in order to strengthen Concepción. However, Araucanian tradition dictated a lengthy victory celebration, which kept Lautaro from exploiting the weakness of the Spanish position as he desired. It was only in February of 1554 that he succeeded in putting together an army of 8,000 men, just in time to confront a punitive expedition
Punitive expedition
A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a state or any group of persons outside the borders of the punishing state. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavior, but may be also be a covered revenge...
under the command of Francisco de Villagra
Francisco de Villagra
Francisco de Villagra Velázquez was a Spanish conquistador, and three times governor of Chile.-Early life:Born at [Santervás de Campos], he was the son of Alvaro de Sarría and Ana Velázquez de Villagra, who were not married. For this reason he took the name of his mother...
at the Battle of Marihueñu
Battle of Marihueñu
Battle of Marihueñu was one of the early decisive battles of the Arauco War between the Mapuche leader Lautaro and the Spanish general Francisco de Villagra on 23 February 1554.-History:...
.
Despite this new victory, Lautaro was again unable to pursue the opportunity due to the celebrations and beliefs of his people. By the time he arrived at Concepción, it was already abandoned. After burning it, he could not continue the offensive with his remaining forces, and the campaign came to an end as the warriors demobilized.
In Santiago
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
, Villagra reorganized his forces, and that same year of 1554, he departed again for Arauco and reinforced the strongholds of Imperial and Valdivia, which allowed the garrisons and their Indian friends to make many raids on the surrounding Mapuche settlements, burning houses and fields and killing all they found. Resulting devastation produced a famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
and an epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
among the hostile Mapuche around those cities. Meanwhile, in the north during 1554, news of the victories of Lautauro lead to uprisings by the previously subdued Promaucaes
Promaucaes
Promaucaes, Promaucas or Purumaucas ; pre-Columbian Mapuche tribal group that lived in the present territory of Chile, south of the Maipo River basin of Santiago, Chile and the Itata River,...
in the valley of the Mataquito River
Mataquito River
Mataquito is a river located in the Province of Curicó, Maule Region of Chile and formed by the union of rivers Teno and Lontué about 10 kilometers west of Curicó near the locality of Sagrada Familia and empties into the Pacific Ocean south of the town of Iloca, Licantén.- Source :*...
and the Picunche
Picunche
The Picunche , also referred to as picones by the Spanish, were a mapudungun speaking Chilean people living to the north of the Mapuches or Araucanians and south of the Choapa River and the Diaguitas...
in the valley of the Aconcagua River
Aconcagua River
For other uses, see Aconcagua .The Aconcagua River is a river in Chile that rises from the joint of two minor tributary rivers at above sea level in the Andes, Juncal river from the east and Blanco river from the south east...
but these were put down.
In 1555, the Real Audiencia in Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
, ordered Villagra to reconstruct Concepción, which was accomplished by Capitan Alvarado and 75 colonists. When he learned that it was being rebuilt, Lautaro again attacked Concepción with 4,000 warriors. Alvarado attempted to defeat Lautaro's army outside the city then fled to the city pursued by Lautaro's army. Only 38 Spaniards managed to escape by sea from this second destruction of the city. Following this victory in 1556, the Promauces sent a message to the Mapuche of Arauco promising food to support their army and warriors to join it in a war against the Spanish in Santiago.
Lautaro's campaigns against Santiago
After his victories in the south and the messages promising support from the north, Lautaro planned an assault on SantiagoSantiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
. With the ravages of the recent epidemic and the needs of the campaign against the Spanish still occupying cities within Mapuche territory still going on, he was not able to draw many troops from the main Mapuche army for his campaign to the north. He had to rely on recruiting warriors among the people north of the Bio Bio River among subjugated Mapuche and the Promaucaes north of the Itata River
Itata River
The Itata River flows in the Bío-Bío Region, southern Chile.Until the Conquest of Chile the Itata was the natural limit between the Mapuche, located to the south, and Picunche, to the north.-References:* . - External links :*...
, who were now inspired by the previous successes of Lautaro to revolt again.
But when he entered the places subject to Santiago, he began taking reprisals against the Promaucaes who refused to join him, doing great damage and depopulating the land. The refugees fled to the city for aid and protection.
In October 1556 he reached the Mataquito River
Mataquito River
Mataquito is a river located in the Province of Curicó, Maule Region of Chile and formed by the union of rivers Teno and Lontué about 10 kilometers west of Curicó near the locality of Sagrada Familia and empties into the Pacific Ocean south of the town of Iloca, Licantén.- Source :*...
in his northward march. There he built a fortified camp near Teno
Teno
Teno is a Chilean city and commune in the Curicó Province, Maule Region. A large percentage of inhabitants are of mestizo and Mapuche Indian origin...
in a place called Peteroa
Peteroa
Peteroa is a small town west southwest of the town of Sagrada Familia, Chile.Peteroa is also the name of the location of the fortress built by Lautaro and the site of the Battle of Peteroa. This location is uncertain and sometimes confused with the place on the Mataquito River where Lautaro was...
as a base of operations against Santiago. Lautaro ambushed a first probe by a small Spanish force from Santiago. A larger force under Pedro de Villagra
Pedro de Villagra
Pedro de Villagra y Martínez was a Spanish soldier who participated in the conquest of Chile, being appointed its Royal Governor between 1563 and 1565....
later attacked the fortress at Peteroa
Battle of Peteroa
Battle of Peteroa was a battle in the Arauco War in 1556, in a place in a plain beside a river in the Mataquito River valley, called Peteroa....
over several days but were not able to take it and were forced away by flooding. However, with unfavorable losses and more Spaniards coming to Villagra's support, Lautaro retreated towards the Maule River
Maule river
The Maule river is one of the most important rivers of Chile and is inextricably linked to this country's pre-Hispanic times, the country's conquest, colonial period, wars of Independence, modern history, agriculture , culture , religion, economy and politics...
hoping to establish himself there. However, the Spanish cavalry of Juan Godíñez
Juan Godíñez
Juan Godíñez Conquistador Juan Godínez, was born in the city of Úbeda, Spain. He came to the Americas in 1532. After coming to Peru, he campaigned with Diego de Almagro in Chile. He later served in Peru in the subjugation of Manco Inca, and in the expeditions of the captains Pedro de Candia and...
pursued to the Maule River cutting down stragglers and one of Lautaro's detachments was cut to pieces. Lautaro's army gave them the slip, but was forced to fall back beyond the Itata River
Itata River
The Itata River flows in the Bío-Bío Region, southern Chile.Until the Conquest of Chile the Itata was the natural limit between the Mapuche, located to the south, and Picunche, to the north.-References:* . - External links :*...
. Captain Gudiñez returned victorious from this pursuit and put great fear into the Promaucaes by punishing them with destruction of their herds, fields and houses and by cutting off some heads, as a lesson not to call upon the Mapuche army or give aid to them.
In January 1557, Francisco de Villagra
Francisco de Villagra
Francisco de Villagra Velázquez was a Spanish conquistador, and three times governor of Chile.-Early life:Born at [Santervás de Campos], he was the son of Alvaro de Sarría and Ana Velázquez de Villagra, who were not married. For this reason he took the name of his mother...
marched south to aid the remaining cities against the Mapuche army led by Caupolicán. Informed by his allies the city of Santiago was now relatively unprotected, Lautaro evaded Villagra, letting him pass to the south while he marched again toward Santiago with a new army including allies under Panigualgo. However Lautaro's mistreatment of the intimidated local Indians to extract provisions had created dissension among his allies. His allies separated from him after the army reached the Mataquito River at Lora
Lora, Chile
Lora is a town on the Mataquito River, in the Licantén commune of the Curicó Province, Maule Region, in Chile. It was named for the tribe of Promaucaes that inhabited the region.- Sources :* Originally published in 1891....
, after a dispute over his actions with an allied leader named Chillan who accused Lautaro of acting like the Spaniards. He moved his remaining army over a league up river and again established a fortified camp on the Mataquito River amid a carrizal at the foot of a wooded hill. However, its location was betrayed to Francisco de Villagra by local Indians previously abused by Lautaro. Villagra sent word to Juan Godíñez near Santiago to meet him as he hurried north. The Spanish forces met without Lautaro being alerted and made a surprise night march over the hills of Caune, to the hill overlooking Lautaro's camp, on the shore of the Mataquito River. On April 29, at dawn Villagra began the Battle of Mataquito
Battle of Mataquito
Battle of Mataquito was a battle in the Arauco War on April 30, 1557, a dawn surprise attack on Lautaro's fortified camp between a wooded mountain and the shore of the Mataquito River...
with a surprise attack on the camp in which they killed Lautaro and obtained a decisive victory, destroying his army and dispersing his allies.
Campaigns of Caupolicán and García Hurtado de Mendoza
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
while returning to Chile, García Hurtado de Mendoza was designated the interim governor of Chile in 1557, and immediately sailed south from Peru, this time with a much stronger force than before: 600 soldiers, 6 pieces of artillery, and 1,000 horses. He landed in La Serena and had the rival contenders for the governorship, Francisco de Villagra and Francisco de Aguirre
Francisco de Aguirre (conquistador)
Francisco de Aguirre was a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.-Early life:...
arrested and sent to Peru and put his own men in control of the province. Sending his cavalry by land he sailed south in winter and landed in early June 1557 on the island of La Quiriquina at the mouth of the Bay of Concepción. He ordered a party to land at Penco and reconstruct the fort of Concepción. A Mapuche army attempted to storm the fort but were defeated by artillery and gunfire. After his cavalry and horses arrived overland from Santiago, Mendoza began his advance to the south of the Bio-Bio and another Mapuche army including Galvarino
Galvarino (Mapuche)
Galvarino was a famous Mapuche warrior during the early part of the Arauco War. He fought and was taken prisoner along with one hundred and fifty other Mapuche, in the Battle of Lagunillas against governor García Hurtado de Mendoza...
attempted to stop them in the open field in the Battle of Lagunillas
Battle of Lagunillas
The Battle of Lagunillas was a battle in the Arauco War on November 8, 1557 between the army of García Hurtado de Mendoza and the Mapuche army near some shallow lakes a league south of the Bio-Bio River.-History:...
but again were defeated after hard fighting and as a result their fortress at Andalicán
Andalicán
Andalicán during the era of conquest and colonial times in Chile was the name of the high hill in the middle of two ravines and site of a fortress built by the Mapuche in 1557 to prevent García Hurtado de Mendoza from invading Araucanía north of Marihueñu and the valley of Colcura...
the gateway to Arauco
Arauco Province
Arauco Province is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Biobío . It spans a coastal area of just south of the mouth of the Biobío River, the traditional demarcation between the nation's major natural regions, Zona Central and Zona Sur...
was left undefended and was captured soon after the battle.
