by Georges Fery
The conquest of Perú was not, as the word “conquest” implies, a grandiose affair with drums beating and banners flying. Quite the opposite; it was the unexpected outcome for the search for a way across the isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean from the North Sea, today’s Caribbean Sea. At the time, no one could conceive that a South American continent existed.
The ”conquest” began with Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519), mayor of Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darién, the first European permanent settlement in the country, a deputy to Pedro Arias de Avila, governor of Golden Castille (Castilla de Oro renamed Tierra Firme by Panama’s Royal Academy in 1538), a territory stretching from Nicaragua to the Bay of Panama. With sixty-seven Spaniards, Balboa left the settlement in Antigua, battling against nature and natives over the jungle-clad Darien mountains, looking for gold, fame, and a way to the South Seas (now known as the Pacific Ocean).
With him was Panquiaco the son of the Caquetá chief, who told him about a rich land that lay further south on the coast, with great kings. He told Balboa of seagoing boats, gold, and pearls; a land the natives called Birú, the name of its king. On September 25, 1513, Balboa stood on a thousand-foot-high peak in the Darien looking spellbound at the immensity of the South Sea, while his second in command, Francisco Pizarro gazed intently for in his mind echoed Panquiaco’s words…great lands…and…gold!..gold! This sketchy rumor laid the seeds of the Spanish conquest of Perú.
Conquistadors were granted a license to explore and conquer by the Spanish Crown in Madrid, stipulating that the venture would not carry any expense to the Crown. All costs were borne by the conquistadors, who had to borrow money and/or put up in-kind guarantees from families in Spain, for the cost of such ventures was high. Conquistadors had to pay for ships, crews, soldiers, weapons, and food; they had to build settlements to explore unknown and dangerous lands and fight endless battles in their ceaseless quest for gold. They had to pay for enlisted soldiers, ship crews, and debts. Many enlistees were paid soldiers released by the Spanish army from the Christian-Muslim War (1481-1492), or the Italian Wars (1494-1559).
An overseer from the Crown, appointed by the House of Trade of the Indies in Seville, was attached to each expedition, keeping detailed logs of goods and transactions. The conquistador paid him, and so he was a chaplain. The “Right of Conquest” was granted as a binding contract, which was predicated on the Crown’s receiving the royal fifth (quinto real) on all imported precious metals. Other taxes, which could run up to 40%, included providing naval protection for returning ships laden with treasure. Once the new territory was settled and pacified, the Crown appointed a vice-roy, governors, officials, and an army chief, while bishops of the Catholic orders assigned priests.
Born out of wedlock in Trujillo, Spain, in 1478, Francisco Pizarro joined the military in his late teens, rising to lieutenant fighting in the Italian Wars, where he was wounded. Upon his return to Spain in 1502, Pizarro traveled to the Indies, as the recently discovered territories were known. When in Santo Domingo, on the island of Hispaniola, he was hired as a messenger in the local government. Frustrated in this position, he joined Captain General Alonso de Ojeda as a sub-officer.
With de Ojeda, he fought in the wars against the indigenous Taíno people on the island of Borinquen (today Puerto Rico), rising to second in command when de Ojeda, wounded by a poison-tipped arrow, had to return to Santo Domingo. Pizarro was instructed to wait forty days and, should de Ojeda not return, sail back to Santo Domingo with the soldiers. Pizarro followed de Ojeda’s instructions with a twist. He took two brigantines and sailed west with de Ojeda’s partner, Fernández de Enciso. They landed at the port of Santa Maria la Antigua del Darién (1510), in the estuary of the Tarena River on Panama’s Caribbean coast. There, he met Balboa, also called the “fellow of the drum” for his daring escape from creditors in Santo Domingo, hiding in a wine cask with his dog Leoncito. In Pizarro, Balboa recognized a kindred spirit and made him lieutenant governor.
In 1515, Balboa was named second to the governor of Castilla de Oro, Pedro Arias de Ávila (aka Pedrarias Dávila, 1440-1531), his father-in-law. For reasons that would deviate from our narrative, Balboa rebelled against Pedrarias who, after a speedy trial, had him beheaded in the town’s plaza, watching the proceedings hidden behind a curtain. In 1523, Pizarro took over Balboa’s position.
We have little knowledge of Pizarro, but his achievements point to his strong personality, ethical strength, and great determination to overcome hardship and fear. At that time, he was respected as one of the founders and Mayor of Panama with a large cattle farm in the city’s outskirts. All these years, however, Pianquiaco’s words about gold kept nibbling in his mind, so he set to work on a plan for the discovery down the coast of the South Seas. Once the plan was set, he brought in two partners, the military officer Diego de Almagro and the school master Hernando de Luque. The three swore secrecy and sealed the promise with a mass and sacraments in the main church of Panama. The partners agreed that their share of the riches would be split equally. Pizarro would captain the venture, Almagro would be his second in command, while Luque was tasked with defending the trio’s interests with the governor in Panama. The ink was not yet dry when the plan reached Pedrarias Dávila, who demanded to join the group as a silent partner, not to risk his position as governor of Tierra Firme. For his partnership, Pedrarias Dávila invested some money in the venture and provided the mandatory official license for the expedition, which is now called the “Eastern Enterprise” (Empresa del Levante).
