The Great Web of Percy Harrison Fawcett
Diego de Almagro became an explorer and conquistador when he reached his fifty. He then spent several years taking part in one of the greatest adventures in the history of exploration-which was also one of the most infamous and brutal subjugations of a native population. From 1524 to 1534, in partnership with Francisco Pizarro, Almagro explored what is now Peru and discovered and conquered its great Inca civilization. After that he led the first European exploration of present-day Chile by land, enduring great hardships in his futile quest for more gold.
An illegitimate child, Diego de Almagro was probably born in the town of Almagro in the Estremadura region of Spain in about 1474. He spent the first forty years of his life in relative obscurity. Primarily a wandering adventurer during his years in Spain, he once murdered a man in a brawl. He traveled to the New World in 1514 with Pedro Arias de Avila, who was the new governor of Darien (in present-day Columbia). In 1524 he became a business partner with Francisco Pizarro and a wealthy priest, Hernando de Luque, pursuing ventures on mining, agriculture, and the slave trade.
In 1534, the king of Spain appointed Almagro adelantado of New Tuledo (present-day Chile). When conflict arose over whether Cuzco (the Inca capital) was within the boundaries of New Toledo or New Castile, Pizarro clearly averted war by encouraging Almagro to explore the lands he was authorized to "discover, conquer, and settle" along the South Sea (Pacific Ocean).
Thus, Almagro left Cuzco on July 3, 1535, with 750 Spaniards and 12,000 Indians to explore New Toledo in the hope of finding a rich civilization like that of the Incas. Following the route used by the Incas, the expedition skirted the southwest shore of Lake Titicaca and wintered in the Salta Valley. Almagro had by this point lost 150 soldiers, 10,000 Indians, and 30 horses due to his foolish decision to begin the march in the winter.
When the journey resumed, the
expediton crossed through parts of modern Bolivia and Argentina and made an
arduous trek across the Andes via the San Francisco
Pass. They then proceeded south and then to present-day Santiago. Father
Cristobal de Molina, a priest who was the scribe in the expedition, recorded
many instances of brutality and gruesome acts against the Indians encountered
and captured on the march. As an example, when one of the Indians who were
chained together, died, his head was cut off so his body could be removed
without undoing the chains.
After
months of exploration during which they found no great treasure, the exploration
party headed back to Cuzco. Finding Cuzco
under siege by the Inca leader Manco, Almagro
defeated him and claimed the city. This action brought on a conquistadorial war
between Almagro and Pizarro,
who was supported by his three half brothers. Almagro
defeated one Pizarro army at the Abancay
River, but he was subsequently defeated and captured by Hernando
Pizarro at the battle of Las Salinas
(near Cuzco). After a farcical trial, Almagro was
beheaded in July 1538. His son later avenged his death by murdering Francisco
Pizarro on June 26, 1541. Young Almagro
was executed by the Pizarrists the following year.