Caupolicán lead the Mapuche unsuccessfully resisting the advance of Hurtado de Mendoza by attacking him from ambush in the Battle of Millarapue
Battle of Millarapue
The Battle of Millarapue that occurred November 30, 1557 was intended by the Toqui Caupolicán as a Mapuche ambush of the Spanish army of García Hurtado de Mendoza that resulted in a Spanish victory when the ambush failed.-History:...
. After further fighting near the site of the ruined fortress of Tucapel, Mendoza built the fort and city of Cañete de la Frontera and continued to the south. There he established the city of Osorno
Osorno, Chile
Osorno is a city and commune in southern Chile and capital of Osorno Province in the Los Lagos Region. It had a population of 145,475, as of the 2002 census...
and explored southward to the Gulf of Ancud
Gulf of Ancud
Gulf of Ancud is a large body of water separating the Chiloé Island from the mainland of Chile. It is located at .-External links:*...
. Attempting to throw off the Spanish occupation Caupolicán attacked the fort of Cañete expecting the gates to be opened by the treachery of a yanacona
Yanaconas
Yanacona or Yanakuna , is a word whose meaning in Spanish is servant. In the Inca Empire it was the name of the slaves of the Incas. They were to care for the herds of the nobles, do fishing, and were dedicated to other work, like the making of pottery, construction, and domestic service to the...
within but he was betrayed instead and was badly defeated by Captain Alonso de Reinoso
Alonso de Reinoso
Alonso de Reinoso was a Spanish Conquistador in Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Chile. He was born in Torrijos Toledo, Spain in 1518...
. Although he was able to escape immediately after this last battle when Spanish cavalry did not arrive in time to pursue, he was eventually betrayed and captured in the mountains by Pedro de Avendaño
Pedro de Avendaño
Pedro de Avendaño a Spanish soldier that had arrived in Chile with the army of García Hurtado de Mendoza in 1557. He distinguished himself in the Battle of Millarapue. He later served in the garrison of Cañete under captain Alonso de Reinoso. Reinoso eventually found an Indian who betrayed the...
, sentenced to death by Alonso de Reinoso and executed by impalement
Impalement
Impalement is the traumatic penetration of an organism by an elongated foreign object such as a stake, pole, or spear, and this usually implies complete perforation of the central mass of the impaled body...
in Cañete.
After the death of Caupolicán, García Hurtado de Mendoza thought that they had subjugated the Mapuche. On the contrary, the manner of the death of Caupolicán inspired the Mapuches to continue the struggle with a guerrilla war in which there was no day that some yanaconas or once in a while some encomendero did not die at hands of Mapuches. When the number of missing or dead reached 400 yanaconas and 10 Spaniards, the governor was convinced that he had been mistaken. In Quiapo, the Mapuches under their new toqui Caupolicán the younger
Caupolicán the younger
Caupolicán the Younger according to Juan Ignacio Molina was the son of the toqui Caupolicán. He was made toqui following the capture and execution of his father in 1558...
constructed a fort that was to stop the forces of Mendoza from marching into Arauco and rebuilding a fort there. Mendoza advanced from Cañete and crushed another Mapuche army at the Battle of Quiapo
Battle of Quiapo
Battle of Quiapo in the Arauco War was the final battle in the campaign of García Hurtado de Mendoza against the Mapuche under the toqui known as Lemucaguin or Caupolicán the younger...
. After the battle, Hurtado de Mendoza had most of the captured Mapuche executed, but saved Peteguelén, son of Cuyomanque, an important cacique in the Arauco region. Through his help and that of the grateful father, he was able contact and to bring most of the leaders of Arauco and Tucapel to submit to Spanish rule following the reconstruction of the fort in Arauco. Mendoza also founded the city of San Andrés de Angol or Los Infantes
Angol
Angol is a commune and capital city of the Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region of southern Chile. It is located at the foot of the Nahuelbuta Range and next to the Vergara River, that permitted communications by small boats to the Bío-Bío River and Concepción. This strategic position explains...
not far from the old fort of Confines.
In February 1561, Phillip II
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
relieved García Hurtado de Mendoza, replacing him as governor with the victor over Lautaro, Francisco de Villagra. Mendoza left Chile with the belief that he had overcome the Mapuche. He was one of the few governors who obtained a certain degree of success in the War. This success was due to the large numbers of experienced soldiers, equipment and arms that he brought which were not available to the previous conquerors and because the Mapuche did not have a strategist to equal Lautaro.
The Mapuches pretended peace, but secretly continued to prepare for a new revolt. Soon after the defeat at Quiapo the surviving leaders gathered and elected Illangulién
Illangulién
Illangulién, Quiromanite, , Queupulien or Antiguenu, was the Mapuche toqui elected to replace Lemucaguin or Caupolicán the younger in 1559 following the Battle of Quiapo to his death in battle in the Battle of Angol in 1564....
as the new toqui. With most of the nations warriors dead or wounded and the population decimated by the effects of war, starvation and disease he decided to retreat into the marshes of Lumaco
Lumaco
Lumaco is a town and commune in Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region of Chile. Its name in Mapudungun means "water of luma". Lumaco is located to northeast of Temuco and from Angol...
and there gather their strength and train a new generation of warriors for a future revolt. The Mapuche had learned to work iron, use Spanish weapons (including firearms and cannon), ride horses captured from their conquerors and learned better strategies and tactics. The defeats inflicted by Mendoza had made the Mapuche a united people and one committed to renewing the war against the Spanish to recover their freedom.
Campaigns of Francisco de Villagra
Hostilities resumed with the arrival of Francisco de Villagra to replace Mendoza. It began during the brief interim governorship of Rodrigo de QuirogaRodrigo de Quiroga
Rodrigo de Quiroga López de Ulloa was a Spanish conquistador of Galician origin. He was twice the Royal Governor of Chile.-Early life:...
with the killing of the hated encomendero and corregidor of Cañete Pedro de Avendaño and two other Spaniards in July 1561 in the valley of Puren. Spanish punitive expeditions from Angol and La Imperial drove the insurgents into the refuge of the Lumaco marshes. However, the news of the killing was spread by the Mapuches and it initiated a new general rising greater than the previous ones. With Villagra's arrival also came its first smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
epidemic that ravaged the native population of Chile.
The toqui of the Arauco region, Millalelmo
Millalelmo
Millalelmo or Millarelmo was a famous Mapuche military leader in the second great Mapuche rebellion that began in 1561 during the Arauco War...
, with a local army laid siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
to Arauco from May 20 to June 30, 1562. At the end of 1562, the Mapuches under a leader named Meuco, had fortified a pucará in the province of Mareguano, three leagues from the city of Los Infantes. Arias Pardo Maldonado destroyed the pucará but he did not gain a complete victory, since most of the Mapuches escaped. Elsewhere the corregidor of Cañete Juan Lazarte was killed at the gates of Cañete trying to recapture mounts stolen by thirty mapuches.
The Mapuches reconstructed the pucará near Los Infantes in January 1563, but Pedro de Villagra was sent again to destroy it. Once again the Mapuche rebuilt it, but this time with sections readily accessible to the cavalry, despite suspicions of veteran Spaniards they attacked the location, and many fell into well-disguised pits. There the governor's son, Pedro de Villagra "el Mozo" and forty two other Spaniards died. This disastrous military defeat forced governor Francisco de Villagra to order the city of Cañete to be abandoned. News of the abandonment of Cañete spread the revolt.
When Francisco de Villagra heard the news of his son's death he became ill and left for Concepcion leaving his cousin, Pedro de Villagra, in charge of the campaign. The Mapuches, now under Colocolo
Colocolo (tribal chief)
Colocolo was a Mapuche leader in the early period of the Arauco War. He was a major figure in Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga's epic poem La Araucana, about the early Arauco War. In the poem he was the one that proposed the contest between the rival candidates for Toqui that resulted in the choice of...
attacked on two fronts against the forts of Los Infantes and Arauco investing
Investment (military)
Investment is the military tactic of surrounding an enemy fort with armed forces to prevent entry or escape.A circumvallation is a line of fortifications, built by the attackers around the besieged fortification facing towards the enemy fort...
them but were unable to take them. Again Petegüelen offered peace to the Spaniards and Villagra accepted, but this peace was deceptive since the Mapuches needed to harvest their fields.
In April of 1563, the Mapuche reestablished the siege of Arauco. This lasted 42 days with the Mapuches losing 500 warriors mostly from dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
contracted from drinking contaminated water. Finally they chose to retire and to raise the siege. Shortly afterward, Francisco de Villagra died in Concepcion on June 22, 1563, leaving his cousin Pedro de Villagra as interim governor.
Campaigns of Pedro de Villagra
Because he believed he had too few men to hold all the posts in Mapuche territory and still have a field army the new governor Pedro de Villagra ordered the abandonment of Arauco in July 1563, taking off its artillery and noncombatants by sea while garrison under Lorenzo Bernal del MercadoLorenzo Bernal del Mercado
Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado was a Spanish captain who was one of the more successful soldiers in the Arauco War in Chile rising to the rank of Maestre de Campo and temporary Capitán General of the Captaincy General of Chile....
marched over the rain soaked mountains and flooded rivers to Angol. The Mapuche destroyed the fort shortly after the garrison left and harassed their march. Regarding the abandonment of Arauco as a victory, it inspired the Mapuche north of the Bio-bio River to revolt.
In 1564, Pedro de Villagra, took measures to protect all the towns and forts he still held and gathered a field army in Concepcion drawn from all these posts. He knew that one of the Mapuche objectives was to surround Concepcion and preparations were made to support a long siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
. After a brief fight Loble
Loble
Loble , also known as Lig-lemu or Lillemu, was the Mapuche vice-toqui of the Moluche north of the Bio-Bio River who led the second Mapuche revolt during the Arauco War....
defeated the troops of captain Francisco de Vaca in the Itata River valley who were coming with reinforcements from Santiago. In addition, Millalelmo
Millalelmo
Millalelmo or Millarelmo was a famous Mapuche military leader in the second great Mapuche rebellion that began in 1561 during the Arauco War...
ambushed Spanish reinforcements coming from Angol to the south under captain, Juan Perez de Zurita
Juan Perez de Zurita
Juan Perez de Zurita , Spanish Conquistador, was the son of Alonso Diaz de Zurita, native of Cañete de las Torres and Dona Ines Fernandez de Cordova. In 1536 he began his military career. In 1548 he was in Granada and in 1550 he embarked to the Indies with his brother Alonso de Zurita. In 1553 went...
