First Chile Expedition

1502

Spanish forces from Peru probed southward along the Andes into the territory of the Mapuche, who lived between the coast and the cordillera. The Mapuche would resist Spanish conquest longer than any other indigenous American people, fighting a guerilla war that continued into the nineteenth century. The resulting Araucanian War lasted three centuries and produced Alonso de Ercilla's epic poem La Araucana.