Progressive Chile

by Robert E. Mansfield

In 1535, one hundred years after the peaceful conquest of Northern Chile by the Incas, Diego de Almagro, one of the Spanish freebooters and Pacific pirates, started from Peru with five hundred adventurous soldiers on an expedition of conquest of Chile, hoping to repeat there Pizarro’s experience in the spoliation of the Inca Empire. The expedition of Almagro, to whom history generally accords the honor of the discovery of Chile, was attended with many hardships and much suffering. After leaving the road constructed by the Incas across the desert, they had to cross the Cordillera of the Andes, the higher ranges of which were covered with snow and over which there was no road and where the cold was intense. After a voyage lasting six months, in which innumerable difficulties were encountered, Almagro arrived at a point where Copiapo is now situated, with less than one half of his followers, the others having died from cold and starvation in crossing the mountains. It was on this expedition that Almagro manifested characteristics which later gave him the reputation of being one of the most cruel and inhuman of the many adventurers who invaded Chile. When animals used in transporting provisions and equipment for the expedition died, Indians encountered on the way were impressed into service as beasts of burden. They were compelled to live with the pack animals, with which they served in common, and when unable to longer support the burdens under which they struggled across deserts and over mountains, they were brutally murdered, or maimed and left to suffer the tortures of a slow death by the wayside.

When Almagro reached the valley of the Aconcagua, where he had been preceded more than a century by the Incas, who established friendly relations with the Araucanians, he was kindly received by the Indians. But the natives who had been enslaved and cruelly treated by the Spaniards enroute, related their experiences to the friendly Indians, who became suspicious and fled into the forests for protection. This angered Almagro who ordered his soldiers to go in search of them and to kill all who refused to return to their places of habitation. The Spaniards who were provided with horses and arms pursued the defenseless natives and slaughtered hundreds of them.

Having gone to Chile in search of gold, with no other motive than to sack and rob, and finding only poor, ignorant, miserable Indians in possession of the country, Almagro soon returned to Peru, disappointed and disgusted with what he described as the poverty of the territory he had explored. Because of this disappointment, previous to his departure, he committed outrages and atrocities upon the helpless natives, by whom he had been received as a friend, which have few parallels in the record of cruel deeds, with which the early history of South America is so replete. The acts of treachery and outrage committed by Almagro and his followers created a feeling in the minds of the Araucanians that ultimately led to hostilities which lasted for over three hundred years; hostile feelings that have never been removed, and prejudices that will remain so long as a representative of that brave, obstinate race survives.

Almagro’s unfavorable report and the miserable appearance of his soldiers on their return to Peru, together with the stories of suffering, created in the minds of the Spaniards the impression that Chile was the poorest of all the South American countries. But in 1540, Pedro de Valdivia, a young Spanish captain, apparently more ambitious for fame than riches, organized an expedition for the purpose of exploring Chile and taking possession of the territory in the name of the King. Writing to his sovereign concerning the undertaking he said: “I have no desire but to discover and add territory to your Majesty’s Kingdom, and fame to my memory.” With one hundred and fifty men the intrepid young officer, who had gained distinction for valor in European wars, started on a journey from Peru over deserts and mountains to Chile, where he was to lay the foundations for a future Republic. On reaching the beautiful valley of the Mapocho, surrounded by a wall of mountains, and from the center of which rises the Santa Lucia, one of the most remarkable natural formations in the world, Valdivia laid out and established the first city in Chile, which is now the splendid capital of the Republic, Santiago, on February 12, 1541.

On the arrival of Valdivia and his soldiers, the Indians remembering the deception and cruelty practiced by Almagro, abandoned the country near where the Spaniards located. But on being informed by Valdivia that he desired to live on terms of peace with them, they returned to their “rucas” and resumed the cultivation of their “sitios.”

The beautiful city of Santiago of to-day, with its palatial residences, magnificent Alameda, grand cathedral, splendid public buildings and miles of fine business blocks, bears little resemblance to the pioneer village of 1541. The first houses were built of the trunks of trees, plastered with mud and thatched with maize stocks. One of the first buildings erected was a little temple at the corner of the Plaza de Armas, on the site of which now stands the cathedral of Santiago, the corner-stone of the Catholic church in Chile, which is to-day a potent political factor, and exercises a far-reaching influence in the Republic, through its representation in Congress and in the press of the country.