, at a crossing of the Andalién River
Andalién River
The Andalién river is a river in the province of Concepcion that was formed north northeast of the city of Florida and flows west to and crosses part of the city of Concepción, Chile, and then north through the communes of Penco and Talcahuano, ending at the Bay of Concepción.- Source :* pg. 31-32...
. Both defeats cut off the city and garrison of Concepcion from outside aid by land. The defeated survivors had to retreat to Santiago and were in no condition to break through the investment
Investment (military)
Investment is the military tactic of surrounding an enemy fort with armed forces to prevent entry or escape.A circumvallation is a line of fortifications, built by the attackers around the besieged fortification facing towards the enemy fort...
around Concepcion. On the other hand, encouraged by these victories in the north, Illangulién resolved to destroy Los Infantes
Angol
Angol is a commune and capital city of the Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region of southern Chile. It is located at the foot of the Nahuelbuta Range and next to the Vergara River, that permitted communications by small boats to the Bío-Bío River and Concepción. This strategic position explains...
before marching to Concepcion.
At Los Infantes the Mapuche blockade grew tighter as they moved closer and closer to the city protected in their well-sited pucaras. Its commander Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado judged them too well defended to attack until they started to build their third pucara close to the city. Then in the Battle of Angol
Battle of Angol
Battle of Angol was a battle fought between the Mapuche and the Spanish conquerors in March 1564.-History:In Los Infantes captain Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado had discovered that the rebels had constructed a pucará close by, establishing a blockade of the city...
Lorenzo Bernal drove the Mapuche army out of their pucara and pursued them down to the river and pushed them back into it killing Illangulién and a thousand of his men with many others wounded or captured and the rest of the army dispersed. Afterward Paillataru
Paillataru
Paillataru was the toqui of the Mapuche from 1564 to 1574. He succeaded Illangulién in 1564 following his death in the Battle of Angol. Paillataru was said to be the brother or cousin of Lautaro....
was elected as Toqui.
Meanwhile the caciques Millalelmu and Loble with 20,000 warriors from the area between the Itata and Bio-Bio rivers, settled down to the Siege of Concepcion
Siege of Concepcion
During the Siege of Concepcion of the Arauco War, 20,000 warriors of the army of the Mapuche laid siege to the Spanish garrison and civil population in the fortress of Concepcion, Chile.-History:...
in February 1564. The Mapuche entered the city, sacking and burning it, crowding all its population within the walls of its fortress with its garrison under Pedro de Villagra. The siege lasted around two months until at the end of March two ships arrived bringing food that would permit the siege to continue for a much longer time. On the other side the Mapuche had used up local sources of food and were finding it difficult to maintain their large force. With the harvest season coming and with the news of their defeat in the Battle of Angol they were nervous that their families might starve or their undefended homes might be attacked from Angol or Santiago. They raised their siege on April 1, and dispersed to their homes for the winter.
After the siege was raised Villagra became aware of an effort to replace him as governor by Martin Ruiz de Gamboa, son-in-law of Rodrigo de Quiroga. Villagra tried to arrest Gamboa who fled overland to Santiago but Villagra sailed to Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
in a few days with some of his men and arrested him in Santiago when he arrived. Villagra then tried to reorganize the surviving disheartened troops of Vaca and Zurita in Santiago and take them south in October 1564. But he was delayed much longer, spending heavily from the impoverished provincial treasury and contributions exacted from the cities of Chile with difficulty, he slowly refitted and enlarged his army over the winter and spring.
Villagra left the city in mid-January 1565, with 110 Spaniards and gathered 800 Indian auxiliaries from their repartimientos as he marched south to the Maule River. There he linked up with 30 Spaniards under Pedro Hernandez de Cordova
Pedro Hernandez de Cordova
Pedro Hernández de Córdoba,, Spanish soldier who was occupied in the Arauco War. A Captain in fall of 1564, he led thirty soldiers in an attempt to reinforce Concepcion. Blocked by winter rains and the hostile Mapuche his force remained north of the Maule River until spring of 1565 observing the...
who were observing the frontier with the Mapuche after the Mapuche had blocked their prior attempt to reinforce Concepcion. During the seven months Villagra was in Santiago, the Mapuche north of the Bio-Bio had built a strong pucara on the Perquilauquén River, blocking the road south to Concepcion and in the Second Battle of Reinohuelén Villagra rapidly took it and destroyed the Mapuche army holding it. Soon afterward Villagra ambushed Loble as he was bringing reinforcements and unaware of the defeat he was surprised defeated and captured. Subsequently Villagra established fort San Ildefonso
Chillán Viejo
Chillán Viejo is a city and commune in the Ñuble Province of Chile's eighth region of Biobío . According to the 2002 census, the population of the commune was 22,084 and it has an area of .-History:...
in the region and was able to suppress the Mapuche revolt north of the Bio-Bio.
The War during the rule of the Real Audiencia of Chile
Shortly after the end of the campaign Pedro de Villagra was replaced at the order of the Viceroy of PeruLope García de Castro
Lope García de Castro was a Spanish colonial administrator, member of the Council of the Indies and of the Audiencias of Panama and Lima...
by Rodrigo de Quiroga
Rodrigo de Quiroga
Rodrigo de Quiroga López de Ulloa was a Spanish conquistador of Galician origin. He was twice the Royal Governor of Chile.-Early life:...
as the temporary governor in 1565. Quiroga launched a new campaign, organized by Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado
Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado
Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado was a Spanish captain who was one of the more successful soldiers in the Arauco War in Chile rising to the rank of Maestre de Campo and temporary Capitán General of the Captaincy General of Chile....
who reconstructed Cañete, and repopulated Arauco
Arauco, Chile
Arauco is a city and commune in Chile, located in Arauco Province in the Biobio Region. The meaning of Arauco means Chalky Water in Mapudungun. The region was a Moluche aillarehue...
in 1566. He accomplished the conquest of the island of Chiloé
Chiloé Island
Chiloé Island , also known as Greater Island of Chiloé , is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean...
, sending Martín Ruiz de Gamboa
Martín Ruiz de Gamboa
Martín Ruiz de Gamboa de Berriz was a Spanish Basque conquistador, and served as a Royal Governor of Chile.-Early years:He was born in Durango, Biscay, the son of Andrés Ruiz de Gamboa and Nafarra de Berriz, and served as a youth in the royal navy in the Levant...
to establish the city of Castro
Castro, Chile
Castro is a city and commune in the Chilean island of Chiloé Island. Castro is the capital of the Chiloé Province in the Los Lagos Region. It is Chile's third oldest city in continued existence...
there, and pacify its inhabitants, the Cuncos. Quiroga returned to find he was to be replaced by the Real Audiencia of Concepcion
Real Audiencia of Chile
Royal Audience of Santiago :-Structure:Law XII of Title XV of Book II of the Recopilación de Leyes de las Indias of 1680—which reproduces Philip IV's decree of February 17, 1609—describes the limits and functions of the Audiencia.In the city of Santiago de Chile shall...
in August 1567. In September 1567, the king named Melchor Bravo de Saravia y Sotomayor
Melchor Bravo de Saravia
Melchor Bravo de Saravia y Sotomayor was a Spanish conquistador, interim viceroy of Peru, and Royal Governor of Chile.-Early career:...
to take over the civil and military government of Chile, with the title of governor and he arrived from Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
in 1568.
Campaigns between 1568 and 1598
Despite having founded cities and forts in Mapuche territory, all further Spanish conquest attempts failed. The Kingdom of ChileKingdom of Chile
The General Captaincy of Chile or Gobernacion de Chile, was an administrative territory of the Viceroyalty of Peru in the Spanish Empire from 1541 to 1818, the year in which it declared itself independent, becoming the Republic of Chile...
became a problematic region of continual warfare where it became increasingly difficult to get soldiers to serve. The Spaniards would possibly have abandoned it if they not feared its colonization by another European nation. Several Spanish generals and nobles were assigned posts in Chile in an attempt to finish the war with the Mapuche.
Campaigns during the governorship of Melchor Bravo de Saravia
Governor Melchor Bravo de Saravia y SotomayorMelchor Bravo de Saravia
Melchor Bravo de Saravia y Sotomayor was a Spanish conquistador, interim viceroy of Peru, and Royal Governor of Chile.-Early career:...
arrived from Lima in 1568 and recruited 100 new soldiers and gathered food in Santiago province and marched south to join the army near the mouth of the Tavolevo River
Tavolevo River
Tavolevo River, a tributary of the Bio Bio River. It has two tributaries the Culenco River flowing southeast from the Nahuelbuta Range in the Catirai region and the Nicodahue River that flows north from the Araucanía Region and its two tributaries the Esperanza and Maitenrehue Rivers that all...
in Catirai
Catirai
Catirai or Catiray is the region of the Moluche Aillarehue of Catiray in old Araucanía. It is now the Santa Juana commune of the Concepción Province and the Nacimiento commune of the Biobío Province of the Biobío Region, of Chile...
.
Toqui Llanganabal
Llanganabal
Llanganabal was a Moluche toqui who led the Mapuche army that defeated the Spanish led by Martín Ruiz de Gamboa in the Battle of Catirai in 1569. In 1560 Llanganabal is listed as one of the caciques heading an encomienda along the Bio Bio River. Shortly after began the outbreak of the 1561...
Battle of Catirai
Battle of Catirai
Battle of Catirai on January 7, 1569 between the Mapuche army of Toqui Llanganabal and the Spanish army led by Martín Ruiz de Gamboa that resulted in a Mapuche victory.-History:...
1570 Concepción earthquake
1570 Concepción earthquake
The 1570 Concepción earthquake occurred at 9:00, on February 8, 1570. The strong earthquake destroyed Concepción, Chile. It was accompanied by a tsunami, and aftershocks were felt for months. No lives were lost, but every house was destroyed...
Pailacar
Pailacar
Pailacar or Paylacar a leader of Purén, who led a force of 2000 warriors in the defeat of the Spanish army of Don Miguel Avendaño de Velasco in the Battle of Purén in September 1570.- Source :...