On September 13, 1524, the two-masted ship Santiago departed with Francisco Pizarro in command and sailed west to Taboga in the Pearl Islands. His crew of adventurers comprised 112 ex-soldiers, misfits, and a few Nicarao Indians as support hands. Also aboard were a handful of horses and two war dogs. This first attempt did not go well. Beyond the Pearl Islands, the ship sailed south along the South American continent’s coast, fighting headwinds and gales. They stopped at fishing villages that showed no sign of wealth; the crew only found a few gold trinkets and semi-precious stones. They kept sailing south despite hardships and, at times, gnawing hunger. In February or April of 1525, before heading back to Panama, they stopped at what appeared to be the palisade of a fortified village up on a hill near the coast. The Spaniards called it Fortín del Cacique de Las Piedras. That afternoon, they went up through a thick jungle and found the place deserted, so they settled there for the night.
At dawn, war cries awoke the Spaniards who scrambled to face a large group of well-armed half-naked men. The battle was brutal, and the Spaniards fought their way back to the coast while the fearless war dogs saved the day by gutting natives. Fifty Spaniards were seriously wounded, and five were missing and presumed dead. Pizarro headed back to Chochama, his rear base in the Bay of Panama.
Almagro and the San Cristóbal, another carrack mid-size ship, sailed a week after Pizarro with sixty-four soldiers, support personnel, horses, and war dogs. Like his partner, Almagro followed Pizarro’s southern route along the coast and tried with fifty men to capture Las Piedras, but he had to fall back fighting. Wounded in the face and losing an eye, he was about to be seized by the natives when Juan Roldán, a black free slave, saved him. The soldiers counterattacked and set fire to the stronghold, later called Battle of Punta Quemada. Fighting all the while, Spaniards moved back to the San Cristóbal with their wounded captain. They sailed to the Pearl Islands in the Gulf of Panama, and then to Chochama where Almagro joined Pizarro.
Both agreed that this first foray into the unknown did not produce much but sent the few pieces of gold they had found to Pedrarias Dávila in Panama City, who became furious upon learning of the poor returns on his investment. He called Pizarro an inept fool and other disrespectful names. He declared Birú a land of misery and threatened to fold the Eastern Enterprise and leave for Nicaragua to attend to Spanish settlers. Over the following days, Hernando de Luque informed Pedrarias Dávila about staying in the partnership, which he did with the condition that Pizarro be assigned second-in-command. Almagro welcomed this task to avoid the possibility of a fifth partner joining the venture.
The argument was settled and Pedrarias Dávila agreed to try another six-month voyage. Should that foray fail to produce results, however, the “Eastern Enterprise” would be terminated. On this second sailing, Luque grasped the opportunity to join Pizarro and Almagro. With good winds, in early February 1526, Pizarro and Almagro sailed again, each in command of one of the two manned and provisioned ships of the first voyage, together with three lighter support crafts. They were guided by the master pilot Bartolomé Ruiz de Estrada, who ran on the last route. Cruising south they stopped at Las Piedras and in anger killed every soul and burned the place again. On their way they anchored for water at Isla de las Palmas where in a brief skirmish with locals, two Spaniards were wounded. The men kept sailing south in heavy sea, and at the end of August 1526, along a river they would name San Juan, they assaulted villages to retrieve gold and silver artifacts. The country inland, however, was poor and hilly. Pizarro sent Almagro back to Panama with instructions to enlist more men, while the pilot Ruiz de Estrada was instructed to head south and explore the coast. At the same time, Pizarro and soldiers on horseback followed the ship’s track on land while exploring villages and coves. On his map, Estrada noted the mouths of several rivers with waters from the Andes Mountains seen far inland. For the first time, off the cape they called Cabo Pasado, they crossed the austral equinox line and, a couple of days later, off the island of Salango, they met five large outrigger boats with a sail and large paddle-rudders. Frightened by the foreigners, the crews jumped into the sea and swam to the coast. However, the local trader and his crew of one man and three boys remained on one of the boats. They showed their loads of fine black and cream-colored ceramic bowls, plates, and woven blankets of fine alpaca wool. These goods alluded to a cultured society.
The boats’ crew spoke a dialect used in a town the Spaniards would later learn was Tumbes, located further south on the coast. Pizarro took the boys and named them Felipillo, Yacané and Martinillo, for their actual names could not be translated, and ordered the ship chaplain to teach them Spanish. Pizarro wanted to continue further down the coast, but his crew rebelled because, after months at sea, they wanted to return home; anger almost led to blows.