The friendly relation first established with the Indians by Valdivia, and by which means he hoped to take peaceful possession of the country, did not long continue. The necessity of means and greater resources for carrying out his schemes of conquest encouraged Valdivia to prospect for gold, and some mines were opened near the port of Valparaiso. In these mines Indians were placed by force and worked as slaves. In return for the gold secured the Spaniards incurred the enmity of the Indians, who determined to kill all their persecutors as a means of ending the tyranny to which they were subjected. With that cunning and strategy which has always characterized the Araucanians in war, they waited to make the attack until Valdivia was absent on an exploring expedition in the south with some of his followers, leaving only thirty mounted and twenty foot soldiers to guard the little garrison at Santiago. For fifteen hours the fifty men held the fort which was besieged and assaulted by a force of Indians numbering six thousand. Finally Captain Alonso de Monroy, who was in charge of the Spanish forces changed his tactics from defensive to the offensive, and leading his little band of soldiers attacked the Indians with such courage and ferocity that, notwithstanding their great numbers they were driven off. A great number of Indians and several of the soldiers were killed, but the greatest loss suffered by the Spaniards was the destruction by fire of the entire village, except the fort. When Valdivia returned he found himself and his men without houses in which to live, and without provisions or supplies, everything except the clothing they wore having been burned or destroyed during the battle.

After several years of indecisive warfare, in which the Spaniards made no progress in the way of conquering the Indians, or the undisputed occupation of the territory, Valdivia decided to return to Peru for the purpose of enlisting a more formidable force of men and arms with which to prosecute the war against the Araucanians. He started on this mission in 1547, leaving the depleted forces in Chile in charge of Francisco Villagran, returning two years later with two hundred infantry and a troop of one hundred cavalry, all well armed and equipped. Feeling secure with this army, Valdivia began an aggressive warfare against the Araucanians immediately after his arrival. Soon after the beginning of this war several important battles took place, chief among which was that of Concepcion, in which over two thousand Indians were killed and two hundred taken prisoners. The Spaniards also lost a number of men in the engagement. Following his cruel instincts, and with a view to terrorizing the Indians, Valdivia cut off the right hand and the nose of each of the prisoners captured in the battle, and then released them to return to their people, maimed and disfigured. This act of cruelty, instead of having the desired effect, incensed the Araucanians to greater hostilities. So persistent became their pursuit and attack that the Spaniards were given no time to sleep or rest from the strife. Day and night they were harassed by the Indians who finally collected their forces for a decisive battle at Tucapel. In this encounter Valdivia employed the same tactics used in other engagements, charging the enemy with his cavalry. But on this occasion the Indians seemed to be innumerable and invincible, and after being almost annihilated, the heroic little band of soldiers were forced to submit to superior numbers, and those who were not killed in battle were taken prisoner, Pedro de Valdivia being among the latter. When brought into the presence of the Araucanian chief, Valdivia said: “If you will give me my liberty I will promise to retire with my soldiers from the country.” Painful experience had taught the Indians to place no value upon the promises of the Spaniards, and desiring to avenge the cruelties inflicted upon their people, they refused to release the prisoners. Valdivia was tortured with all the horrible cruelties he had practiced upon the Indians, and all the soldiers taken at Tucapel were put to a tortuous death.

Soon after the death of Valdivia, the colonial government in Chile was organized by the worst class of Spanish Bohemians,—men who had not even a cheap or spectacular glory to their credit, and who lacked the capacity or disposition to engage in work of any character, or to develop the resources of the country. It was a sad and calamitous existence the people led under the despotic and ruinous misrule of Spain. Nothing flourished or savored of goodness. The only landmarks of civilization left from that period are various towns, some of which from geographical positions have grown into important cities.

All traces of progress lay buried beneath bigotry and tyranny. The sovereign and his representatives retarded development and advancement, evincing only selfish and unpatriotic ambition for personal gain, treacherous deception and cruel oppression. Chilean officials under Castilian rule had to be Spanish born, and with impunity they plundered the colony of all that was worth possessing. For nearly three centuries Chile lived with modest labor in honest poverty. Those conditions served as antecedents to the special characteristics of economy, industry, independence and love of liberty so manifest in the Chileans of to-day.