Battle of Purén
Toqui Paineñamcu
Paineñamcu
Paineñamcu or Paynenancu or Alonso Diaz, was the Mapuche toqui from 1574 to 1584. Alonso Diaz was a mestizo Spanish soldier offended because the Governor of Chile did not promote him to the officer rank of alféres, who subsequently went over to the Mapuche in 1572...
or Alonso Diaz
Campaigns of Rodrigo de Quiroga and Martín Ruiz de Gamboa
Governor Rodrigo de QuirogaRodrigo de Quiroga
Rodrigo de Quiroga López de Ulloa was a Spanish conquistador of Galician origin. He was twice the Royal Governor of Chile.-Early life:...
1575 Valdivia earthquake
1575 Valdivia earthquake
The 1575 Valdivia earthquake was an earthquake in Chile that caused the subsequent flood of Valdivia much like the 1960 Valdivia earthquake caused the ensuing Riñihuazo flooding. It occurred at 14:30 local time on December 16, 1575. It had an estimated magnitude of 8.5 on the surface wave...
Juan de Lebú
Juan de Lebú
Juan de Lebú was a Moluche cacique or Ulmen of the Lebu region, captured by the Spanish sometime before 1568. He was sent to Peru and the Spaniards had baptized him with the name of Juan. He returned in 1568, with the new Governor Melchor Bravo de Saravia. When he had the chance he escaped and...
Governor Martín Ruiz de Gamboa
Martín Ruiz de Gamboa
Martín Ruiz de Gamboa de Berriz was a Spanish Basque conquistador, and served as a Royal Governor of Chile.-Early years:He was born in Durango, Biscay, the son of Andrés Ruiz de Gamboa and Nafarra de Berriz, and served as a youth in the royal navy in the Levant...
Tasa de Gamboa
Tasa de Gamboa
Tasa de Gamboa or Rate of Gamboa was a money tax rate applied to the indigenous peoples in the Kingdom of Chile by the Governor Martin Ruiz de Gamboa, in place of the tribute of personal service in the encomienda system, as desired by the kings of Spain...
Campaigns of Alonso de Sotomayor
Governor Alonso de SotomayorAlonso de Sotomayor
Alonso de Sotomayor y Valmediano was a Spanish conquistador from Extremadura, and a Royal Governor of Chile.-Early life:He was born in Trujillo, in the province of Extremadura, the son of Gutiérrez de Sotomayor e Hinojosa and Beatriz de Valmediano...
arrived in Chile in 1583 and had to judge accusations against his predecessor, who had become extremely unpopular for the Tasa de Gamboa which had prohibited the payment of taxes by the Indians in the form of labor. Sotomayor later absolved Gamboa entirely but abolished the Tasa de Gamboa and reinstituted the Tasa de Santillán
Tasa de Santillán
Tasa de Santillán or Rate of Santillán was a rate of indigenous labor applied in the Captaincy General of Chile by Spanish governor García Hurtado de Mendoza, the first formal regulation of the system of encomiendas in Chile. Promulgated in 1558, it was the first set of laws that regulated labor...
, with new provisions to humanize the old system, in an attempt to avoid the excesses of the encomenderos against the Indians.
Despite his early successful campaign when he captured Alonso Diaz in 1584, he wanted to extend the conquest of Chile by building a series of forts which would protect each other, the cities and their surrounding lands. They were also to hem in the Moluche and become the secure bases of future campaigns. In 1584, Sotomayor founded the fort of San Fabián de Conueo
San Fabián de Conueo
San Fabián de Conueo a fort four kilometers south of the town of Rafael, Chile. It was first established by governor Alonso de Sotomayor in 1584 to secure control of the Coelemu region between the Itata River and Concepcion. Destroyed, it later was restored in 1657 by order of governor Pedro...
in Coelemu
Coelemu
Coelemu is a Chilean commune and city in Ñuble Province, Biobío Region. According to the 2002 census, the commune population was 16,082 and has an area of .-Demographics:...
securing communications between Santiago and Concepcion. In 1585 he ordered the construction of forts around Catirai
Catirai
Catirai or Catiray is the region of the Moluche Aillarehue of Catiray in old Araucanía. It is now the Santa Juana commune of the Concepción Province and the Nacimiento commune of the Biobío Province of the Biobío Region, of Chile...
, Santo Arbol de la Cruz
Santo Arbol de la Cruz
Santo Arbol de la Cruz was a fort constructed in 1585 by the Royal Governor of Chile Alonso de Sotomayor. It was located north of the entrance of the Guaqui River into the Bio Bio River near the modern rail station and village of Duiquín...
where the Guaqui River
Guaqui River
Guaqui or Guaque River is a tributary of the Bío-Bío River in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is a river of great volume with a course of 55 kilometers originating from small streams, that have their source west of the town of Las Canteras; it runs to the west, north of the city of Los Ángeles, and...
enters the Bio Bio River, Espíritu Santo
Espíritu Santo (fort)
Espíritu Santo was a Spanish fortress that existed a little to the north of what is now the Nacimiento commune of Biobío Province, Bio-Bio Region of Chile. It was on the left bank of the Bio Bio River immediately below its confluence with the Tavolevo River...
near the mouth of the Tavolevo River
Tavolevo River
Tavolevo River, a tributary of the Bio Bio River. It has two tributaries the Culenco River flowing southeast from the Nahuelbuta Range in the Catirai region and the Nicodahue River that flows north from the Araucanía Region and its two tributaries the Esperanza and Maitenrehue Rivers that all...
with Santísima Trinidad
Santísima Trinidad (fort)
Santísima Trinidad or Most Holy Trinity was a fortress in the Kingdom of Chile that existed on the north shore of the Bio-Bio River in what is now the Biobío Province. It was built directly across the river from Fort Espíritu Santo by the Royal Governor of Chile Alonso de Sotomayor in 1585...
directly across the Bio Bio River and in the upper reaches of the Culenco River
Culenco River
Culenco a river of moderate volume that runs from the southern part of the commune of Santa Juana, through the northwestern part of the commune of Nacimiento to its confluence with the Nicodahue River...
, fort San Jerónimo de Millapoa
San Jerónimo de Millapoa
San Jerónimo de Millapoa was a fort founded by Alonso de Sotomayor in 1585. It dominated the small valleys of the eastern slopes of the Nahuelbuta Range of Catirai, in the upper part of the Culenco River, in the mountainous area 25 kilometers south of the modern commune of Santa Juana...
. In Purén
Purén
Purén is a city and commune in Malleco Province of Araucanía Region, Chile. It is located in the west base of the Nahuelbuta mountain range . The economical activity of Purén is based in forest exploitation and agriculture...
he also raised another fort, where he placed a small garrison.
Opposing these moves by Sotomayor was the Toqui Cayancaru
Cayancaru
Cayancura or Cayeucura, a Mapuche native to the region of Marigüenu, chosen as toqui in 1584, to replace the captured Paineñamcu. His one great operation was an attempted siege of the fort at Arauco that failed, leading to his abdication of his office in favor of his son Nangoniel in 1585.-...
who attempted a siege of the fort at Arauco that failed, leading to his abdication of his office in favor of his son Nangoniel
Nangoniel
Nangoniel was the Mapuche Toqui in 1585, and son of the previous toqui Cayancaru. He was the first Toqui to use cavalry with the Mapuche army.Following the failure of his siege of Arauco, Cayancura, retired, leaving the command of the army to his son Nangoniel. He collected some infantry, and a...
in 1585. Nangoniel returned to invest Arauco again, his cavalry (operating with the army for the first time) prevented the Spaniards from supplying the fort and they were forced to evacuate it. He next moved against the Santísima Trinidad but clashed with a division of Spanish troops, under Francisco Hernandez, where he was wounded and soon hunted down and killed. Cadeguala
Cadeguala
Cadeguala or Cadiguala was a Mapuche toqui elected in 1585 following the death in battle of the previous toqui Nangoniel. Cadeguala was a noted warrior and the first Mapuche toqui known to have used cavalry successfully in battle...
was proclaimed Toqui in his place the same day and began operations against Angol, breaking into the city, however he was repulsed by a counterattack. He followed this with a siege of Purén the following year. He drove off a relief force with his cavalry and offered the garrison terms but was refused. He next challenged the commander of the fort, Alonso García de Ramón
Alonso García de Ramón
Alonso García de Ramón was a Spanish soldier and twice Royal Governor of Chile: first temporarily from July of 1600 to February of 1601, and then from March of 1605 to August of 1610. He was born in Cuenca, Spain in 1552....
, to single combat to decide the fate of the fortress. The two leaders fought on horseback with lances, and Cadeguala fell, killed by his opponent. His army raised the siege but after electing Guanoalca
Guanoalca
Guanoalca was the Mapuche Toqui elected in 1586 following the death in battle of the previous toqui Cadeguala, killed in a duel with the garrison commander of the Spanish fort at Puren in 1586...
as toqui returned to successfully drive the poorly supplied Spanish from Purén and burned it in 1586.
Putaén
Janequeo
Fort Livén
Fort Livén
Fort Livén was a fort with a small garrison built by Rodrigo de Quiroga in 1575, in the small valley of Livén, nearby the old city of Santa María Magdalena de Villa Rica. In 1585 it fell to the Mapuche cacique Putaén, who was later killed in it...
Meanwhile Sotomayor had the distraction of an attack by English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
pirates under Thomas Cavendish
Thomas Cavendish
Sir Thomas Cavendish was an English explorer and a privateer known as "The Navigator" because he was the first who deliberately tried to emulate Sir Francis Drake and raid the Spanish towns and ships in the Pacific and return by circumnavigating the globe...
. When they anchored in Quintero
Quintero
Quintero is a Chilean city and commune in Valparaíso Province, Valparaíso Region. The commune spans an area of .-History:The name of the city comes from Alonso Quintero, the Spanish navigator who discovered the bay in 1536 when he arrived on the ship Santiaguillo.-Demographics:According to the 2002...
on April 9, 1587, he was defeated by the Spanish, losing 10 men and continued up the coast of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
.
Sotomayor rebuilt Purén in 1589 and built a new fort on the heights of Marihueñu
Marihueñu
Marihueñu or Marigueno is a large hill in the Nahuelbuta Range near the coast in the Lota commune of the Bio-Bio Region of southern Chile. Its name is from the Mapudungun mari, "ten" and huenu, "heights"...
. Guanoalca directed his army against the new Spanish fort but finding it too strongly held, diverted his attacks against Espíritu Santo and the fort of Santísima Trinidad on the opposite shore of the Bio Bio River.
