A jesuit, named Luis Valdivia, desirous of preaching to the Araucanians, and perceiving how utterly impossible any such attempt would be while war was carried on, went to Spain, and represented to the then reigning king, Philip the Third, the great injury done to the cause of religion by these continued wars. The prince listened to his representations, and directed that the River Biobio should be fixed as the boundary line between the contending parties. The articles of peace had been discussed and agreed upon, when the whole was frustrated by an untoward event. The toqui, whose name was Ancanamon, had espoused a Spanish woman, who, taking advantage of his absence, fled for refuge to the governor, accompanied by her children and four other women, whom she had likewise persuaded to become Christians; two of these were the wives, and two the daughters of her husband. The toqui, exasperated to the highest degree, met the missionaries who were sent to the Araucanians, and put them all to death.
The Spanish provinces were incessantly harassed, and in 1617, the war is said to have commenced with redoubled fury. During the period which intervened from this to 1637, the toquis Leintor and Putapichion also held sway, and engaged in enterprises against the Spaniards. Affairs, however, were not materially changed; the Araucanians still retaining their territory and independence. In the year 1638, the Dutch attempted to form an alliance with the Araucanians, with a view to the conquest of Chili; but their fleet being dispersed by a storm, only one or two of their boats were able to make the land. Being well manned and armed, the Araucanians supposed them to have come with hostile intentions; they therefore attacked them and destroyed the crews. In 1640, the war was brought to a close, and in 1641, the articles of peace were agreed upon, and the day of ratification appointed; the place of meeting was the village of Quillan, in the province of Purea.
The Spanish governor, the Marquis de Baydes, appeared at the specified time with a retinue of 10,000 persons from all parts of the kingdom. Lincopichion, the toqui, at the head of the four hereditary toquis, and a great number of ulmenes, and other natives, opened the conference with an eloquent speech. He then, according to the Chilian custom, killed a llama, and, sprinkling some of the blood on a bunch of cinnamon, presented it, in token of amity, to the governor. The articles of peace were then proposed and ratified. The Araucanians, in one of these, agreed that they would not permit the landing of any strangers on the coast, or furnish any foreign nation with supplies. The war of ninety years’ duration was thus brought to a close; twenty-eight llamas were sacrificed, and the whole was concluded by an eloquent harangue from Antiguenu, chief of the district, in which he dwelt on the advantages that both nations would derive from the peace.
In the year 1643, the Dutch made a second attempt on Chili, and had they been seconded by the Araucanians, whose alliance they sought, they would undoubtedly have succeeded; but these brave defenders of their country were faithful to their pledges, and refused the overtures of the Dutch. They also advised the Cunches to take the same course. The Dutch, therefore, were forced to retire unsuccessful.
The peace continued for a number of years; a war broke out in 1653, the cause of which is not assigned. The Araucanians elected as their commander the toqui Eleutaru, who in his first campaign totally defeated the Spaniards, and continued for ten years to harass them, when a peace was again concluded, which proved more lasting than the former. In 1686, however, a Spanish governor came near breaking it by removing the inhabitants of the island of Mocha to the northern shore of the Biobio, in order to cut off all communication with foreign enemies.
Missionaries in the mean time were introduced among the Araucanians, accompanied by a species of force called the Captains of the friends, as a pretended guard. These having become insolent, the Araucanians determined to create a toqui, and resort to arms. War therefore ensued, but after a succession of little skirmishes, the peace of Negrete terminated it. In this, the treaty of Quillan was confirmed, and the odious title of Captains of the friends was abolished.
The next occasion of war was caused by the endeavour of the Spanish governor, Gonzaga, to compel the Araucanians to live in cities. At this time also, the Pehuenches, who at the commencement of the war were allies of the Spaniards, having been defeated by the Araucanians, resolved to change sides, and have ever since been firmly allied with this brave people. Various battles were fought, and among others, a bloody one in the beginning of the year 1773. The same year, however, peace was agreed upon, and the Araucanians were allowed to have a minister resident in the city of St. Jago. The treaties of Quillan and Negrete were revived, and, under the wise administration of the Spanish viceroys, Jauqui and Benavides, the country for a long time enjoyed the blessings of unbroken tranquillity.
The Araucanians have thus by their courage and perseverance been enabled to maintain their liberties against some of the best disciplined troops of Spain, even those who had served in the Low Countries during the reigns of Charles the Fifth and Philip the Second, and who were armed with weapons before unknown and calculated to strike terror into all the native tribes. They remain still secure in their mountain fastnesses, enjoying the blessings of liberty, and determined as ever never to be subjugated by any foreign foe.