Gonzalo Pizarro - Expeditions With Francisco de Orellana

Expeditions With Francisco De Orellana

In 1541, Gonzalo was declared the governor of Quito. Not satisfied and at the urging of Francisco Pizarro, he led an expedition east of Quito with Francisco de Orellana in search of the fabled city of El Dorado and, "The Country of Cinnamon" ("País de la Canela"). In Quito, Gonzalo was able to recruit 220 Spaniards and 4,000 Native Americans. The second-in-command, Orellana, was sent to Guayaquil to recruit more troops and horses. Gonzalo Pizarro and his followers left Quito on February 1541, a month before Orellana, who was able to bring 23 men and several horses. By March both met at the valley of Zumaco and started their march towards crossing the Andes. After following the courses of the Coca and Napo rivers, the expedition started running out of provisions. About 140 of the 220 Spaniards and 3,000 out of 4,000 natives had died. On February 1542, they decided Orellana would continue sailing down the Napo river in search of food along with 50 men.

After a brief time, Gonzalo thought the expedition was a whole failure and decided to take a route north back to Quito with 80 of the remaining men, unknowingly relinquishing the success to Orellana, who ended discovering and exploring the entire length of the Amazon River. This episode in the life of Gonzalo Pizarro was fictionalized in Werner Herzog's film, Aguirre: Wrath of God.

Upon his return to Quito, Gonzalo learned that the Almagristas (as the followers of Almagro were called) had assassinated his brother Francisco Pizarro on June 26, 1541 in retaliation for Almagro's execution. By this time the Crown's representative, Cristóbal Vaca de Castro, had arrived in Peru amidst the confusion after Pizarro's death. Gonzalo Pizarro offered to help capture those responsible for his brother's death, but was refused. The Almagristas were finally defeated in the battle of Chupas on September 16, 1542, and their leader, Diego Almagro El Mozo, was executed.