Toqui Quintuguenu
Quintuguenu
Quintuguenu the Mapuche Toqui in the Arauco War elected in 1591 following the death of the old toqui Guanoalca. He was killed in battle the same year. Paillaeco was elected as his successor in 1592.- Sources :* * List of Toquis, pg. 162-163, 498-500....
Toqui Paillaeco
Paillaeco
Paillaeco was elected Toqui in 1592 in place of Quintuguenu after his defeat and death. He did not think his forces were now sufficient to oppose the Spanish in the open field and decided to draw them into an ambush. The Spanish turned the tables on them drawing his army out of their ambush and...
Toqui Paillamachu
Paillamachu
Paillamachu was the Mapuche toqui from 1592 to 1603 in what is now Chile. He organized the great revolt of 1598 that expelled the Spanish from Araucanía south of the Bío Bío River.- Sources :* * List of Toquis, pg. 162-163, 498-500....
Governor Pedro de Viscarra
Pedro de Viscarra
Pedro de Viscarra de la Barrera, twice Royal Governor of Chile, was an old lawyer who had arrived in the Kingdom of Chile from Spain in 1590. Alonso de Sotomayor went to Peru on July 30, 1592 to petition the viceroy there for more men leaving Pedro de Viscarra with the title of lieutenant governor...
Campaigns of Martín García Oñez de Loyola
In September of 1592, Martín García Óñez de LoyolaMartín García Óñez de Loyola
Don Martín García Óñez de Loyola was a Spanish Basque soldier and Royal Governor of Chile.-Early life:...
, famous for his capture of Túpac Amaru
Túpac Amaru
Túpac Amaru, also called Thupa Amaro , was the last indigenous leader of the Inca state in Peru.-Accession:...
was appointed as Captain General
Captain General
Captain general is a high military rank and a gubernatorial title.-History:This term Captain General started to appear in the 14th century, with the meaning of commander in chief of an army in the field, probably the first usage of the term General in military settings...
directly by Philip II, who thought him the most likely candidate to finish the Arauco War. Loyola insisted in penetrating Mapuche territory with an army of soldiers coming directly from Panama. He established fort Santa Cruz de Oñez
Santa Cruz de Oñez
Santa Cruz de Oñez was a fort founded by Martín García Oñez de Loyola in May of 1594, near the confluence of the Bio-Bio and Laja Rivers on the right bank of the upper reach of the Rele River in Catiray, ten kilometers south of the Bio Bio. The site was in an elevated location but with a shortage...
on the Rele River
Rele River
Rele River is a river in the commune of Santa Juana. It has its origin to the south southeast of Santa Juana, from where it runs to the northeast from among the slopes of the heights of the Nahuelbuta Range and runs to the east to the Bio Bio River in which it empties a little above the confluence...
near the confluence of the Bio-Bio and Laja River
Laja River (Chile)
Laja River is a river in Chile, along which can be found the Laja Falls. It is located in the Bío-Bío Region. The source of the river is Laguna del Laja in the Andes, then flows westward through the Chilean Central Valley and terminates into the Bío-Bío River, being an important tributary of...
s in May of 1594. The fort was elevated to the rank of city in 1595 giving it the name of Santa Cruz de Coya
Santa Cruz de Coya
Santa Cruz de Coya was a city established by the governor of Chile Martín García Oñez de Loyola on the site of the fort of Santa Cruz de Oñez, in 1595. It was named for his wife Beatriz Clara Coya, a member of the royal Incan house...
. Later, on 21 December 1598, Oñez de Loyola became the second governor of Chile to die in war with the Mapuches, surprised by Pelantaro
Pelantaro
Pelantaro or Pelantarú was one of the vice toquis of Paillamachu, the toqui or military leader of the Mapuche people during the Mapuche uprising in 1598...
in the Disaster of Curalaba
Disaster of Curalaba
The Disaster of Curalaba is the name given to a battle between Spanish conquerors led by Martín García Óñez de Loyola and Mapuche people led by Pelantaru on a place called Curalaba , in southern Chile...
.
Mapuche Uprising of 1598
The Disaster of Curalaba became the beginning of a general uprising that resulted in a six year struggle called the Destruction of Seven CitiesDestruction of Seven Cities
The Destruction of the Seven Cities in Araucanía was a result of the great Mapuche revolt in 1598. It is considered sometimes as the end of the Conquest of Chile...
that eliminated all Spanish settlements south of the Bio-Bio River
Bío-Bío River
The Biobío River is the second largest river in Chile. It originates from Icalma and Galletué lakes in the Andes and flows 380 km to the Gulf of Arauco on the Pacific Ocean....
with the exception of those in Chiloé Archipelago
Chiloé Archipelago
Chiloé Archipelago consists of several islands lying off the coast of Chile. It is separated from mainland Chile by Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and Gulf of Corcovado to the southeast. All of the archipelago except Desertores Islands, which are part of Palena...
. The viceroy of Peru hastily appointed Francisco de Quiñónez
Francisco de Quiñónez
Francisco de Quiñónez ; Spanish soldier who was appointed as governor of Chile for thirteen months, between May 1599 and June 1600....
as replacement for the deceased Loyola. He was an experienced military man with great prudence but with little aptitude for the crisis that he was called upon to face. This governor discovered the terrible state of the colony and asked urgently for reinforcements. Meanwhile he tried to support those places that were possible to defend. Nevertheless, things were soon out of his control despite everything done to stabilize the situation, and he sickened and asked for his relief.
In September 1600, Alonso García de Ramón
Alonso García de Ramón
Alonso García de Ramón was a Spanish soldier and twice Royal Governor of Chile: first temporarily from July of 1600 to February of 1601, and then from March of 1605 to August of 1610. He was born in Cuenca, Spain in 1552....
the old maestro de campo of Alonso de Sotomayor, arrived as the interim governor of Chile. Using extraordinary measures he organized an army of 400 men and relieved the cities of Chillan and Concepcion and attempted to advance to relieve Villarica but turned back when the Mapuche besieged Arauco.
Alonso de Ribera and the creation of the Army of Chile
The new governor Alonso de RiberaAlonso de Ribera
Alonso de Ribera de Pareja was a Spanish soldier and twice Spanish royal governor of Chile .-Early life:...
arrived in Concepción in February, 1601.
Toqui Huenecura
Huenecura
Huenecura or Huenencura was the Mapuche Toqui from 1604 to 1610. He replaced Paillamachu who died in 1603. He was replaced by Aillavilu in 1610.- Sources :* * List of Toquis, pg. 162-163, 498-500....
Campaigns of Alonso García de Ramón
Alonso García de Ramón replaced Alonso de Ribera as governor for the second time in 1605.Battle of Boroa
Toqui Aillavilu
Toqui Anganamón
Luis Merlo de la Fuente
Luis Merlo de la Fuente
Luis Merlo de la Fuente Ruiz de Beteta was a Spanish colonial official who briefly served as the Royal Governor of Chile, in 1610–11.He was born in Valdepeñas, Spain to Luis Merlo de la Fuente and Maria Ruiz de Betena. He went to America, specifically Panama, in 1588 in the capacity of an oidor or...
Juan de la Jaraquemada
Juan de la Jaraquemada
Juan de la Jaraquemada, ; Spanish soldier, designated by the viceroy of Peru Juan de Mendoza y Luna, Marquess of Montesclaros, Captain General and Governor of Chile, and president of the Real Audiencia of Santiago. He served from of January 1, 1611 to March 27, 1612....
Defensive War
Alonso de Rivera returned as governor in 1612 appointed by King Philip IIIPhilip III of Spain
Philip III , also known as Philip the Pious, was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II , from 1598 until his death...
at the specific request of Father Luis de Valdivia
Luis de Valdivia
Luis de Valdivia was a Spanish Jesuit missionary who defended the rights of the natives of Chile and pleaded for the reduction of the hostilities with the Mapuches in the Arauco War....
. Valdivia was the originator of a new system of defensive warfare in Chile. He planned a static frontier
La Frontera (geographical region)
La Frontera is name given to a geographical region in Chile, between the Bío-Bío and Toltén Rivers, now part of the administrative regions of Bío-Bío and Araucanía...
separating the Spanish zone from the Indigenous zone, permitting none but missionaries to enter the south from the Spanish side. The king was in agreement, and although Ribera himself did not totally agree, he followed the royal orders and established the defensive system.
Luis de Valdivia arraigned the Parliament of Catirai in May 1612 to make a peace with the Mapuche of the region. The terms of the peace were that the two sides would not make war on each other and captives would be returned by both sides. The Spanish were to dismantle the Fort of San Jerónimo
San Jerónimo de Millapoa
San Jerónimo de Millapoa was a fort founded by Alonso de Sotomayor in 1585. It dominated the small valleys of the eastern slopes of the Nahuelbuta Range of Catirai, in the upper part of the Culenco River, in the mountainous area 25 kilometers south of the modern commune of Santa Juana...
, and the Mapuche would warn the Spaniards of the arrival of pirate ships on their coast. Spanish missionaries and messengers were to be permitted in Mapuche territory. In November of the same year the Parliament of Paicaví was held to make a similar peace with the regions of Elicura and Purén and the Spanish promised the destruction of the fort of Santa Fe
Santa Fe (fort)
Santa Fe de la Ribera was a fort constructed in 1602, by Alonso de Ribera at the confluence of the Biobio River and Vergara River, near the island of Diego Diaz. Its first garrison was two companies of soldiers, under the captains Francisco de Puebla and Alonso González de Nájera, who was in...
. However the peace collapsed when a Spanish woman the Toqui Anganamón held captive and some of his wives left him to take refuge with the Spanish. When the Spanish would not send them back he attacked and killed the priests Valdivia sent into Mapuche territory and their Mapuche escorts in the Martyrdom of Elicura on December 14. Hostilities then resumed as before.
Toqui Loncothegua
Lientur
Lientur
Lientur was the Mapuche toqui from 1618 to 1625. He was the successor to Loncothegua. Lientur with his vice toqui Levipillan was famed for his rapid malóns or raids...
Resumption of Offensive War
Pedro Osores de UlloaPedro Osores de Ulloa
Pedro Osores de Ulloa was Royal Governor of the Kingdom of Chile from November 1621 to September 1624. He replaced Cristóbal de la Cerda y Sotomayor. On his death bed Osores appointed his brother-in-law Francisco de Álava y Nureña as temporary governor of the Kingdom of Chile on September 1624...
Catalina de Erauso
Catalina de Erauso
Catalina de Erauso, also known as La Monja Alférez , was a semi-legendary personality of the Basque Country, Spain and Spanish America in the first half of the seventeenth century.- Life :Catalina de Erauso was daughter and sister of soldiers from the city of San Sebastián in Spain...
