Francisco de Orellana

Francisco de Orellana was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who lived from 1511 until November 1546. He is famous for one of the most amazing voyages ever recorded. In 1542, Orellana and his team sailed all the way down the Amazon River, reaching its mouth on August 24. After this journey, they continued along the Atlantic coast until they arrived at Cubagua Island, close to Venezuela.

During his adventures, Orellana also founded the city of Guayaquil, which is now part of Ecuador. Sadly, he died during a second expedition back on the Amazon River. His travels helped Europeans learn much more about South America.

Background

Francisco de Orellana was born in Trujillo in Spain. He was a close friend and maybe even a relative of Francisco Pizarro, who led the conquest of Peru. Orellana traveled to the New World around 1527. He served in Nicaragua before joining Pizarro’s army in Peru in 1533. There, he helped Pizarro during a conflict with Diego de Almagro. After this battle, Orellana became the governor of a place called La Culata. He also helped rebuild the town of Guayaquil, which Sebastián de Belalcázar had founded earlier. During a civil war, Orellana supported Pizarro’s side and became Ensign General of a group sent from Lima to help Hernando Pizarro. He was also given land at Puerto Viejo on the coast of Ecuador.

First exploration of the Amazon River

In 1540, Gonzalo Pizarro arrived in Quito to lead an expedition to find a place called the "Land of Cinnamon" to the east. Francisco de Orellana was one of his leaders. Orellana gathered troops and horses in Guayaquil before joining the main group.

Orellana and his men traveled through many rivers and faced challenges from local tribes. They built boats to help them travel. Eventually, they reached the Amazon River. They continued down the river, passing many places and meeting different tribes. The river was later named after a battle Orellana had with a tribe where women fought alongside men, reminding him of stories from ancient times. After a long journey, Orellana and his team reached the Atlantic Ocean and sailed to Cubagua Island near Venezuela in 1542.

Second expedition and death

Orellana planned to return to Spain to become governor of the lands he had discovered, which he named New Andalusia. After meeting with leaders in Spain and Portugal, he was finally named governor. He prepared for a new journey with many men and supplies.

In May 1545, Orellana left Spain with four ships and his young wife. Along the way, some of his men became sick or left, and one ship got lost. When he reached the coast of Brazil, his men wanted to stop, but he continued searching for the Amazon River. Building a new boat took many months, and food was scarce. Many of his men died during this time. Orellana kept traveling down the river but became very weak. His wife said he passed away from illness and sadness. The survivors traveled back to a Spanish base near Trinidad.

Places named after Orellana

Many places are named after the explorer Francisco de Orellana. You can find towns and regions like Puerto Francisco de Orellana in Ecuador and Orellana Province also in Ecuador. There are places with his name in Maynas and Loreto in Peru. Even the Amazon River used to be called the Orellana River.

Historical chronicles

See also: Carvajal's Relación

Gaspar de Carvajal, a priest who joined the first expedition, wrote a story about their journey. This story was later used in a bigger book by Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, a writer who shared tales from explorers like Orellana.

A BBC documentary called Unnatural Histories shows that Carvajal's story might have been true. It suggests that many people lived along the Amazon River in the 1540s. Sadly, diseases from Europe later caused many of these people to become very sick. Evidence for these ancient communities includes special shapes made in the land called geoglyphs and rich dark soil called terra preta from old farming. Experts think that around the year 1500, about five million people lived near the Amazon River. By the year 1900, this number had dropped to one million, and by the early 1980s, fewer than 200,000 people remained.

In popular culture

Francisco de Orellana's amazing journey has inspired many stories and games. His adventure is told in Buddy Levy’s book River of Darkness. His voyages also inspired the film Aguirre, the Wrath of God, even though Orellana was not finally included in the movie.

Orellana’s search for the legendary place called El Dorado is part of the story in the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. A novel by William Ospina, called El país de la canela, also includes a version of Orellana’s trip. In the game Age of Empires II: The Forgotten, there is a campaign named El Dorado about Orellana and another explorer looking for the lost city of gold. Orellana also appears as a character in the game Civilization VII during the exploration era.