When Almagro returned from Panama with more men, horses, and food, he brought news that Pedrarias Dávila had been replaced as governor of Tierra Firme by Pedro de los Ríos. Pizarro kept sailing south, and toward the end of July 1527, came to a river named Santiago. The most lucrative encounter occurred close to Isla de Salango’s Punta Illote, a spot they will later call Cabo de la Vuelta, marking the point where they headed back north to answer the crew’s pressing demands to return home. Tired of their complaints, Pizarro ordered the captain to head north to a forested hilly island they called Isla de Gallo. He claimed that the ship’s hull needed cleaning, so the ship had to be beached. Once the work was done, the crew believed they would be returning home. Then in mid-September two white sails appeared on the horizon.
Pizarro thought that more people and support were coming. Instead, captains Juan Tafur and Pedro de los Ríos landed on the beach with the service boat with orders from Panama’s governor for everyone to return. Tafur sternly demanded that Pizarro and Almagro promptly sail back with all their men. After a tense and bitter exchange, the men came close to settling the argument with their swords. As recorded by eyewitnesses, Pizarro then traced a line in the sand, saying: “On this side are those who want to return to Panama and be poor; on my side, those who will remain with me and be rich; your call!” Thirteen crossed over the line, as did the pilot Ruíz de Estrada, even though he had pleaded earlier with Pizarro to return for family reasons. After six months having been left stranded by Tafur, who had returned to Panama with the remaining crew, fighting hunger, torrential rains, mosquitoes, and fever, in March 1528, another sail on the horizon signaled the arrival of a ship from the north, with instructions from the Panama governor to return to Panama. Pizarro again refused, and the partners convinced Ruìz to keep sailing south against the winds and storms of the season. After two weeks, they landed on an island they called Isla de Santa Clara, where they found offerings of finely painted ceramics, fine embroidered textiles, and many large gold and silver disks at the feet of a large stone idol.
The following day, five ocean-going native outrigger boats appeared. They were from the same community as those they had met the year before. They were tumbesinos warriors who led them a few miles south, to a large town called Tumbes, which was protected by a stone wall and a fortress built of massive quadrangular stones. The town’s chief Chilimaza sent men to greet the foreigners. The envoys were kurakas, Quechua-speaking magistrates assigned to large towns by the Great Inca in Cusco. As a welcome, the tumbesinos offered them food, water, and three llamas, which the Spaniards thought were camels without humps. Pizarro was invited to visit the city, but wary of treachery, sent the Greek Pedro de Candia, two musketeers, a mounted horseman, a war dog, and gifts of animals then unknown in Perú: two live pigs, five chickens, and a rooster. Reports from the visit were that the city was well built of stone and its streets clean and paved. Buildings and temples, such as a monastery for the virgins dedicated to the Sun, were likewise well built with carefully shaped stones. People were finely dressed in leather sandals, while markets were well provided with all types of fruits and vegetables.
Pizarro left Tumbes without getting into town, with thanks and the promise of return (which he did in 1532 on his third expedition, when he battled and defeated chief Chilimaza). The Spaniards kept sailing south and found an island they called Isla de los Lobos on the Paita coast, eventually landing in a cove they named Malabrigo. There, they learned that one of the crew, Bocanegra, had deserted and remained with the Indians. On May 3, 1528, the ship headed back to Panama.
This is the first of a two-part article
Contributor’s Bio:
Freelance writer, researcher and photographer georgefery.com addresses topics, from history, culture, and beliefs to daily living of ancient and today’s communities of Mesoamerica and South America. His articles are published online at travelthruhistory.com, ancient-origins.net and popular-archaeology.com, in the quarterly magazine Ancient American (ancientamerican.com), as well as in the U.K. at mexicolore.co.uk.
The author is a fellow of the Institute of Maya Studies in Miami, FL instituteofmayastudies.org and The Royal Geographical Society, London, U.K. rgs.org. Also a member in good standing of the Maya Exploration Center, Austin, TX mayaexploration.org, the Archaeological Institute of America, Boston, MA archaeological.org, the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC. americanindian.si.edu, and the NFAA – Non-Fiction Authors Association nonfictionauthrosassociation.com.
Contact:
Georges Fery – 5200 Keller Springs Road, # 1511, Dallas, Texas 75248 – T. (786) 501 9692 – gfery.43@gmail.com and www.georgefery.com
Photo Credits:
Ph.1 – Castilla de Oro, Tierra Firme 1513 – @Santos30-wikipedia.com
Ph.2 – Vasco Núñez de Balboa – @georgefery.com
Ph.3 – First Forays – @J.A. de Busto, 1973
Ph.4 – Pedro Arias de Ávila – @silverreaderclub.com