Luis Fernández de Córdoba y Arce
Luis Fernández de Córdoba y Arce
Luis Fernández de Córdoba y Arce was a Spanish sailor and military man who was Governor of Chile between May 1625 and December 1629.A Spanish noble gentleman of El Carpio, in the Province of Cordova and member of an influential family, Luis Fernandez de Cordoba y Arce made his military career in...
Toqui Butapichón
Butapichón
Butapichón or Butapichún or Putapichon was the Mapuche toqui from 1625 to 1631, as successor to Lientur. After the death of Quepuantú in 1632 he became toqui once again from 1632 to 1634....
Battle of Las Cangrejeras
Francisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán
Francisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán
Francisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán Chilean writer and soldier. In 1629 he participated in an expedition to defeat the Mapuche, but, during the Battle of Las Cangrejeras, he was taken prisoner by the cacique Maulicán, who kept him captive for seven months...
Francisco Laso de la Vega
Francisco Laso de la Vega
Francisco Laso de la Vega y Alvarado was a Spanish soldier who served as Royal Governor of Chile from December of 1629 to May of 1639. Victor in many battles against the Mapuche in the Arauco War....
Ambush of Picolhué
Battle of Los Robles
Toqui Quepuantú
Quepuantú
Quepuantú was an indigenous Chilean Moluche toqui in the 17th century. He was known for his leadership in the Arauco War and succeaded Butapichón in commanded the Mapuche army against the Spanish as Toqui, from 1631 to 1632...
Battle of La Albarrada
Toqui Huenucalquin
Toqui Curanteo
Toqui Curimilla
Parliament of Quillin and the First Peace Treaty
Francisco López de ZúñigaToqui Lincopinchon
Parliament of Quillin (1641)
Martín de Mujica y Buitrón
Martín de Mujica y Buitrón
Martin de Mujica y Buitrón, also known as Martin de Mogica or Muxica ; Spanish Basque military man who was named by king Philip IV of Spain, to be Captain General and Royal Governor of Chile, besides president of its Real Audiencia. His government was from May 1646 and April 1649, when he died,...
1647 Santiago earthquake
1647 Santiago earthquake
The 1647 Santiago earthquake struck Santiago, Chile on the night of May 13th and is said to have brought virtually every building in the city to the ground. The earthquake was felt throughout the so-called Captaincy General of Chile, an administrative territory of the Spanish Empire...
Parliament of Quilín (1647)
Alonso de Figueroa y Córdoba
Alonso de Figueroa y Córdoba
Alonso de Figueroa y Cordova ; Spanish soldier who, in the days of the reign of Philip IV of Spain, temporarily carried out the position of Captain General and Royal Governor of Chile, besides president of its Real Audiencia of Chile. His government lasted for 13 months, between April 1649 and...
Francisco Antonio de Acuña Cabrera y Bayona
Francisco Antonio de Acuña Cabrera y Bayona
Francisco Antonio de Acuña Cabrera y Bayona Spanish, soldier and governor of the Kingdom of Chile between 1650-1656. He was son of Antonio de Cabrera y Acuña y de Agueda de Bayona, was a knight of the Order of Santiago and a professional military man...
Mapuche Insurrection of 1655
The last major uprising came in 1655 when Mapuche armies under Clentaru overwhelmed the Spaniards and came to the shores of the Maule River
Maule river
The Maule river is one of the most important rivers of Chile and is inextricably linked to this country's pre-Hispanic times, the country's conquest, colonial period, wars of Independence, modern history, agriculture , culture , religion, economy and politics...
. After that, the Spanish tactics varied from a "defensive war" proposed by Jesuit missionaries, and parliaments with lonco
Lonco
A lonco or lonko is a tribal chief of the Mapuches. These were often Ulmen, the wealthier men in the lof. In wartime loncos of the various local rehue or the larger aillarehue would gather in a koyag or parliament and would elect a toqui to lead the warriors in battle...
s to make agreements with the Mapuche in so called parliaments. This allowed the growth of commerce and increased the mestization
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
.
Campaigns of the Mestizo Alejo and Misqui
- Pedro Porter CasanatePedro Porter CasanateAdmiral Pedro Porter y Casanate was a Spanish sailor, soldier, explorer of California and Royal Governor of Chile from 1656 to 1662.-Early life:...
- Mestizo AlejoAlejoAlejo was a Chilean mestizo, who fought in the Arauco War. He was the son of the Mapuche cacique Curivilú and the Spanish Isabel de Vivar y Castro who was captured during a Mapuche raid. Isabel and Alejo were rescued five years later and rejoined the Spanish society. Alejo enlisted the Spanish...
- Battle of Conuco
- Misqui
- Diego González Montero JustinianoDiego González Montero JustinianoDiego González Montero Justiniano was interim Royal Governor of Chile twice, from February to May 1662 following the death of Pedro Porter Casanate and again from February to October 1670 succeeding the Diego Dávila, 1st Marquis of Navamorcuende until the arrival of Juan Henríquez de...
- Ángel de PeredoÁngel de PeredoÁngel de Peredo was born in 1623, in the small town of Queveda in Cantabria, Spain, and was a Knight of the Order of Santiago.He was the President of the Real Audiencia of Chile and then temporary Royal Governor of Chile from May 1662 to February of 1664...
- Francisco de Meneses BritoFrancisco de Meneses BritoFrancisco de Meneses Brito was Royal Governor of Chile between 1664 and 1667.-Sources:...
- Diego Dávila, 1st Marquis of NavamorcuendeDiego Dávila, 1st Marquis of NavamorcuendeDiego Dávila Coello y Pacheco, 1st Marquis of Navamorcuende, 17th Lord of Cardiel, El Bodón, Montalvo, El Hito and of Villar de Cañas was a Spanish soldier and colonial administrator who served as Royal Governor of Chile from March 19, 1667 to February 18, 1670.-Sources:...
- Diego González Montero JustinianoDiego González Montero JustinianoDiego González Montero Justiniano was interim Royal Governor of Chile twice, from February to May 1662 following the death of Pedro Porter Casanate and again from February to October 1670 succeeding the Diego Dávila, 1st Marquis of Navamorcuende until the arrival of Juan Henríquez de...
- Juan Henríquez de VillalobosJuan Henríquez de VillalobosJuan Henríquez de Villalobos ; Spanish soldier and administrator who, after participation in various European wars, was designated as governor of Chile by Mariana of Austria. In this position, between October 1670 and April 1682, he became, according to Chilean historiography, the epítome of the...
- Parliament of Malloco
- Ayllicuriche
The later 17th century
Marcos José de Garro who was Royal Governor of ChileRoyal Governor of Chile
The Royal Governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonial administrative district known as the Kingdom of Chile. This district was also called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the Royal Governor also held the title of a Captain General...
from 1682 to 1692, had proposed to embark on a major campaign against the Mapuche
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
s to the viceroy of Peru
Viceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...
, Melchor de Navarra y Rocafull
Melchor de Navarra y Rocafull
Don Melchor de Navarra y Rocafull, jure uxoris Duke of Palata, Prince of Massalubrense was a Spanish politician. From November 20, 1681 to August 15, 1689 he was Viceroy of Perú.-Early career:Navarra y Rocafull studied in the Universities of Oviedo and Salamanca...
Duke of La Plata, and the King of Spain. He planned that the Mapuche chiefs and elders be invited to a conference where they were to be imprisoned so that Araucanía could be pacified relatively bloodlessly. However, in 1686, King Charles II of Spain
Charles II of Spain
Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the ruler of large parts of Italy, the Spanish territories in the Southern Low Countries, and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies...
rejected the plan as deceitful. In 1685, Garro decreed the depopulation of the Isla Mocha, with the goal of denying resources to pirates who were then ravaging the Pacific coast of Chile. The islands Mapuche natives were settled in a reducción
Indian Reductions
Reductions were settlements founded by the Spanish colonizers of the New World with the purpose of assimilating indigenous populations into European culture and religion.Already since the beginning of the Spanish presence in the Americas, the Crown had been concerned...
on what is now the modern site of Concepcion
Concepción, Chile
Concepción is a city in Chile, capital of Concepción Province and of the Biobío Region or Region VIII. Greater Concepción is the second-largest conurbation in the country, with 889,725 inhabitants...
.
The government of Tomás Marín de Poveda of was marked by the brief flare up of the War of Arauco in 1694, with the Toqui Millapán when the Mapuche were incited by the unauthorized activities of Antonio Pedreros against the machi
Machi (Shaman)
A machi is a traditional healer and religious leader in the Mapuche culture of Chile and Argentina. Machis play significant roles in Mapuche religion. Women are more commonly machis than men.-Description:...
s of the Mapuche. Pedreros died of wounds when his force tried to cross the Quepe River
Quepe River
Quepe River is a river of Chile located in the Araucanía Region. It originates in the lake of the same name, in the vicinity of Llaima volcano. Then flows about 112 km to join the Cautín River near the locality of Almagro, only a few kilometres upstream of the confluence of the rivers Cautín and...
to attack the army of Millapán. The Spanish army of the Kingdom of Chile
Kingdom of Chile
The General Captaincy of Chile or Gobernacion de Chile, was an administrative territory of the Viceroyalty of Peru in the Spanish Empire from 1541 to 1818, the year in which it declared itself independent, becoming the Republic of Chile...
was then sent against Millapán under Maestre de Campo Alonso de Cordova y Figueroa
Alonso de Cordova y Figueroa
Alonso de Cordova y Figueroa Spanish soldier born in Concepción, Chile, son of Alonso de Figueroa y Córdoba and father of the historian Pedro de Cordova y Figueroa...
and the Sargento Mayor
Sargento Mayor
Sargento Mayor was a rank immediately below that of Maestro de Campo in the Spanish tercios of the 16th and 17th centuries. Initially second in rank to a Coronel in a Colunella, the Sargento Mayor became second in rank to the Maestre de Campo after the creation of the tercios in 1534...
Alonso Cobarrubias. It was impossible for Millapán to resist and he had to capitulate. The governor then held the 1694 Parliament of Choque-Choque with the Mapuche, realizing Pedreros had been the source of the dispute and made a peace that lasted for nearly thirty years.
The Mapuche Uprising of 1723
After 30 years of peace the War of Arauco continued with theMapuche Uprising of 1723.
Toqui Vilumilla
Vilumilla
Vilumilla was the Mapuche Toqui elected in 1722 to lead the Mapuche Uprising of 1723 against the Spanish for their violation of the peace.The Mapuche resented the Spanish intruding into their territory and building forts, and also the insolence of those officials called capitan de amigos ,...
Gabriel Cano de Aponte
Gabriel Cano de Aponte
Gabriel Cano de Aponte was a Spanish soldier who served as Royal Governor of Chile from 1717 to 1733. His administration was the longest of all Colonial Governors and the second longest in the history of Chile after the administration of General Augusto Pinochet, who surpassed him by some eight...
Parliament of Negrete (1726)
1751 Concepción earthquake
1751 Concepción earthquake
The 1751 Concepción earthquake was one of the strongest and most destructive recorded quakes in Chilean history. It struck the Central Valley of the country, destroying the cities of Concepción, Chillán, Cauquenes, Curicó and Talca, probably on May 24, 1751, although there is currently a debate...
The Mapuche Rebellions of 1759, 1766 and 1769
Manuel de Amat y JunietManuel de Amat y Juniet
Felipe Manuel Cayetano de Amat y de Juniet was a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator. He was the Royal Governor of the Captaincy General of Chile from December 28, 1755 to September 9, 1761, and Viceroy of Peru from October 12, 1761 to July 17, 1776.-Origins and military...
Mapuche Uprising of 1759
Antonio de Guill y Gonzaga
Antonio de Guill y Gonzaga
Antonio de Guill y Gonzaga was a Spanish colonial administrator who served as Royal Governor of Panama and Royal Governor of Chile.-Arauco War:...
Parliament of Nacimiento 1764
Curiñancu
Mapuche Uprising of 1766
Juan de Balmaseda y Censano Beltrán
Juan de Balmaseda y Censano Beltrán
Juan de Balmaseda y Censano Beltrán , interim Royal Governor of Chile.Son of Pedro de Balmaceda and Angela Zenzano; lawyer of the Consejos de Espana, named an oidor of Chile in 1739, which became permanent November 28, 1742. As time went on he was given additional offices...
Lebian
Lebian
Lebian was toqui from 1769 to 1774, who led the Pehuenche against the Spanish Empire in Chile following the Mapuche Uprising of 1766 during the Arauco War.-Life:...
Francisco Javier de Morales y Castejón de Arrollo
Francisco Javier de Morales y Castejón de Arrollo
Francisco Javier de Morales y Castejón de Arrollo was a Spanish soldier and interim governor of Chile from March 1770 to March 1772.- Sources :* Diego Barros Arana, Vicuña Mackenna, Carlos Tomás, ** Parte Quinta Capitulo IIX pg. 316-338...
Taipilabquén
Parliament of Negrete (1771)
Agustín de Jáuregui y Aldecoa
Agustín de Jáuregui
Agustín de Jáuregui y Aldecoa was a Spanish politician and soldier who served as governor of Chile and viceroy of Peru .-Early life:...
Parliament of Tapihue (1774)
Ambrosio de Benavides
Ambrosio de Benavides
Ambrosio de Benavides Medina Liñán y Torres was a Spanish colonial administrator who served as Royal Governor of Puerto Rico, Royal Governor of Charcas and Royal Governor of Chile.-Early life:...
Treaty of Lonquilmo (1784)
The Huilliche Rebellion of 1792 and the parliaments of 1793
In 1784 the Governor of Chiloé, Francisco Hurtado, and the Royal Governor of ChileRoyal Governor of Chile
The Royal Governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonial administrative district known as the Kingdom of Chile. This district was also called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the Royal Governor also held the title of a Captain General...
, Ambrosio O'Higgins were ordered by the Spanish King to open a way between Maullín
Maullín
Maullín is Chilean town and commune in Llanquihue Province which is part of Los Lagos Region. The commune is located in at the outflow of Maullín River.-History:In 1674, there was a group of soldiers Basques in the present position of the commune...
and Valdivia over Huilliche
Huilliche
The Huilliche is an ethnic group of Chile, belonging to the Mapuche culture. They live in mountain valleys in an area south of Toltén River and on Chiloé Archipelago...
territory. This caused alarm among the Huilliche of the Llanos of Osorno (flatlands of Osorno) who decided to ally with the Huilliche Aillarehue
Aillarehue
Aillarehue or Ayllarehue Aillarehue or Ayllarehue Aillarehue or Ayllarehue (from the (mapudungun: ayllarewe/ayjarewe: " nine rehues"); a confederation of rehues or familiar clans (lof) that dominated a region or province. It was the old administrative and territorial division of the Mapuche,...
s of the Río Bueno
Bueno River
Bueno River is a river in southern Chile. It originates in Ranco Lake and like most of Chile rivers it drains into the Pacific Ocean at the southern boundary of the Valdivian Coastal Reserve. Its lower flow forms the border between Osorno Province and Ranco Province...
Valley and around Lake Ranco in the north to ask for the intervention of the Governor of Valdivia, Mariano Pusterla. Mariano Pusterla had good relations with the Huilliches of Río Bueno and Ranco because of his support for pacific contact and missionary campaign, refusing establishing any new fort in their territory. The Governor of Chiloé, Francisco Hurtado, supported instead a hard line against the Huilliches and threatened with a military invasion.
On February of 1789 the Peace Treaty of Río Bueno was signed between Huilliche chiefs and colonial authorities. This treaty diverted a possible invasion from Chiloé and gave the Huilliches of Osorno support against the malón
Malón
Malón or maloca was a military raiding tactic of the Mapuche peoples from the 17th to the 19th centuries.The "maloca" among the Mapuche is described as a means of obtaining justice, by Juan Ignacio Molina:...
es of the Aillarehue of Quilacahuín
Quilacahuín
Quilacahuín was a Huilliche aillarehue, that is a confederation of familial clans, of the Chawra kawin Butalmapu located south of the Bueno River, between the Rahue River and the sea, in southern Chile.- Sources :* * Ricardo E. Latcham,...
from the authorities of Valdivia. At that point the Huilliches offered to facilitate the opening of the new Camino Real
Inca road system
The Inca road system was the most extensive and advanced transportation system in pre-Columbian South America. The network was based on two north-south roads with numerous branches. The best known portion of the road system is the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu...
and to allow Spaniards occupy Osorno, a city that had been abandoned in 1602. The treaty also allowed Spaniards to settle and form hacienda
Hacienda
Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...
s north of Bueno River
Bueno River
Bueno River is a river in southern Chile. It originates in Ranco Lake and like most of Chile rivers it drains into the Pacific Ocean at the southern boundary of the Valdivian Coastal Reserve. Its lower flow forms the border between Osorno Province and Ranco Province...
.
Abuses from the Spanish and the fast advance of them in establishing new haciendas made several chiefs change mind and form an alliance of the following cacique
Cacique
Cacique is a title derived from the Taíno word for the pre-Columbian chiefs or leaders of tribes in the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles...
s; Tangol from Río Bueno
Río Bueno, Chile
Río Bueno is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Río Bueno. It is located in Ranco Province in Los Ríos Region...
, Queipul and Catrihuala. The Huilliche Rebellion of 1792 began with this event, and they soon started to pillage haciendas, missions with the ultimate aim of assaulting Valdivia, which despite being well defended from north and west, seemed vulnerable for a land attack by the southeast.
Despite the limited extent of the rebellion, that never really menaced Valdivia, the Spanish authorities responded to it with rigour. Governor O'Higgins choose the captain Tomás de Figueroa to lead the reprisal. Figueroa set fire to ruca
Ruca
Ruca is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Ruca are called rucassiens.-External links:*...
s and croplands where his troops passed and arrested a large number of male Huilliche
Huilliche
The Huilliche is an ethnic group of Chile, belonging to the Mapuche culture. They live in mountain valleys in an area south of Toltén River and on Chiloé Archipelago...
s as suspected rebels. After that, the Spanish considered it convenient to sign a new treaty with the Huilliche leaders, for which a parliament was held in Las Canoas, in what is now modern day Osorno
Osorno, Chile
Osorno is a city and commune in southern Chile and capital of Osorno Province in the Los Lagos Region. It had a population of 145,475, as of the 2002 census...
, in 1793. While in the treaty of Río Bueno the Spanish had been allowed to form haciendas north of Bueno River
Bueno River
Bueno River is a river in southern Chile. It originates in Ranco Lake and like most of Chile rivers it drains into the Pacific Ocean at the southern boundary of the Valdivian Coastal Reserve. Its lower flow forms the border between Osorno Province and Ranco Province...
, establishing that watercourse as a de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
frontier, the Spanish now went on to set up haciendas south of it.
The same year, 1793, a new parliament was held in Negrete on the northern frontier with the aim of ratifying and renewing the older Treaty of Lonquilmo from 1783. Copying older treaties, the King of Spain was confirmed as the sovereign of the Araucanía, while the possession of the land was reserved for the Mapuche
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
s, which resulted in a de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
sovereignty of the King of Spain but in a de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
independence of the Mapuche-controlled lands. The treaty was held from March 4 to March 7, with many banquets of wine and meat being held for the numerous participants. The whole treaty cost 10.897 pesos, which was, according to Diego Barros Arana
Diego Barros Arana
Diego Jacinto Agustín Barros Arana was an educator, diplomat and Chilean historian. He is considered the most important Chilean historian of the 19th century and his most famous work is the General History of Chile...
, an enormous amount of money, considering the size of Chile's treasury.
Relations at the end of the 18th century
Although the Mapuches did not allow the free transit of huincas (whites) into the zones that they considered their own land, from about 1780, the associated Mapuche peoples began to accept the limited presence of Spaniards and Creoles in their territories. Also, with the passage of time the Mapuches slowly entered into more frequent interaction with the Hispanic-Creole culture. Thus they would adopt many of their customs and form of life, thanks to the schools for natives, ambassadors, fairs and the parliaments. The Parliament of Negrete of 1803 was the last great parliament of the colonial period of Chile, in which both sides solemnized their peace and alliances. The commerce and unions between Spaniards and Mapuche, generated in addition a mestization that acted like a bridge between both cultures. Thus a coexistence was established between the Spanish, Creoles, and Mapuches, in which things remained nearly the same over most of the next century. Risings and malons were less and less frequent, but among the Mapuches opposition understandably remained towards total integration.Chilean War of Independence and Guerra a muerte
During the Chilean War of Independence many Mapuche chiefs allied with the Royalist Spanish that fought for reestablishing the old colonial order in Chile. The Royalist brigadierBrigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
Gabino Gaínza
Gabino Gaínza
Gabino or Gavino Gaínza y Fernández de Medrano was a Spanish military officer and politician in Spain's American colonies. During the Latin American wars of independence, he initially fought on the royalist side, in Chile...
negotiated with Mapuche chiefs during the Parliament of Quilín in 1814 and gained their support against the Chilean patriots.
In 1817 and 1818 the royalists had suffered many defeats, but continued resistance in south Central Chile together with the aid of some Mapuches. José de San Martín
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
who had liberated north-central Chile with Bernardo O'Higgins
Bernardo O'Higgins
Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme was a Chilean independence leader who, together with José de San Martín, freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. Although he was the second Supreme Director of Chile , he is considered one of Chile's founding fathers, as he was the first holder...
launched a series of actions against armed bands in the mountains, consisting of assorted outlaws, royalists, and Indians who had taken advantage of the chaos of military expeditions and forced recruitments to pillage and sack the countryside. This time of irregular warfare was later called the Guerra a muerte
Guerra a muerte
Guerra a muerte is a term coined by Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna used in Chilean historiography to describe the irregular, no-quarter warfare that broke out from 1819 to 1821 during the Chilean War of Independence...
(Fight to the death) for its merciless tactics, as neither the guerillas nor the government soldiers took prisoners. Only after the band of Vicente Benavides
Vicente Benavides
Vicente Benavides Llanos was a Chilean soldier who fought in the Chilean War of Independence. He initially sided with the patriots but changed sides later to side with the royalists. He then led the resistance during the so called Guerra a muerte...
was liquidated in 1822 was the region around Concepcion finally pacified. Peace was fully established only on January 7, 1825, during the rule of Ramon Freire, the Parliament of Tapihue was held, between Chile and the Mapuches south of the Bio Bio River, which fixed that river as the border between Chile and Araucanía, ending the state of war which had lasted fourteen years, with the Republic of Chile.
Background
In 1860 Chilean president José Joaquín Pérez Mascayano decided to incorporate the territory between the Bío-Bío RiverBío-Bío River
The Biobío River is the second largest river in Chile. It originates from Icalma and Galletué lakes in the Andes and flows 380 km to the Gulf of Arauco on the Pacific Ocean....
and Toltén River
Toltén River
Toltén River is a river located in the Araucanía Region of Chile. It rises at Villarrica Lake, close to the city of the same name. Its major tributary is Allipén River...
(Araucanía). With the proclamation of the Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia
Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia
The Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia was the name of a state and kingdom created in the 19th century by a French lawyer and adventurer named Orélie-Antoine de Tounens. Orélie-Antoine de Tounens claimed the regions of Araucanía and eastern Patagonia hence the name of kingdom...
by Orélie-Antoine de Tounens it became a priority to incorporate the Araucanía even if Orélie Antonie never was a serious threat.
The authorities decided to apply the plan proposed by General Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez
Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez
Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez was a Chilean politician and military figure who played a major role in the Occupation of the Araucanía....
which included a mix of military and cultural penetration together with agreements with local chiefs. The plan also included the foundation of cities, building of roads and other public infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.
The occupation
Cornelio Saavedra advanced in relatively short time to the Malleco RiverMalleco River
Malleco River is a river in Malleco Province, Araucanía Region, southern Chile. It rises in the western slopes of the Andes, within the Tolhuaca National Park and near Tolhuaca Volcano. The river is a major tributary to the Bío-Bío River. The Malleco Viaduct built in 1890 is the main landmark of...
and founded the city of Angol
Angol
Angol is a commune and capital city of the Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region of southern Chile. It is located at the foot of the Nahuelbuta Range and next to the Vergara River, that permitted communications by small boats to the Bío-Bío River and Concepción. This strategic position explains...
, together with the forts of Mulchén
Mulchén
Mulchén is a city and commune in Biobío Province of Biobío Region, Chile. It was first settled in 1871 by soldiers during the so called Pacification of the Araucania. In 1875 Mulchén was officially founded....
and Lebu
Lebu, Chile
Lebu is a port city and commune in central Chile administered by the Municipality of Lebu. Lebu is also the capital of Arauco Province in Bío-Bío Region...
in 1862. From Valdivia
Valdivia, Chile
Valdivia is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia and Cau-Cau Rivers, approximately east of the coastal towns of Corral and Niebla...
in the south the troops also succeeded in advancing along the coast into the Toltén River. This first phase of occupation was carried out with relatively low levels of resistance, but soon after the lonco
Lonco
A lonco or lonko is a tribal chief of the Mapuches. These were often Ulmen, the wealthier men in the lof. In wartime loncos of the various local rehue or the larger aillarehue would gather in a koyag or parliament and would elect a toqui to lead the warriors in battle...
Quilapán started a revolt near Malleco River.
When the War of the Pacific
War of the Pacific
The War of the Pacific took place in western South America from 1879 through 1883. Chile fought against Bolivia and Peru. Despite cooperation among the three nations in the war against Spain, disputes soon arose over the mineral-rich Peruvian provinces of Tarapaca, Tacna, and Arica, and the...
started in 1879 much of the troops in the south of Chile were moved north to fight Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
. In 1880 several Mapuche tribes took advantage of this situation and launched a series of spontaneous attacks on to the Chilean forts established in the frontier.
With a victorious Chilean army returning from the War of the Pacific, the government of Domingo Santa María
Domingo Santa María
Domingo Santa María González was a Chilean political figure. He served as the president of Chile between 1881 and 1886.-Early life:...
launched the final campaign to incorporate the heartland of the Mapuches into Chile. Colonel Gregorio Urrutia was chosen for this task.
The old Spanish town of Villarrica
Villarrica, Chile
Villarrica is a city and commune in southern Chile located on the western shore of Villarrica Lake in the Province of Cautín, Araucanía Region south of Santiago and close to the Villarrica Volcano ski center to the south east. Residents of Villarrica are known as Villarriquences.Tourism, grain and...
was refounded and the forts of Carahue
Carahue
Carahue is a city and commune in southern Chile. It is located 56 km west of Temuco, on the northern bank of the Imperial River.The city was founded as La Imperial April 16, 1552 by Pedro de Valdivia....
, Lautaro
Lautaro, Chile
Lautaro is a city and commune of the Cautín Province in Chile's Araucanía Region. The area is named in honor of Lautaro, Mapuche leader during the War of Arauco.-Demographics:...
, Pillánlelbu, Temuco
Temuco
Temuco is a city and commune, capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The name comes from the Mapudungun language, meaning "temu water"; "temu" is a tree used by Mapuches for medicinal purposes. The city is located 670 km south of Santiago...
, Nueva Imperial
Nueva Imperial
Nueva Imperial is a city and commune in the south of Chile. It is located in Cautín Province in the Araucanía Region. Nueva Imperial lies about to the west of Temuco, the regional capital.-Geography:...
and Pucón
Pucón
Pucón is a Chilean city and commune administered by the municipality of Pucón located in the Province of Cautín, Araucanía Region, 100 km to the southeast of Temuco and 780 km to the south of Santiago....
where founded. The tribes living close to this forts their territory, and about 10,000 Mapuche Indians were killed in skirmishes by the Chilean army. Many of the survivors escaped to mountains where they joined with the Pehuenche
Pehuenche
Pehuenches are an indigenous people that are part of the Mapuche peoples and live in the Andes in south central Chile and Argentina. Their name derives from their habit of harvesting of piñones, the seeds of the Araucaria araucana or pehuén...
s and other tribes escaping from Argentine territory. Some indigenous remnants were placed into reductions and their land was given to Chilean and foreign settlers. Some historians consider the occupation of the Araucanía to be the end of a 300-years long War of Arauco.
Aftermath and present-day conflicts
Staunch resistance to a perceived oppression remains an important part of modern Mapuche social movements. Today numerous groups have engaged the Chilean state in legal and political battles over usurped territory. The ownership of land in Araucanía has been the most visible conflict point. Chileans and descendants of European immigrants have had ownership of estates in the area since the 19th century, some of which were given or sold to them by the government while other lands were purchased from indigenous leaders, while in some cases did settlers drove away Mapuches from the better lands.Another modern conflict has been the fight against foreign transnational forest companies that substituted (when it was legal) native forest with Douglas Fir, Pinus radiata and and eucalyptus globulus
Eucalyptus globulus
The Tasmanian Blue Gum, Southern Blue Gum or Blue Gum, is an evergreen tree, one of the most widely cultivated trees native to Australia. They typically grow from 30 to 55 m tall. The tallest currently known specimen in Tasmania is 90.7 m tall...
plantations. More militant, yet controversial groups, such as the Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco
Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco
Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco or CAM, is a Mapuche organization dedicated to the revindication and recovery of former Mapuche lands. It was founded in 1998, in Tranaquepe, Chile, and is responsible for land occupation in the zones of Tirúa, Contulmo, Cañete and Temucuicui...
have re-initiated decades long disputes over land. Today many of these movements are isolated and have lost significant popular backing due to accusations of government infiltration and sabotage.
See also
- Diego de AlmagroDiego de AlmagroDiego de Almagro, , also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo , was a Spanish conquistador and a companion and later rival of Francisco Pizarro. He participated in the Spanish conquest of Peru and is credited as the first European discoverer of Chile.Almagro lost his left eye battling with coastal...
- Pedro de ValdiviaPedro de ValdiviaPedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, where he served as lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro in Peru, acting as his second in command...
- AraucanizationAraucanizationThe Araucanization of Patagonia was the process of expansion of Mapuche culture, influence and language from Araucanía into the Patagonic plains. Historians disagree in the time of the expansion but it would have occurred sometime between 1550 and 1850. Amerindian peoples such as the Puelches and...
- Occupation of Araucanía
- Conquest of the DesertConquest of the DesertThe Conquest of the Desert was a military campaign directed mainly by General Julio Argentino Roca in the 1870s, which established Argentine dominance over Patagonia, which was inhabited by indigenous peoples...
- Mapuche peopleMapucheThe Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
- Lautaro
- CaupolicánCaupolicanCaupolicán was a Toqui, the military leader of the Mapuche people of Chile, that commanded their army during the first Mapuche rising against the Spanish conquistadors from 1553 to 1558....
- ColocoloColocolo (tribal chief)Colocolo was a Mapuche leader in the early period of the Arauco War. He was a major figure in Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga's epic poem La Araucana, about the early Arauco War. In the poem he was the one that proposed the contest between the rival candidates for Toqui that resulted in the choice of...