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29-588: The voyage of Juan Díaz de Solís explored the Río de la Plata , along the coast of Uruguay. In 1516, Solís disembarked on the Uruguay coast shortly after entering the Uruguay River , along with six other men. The local Charrúas saw them and killed them in a swift surprise attack. A boy, Francisco del Puerto , was spared because of his young age. The remaining sailors left and returned to Europe. Del Puerto, who

58-512: Is also said to be the first European to land on what is now modern day Uruguay. His origins are disputed. One document records him as a Portuguese in the service of Castile ("Spain") , having possibly been born in Lisbon or São Pedro de Solis . Others claim that his birth took place in Lebrija , in what is now the province of Seville , Spain, where documentation testifies that he lived when he

87-492: Is said to be the founder of Rio de la Plata (and Buenos Aires), he was not a very effective leader because he was debilitated by a severe case of syphilis. He spent half of his time ill in bed, but he put as much effort as he could into the expedition. No notable campaigns occurred in the River Plate during this time, and the only chronicler was a German soldier named Ulderico Schmidt (or Ulrico Schmidl). Schmidt came over to

116-545: The Guaraní , made a treaty of friendship with them, and then Ayolas founded the city of Asunción (in current-day Paraguay ) in 1537. While all of this was going on, Mendoza, disappointed and broken in health, embarked for Spain in 1537. He died during the voyage. He promised to send aid to his forces that he left behind in Buenos Aires. Although he begged Spain to send more men and provisions to save his city in his will,

145-631: The Italian Wars against the French, in which he participated in the Sack of Rome in 1527. In 1529, he offered to explore South America at his own expense and establish colonies. Thanks to the efforts of his mother, María de Mendoza , in 1534 his offer was accepted: he was made adelantado governor , captain general , and chief justice over New Andalusia . This grant allowed him authority over as much land as he could conquer, within 200 leagues of

174-538: The chiefs killed and nine-tenths of the ransom. The office of Governor was also, in theory, made hereditary. That year, he set sail with a considerable fleet, but a terrible storm scattered it off the coast of Brazil. Here his lieutenant, Juan de Osorio , was assassinated, according to some authorities by the orders of Mendoza himself because of suspected disloyalty. Mendoza sailed up the Río de la Plata in 1535 and founded Buenos Aires on February 2, 1536. Although Mendoza

203-475: The Amerindians became more hostile. Military discipline was still relaxed, despite the return of Cabot. Cabot organized a punitive expedition to Paraguay, again leaving Caro in charge of the fort. Cabot confirmed that the Amerindians were about to attack the fort, but continued to the north, trusting that Caro would be able to defend it. The attack came on the night of September 1, 1529. The Amerindians set

232-629: The Battle of the Luján River . The natives were driven off after that bloody battle and their provisions were taken, but the fight was very costly to the Spaniards. From "The Devastation of the Indies: A Brief Account" by Bartolomé de las Casas (a Spanish religious), written in 1542, published in 1552, under the subheadings "The Rio de la Plata" wherein de las Casas writes of "A tyrannical Governor",

261-504: The River Plate with Don Pedro and stayed there for eighteen years, fighting in almost every battle. His account of this early history of the River Plate region is the most important document from that time period. At the Río de la Plata , the Spaniards encountered a group of roughly three thousand natives dispersed throughout the surrounding area known as the Querandíes , who shared with them their food, however scarce. In spite of this,

290-536: The Spaniards soon took the natives and their generosity for granted and as a result, the Querandíes ended relations with the white men and relocated further away from the Spanish settlement. Angered by the sudden hostility, Mendoza sent his brother to lead a force against the natives. Even though hundreds of natives were killed, Mendoza's brother was slain as well, along with thirty of his men and several horses at

319-578: The actions of Cabot and attempted to mutiny, but after Francisco García revealed their plan, their leader was executed. The voyage stopped near the Paraguay River , after hearing there were new ships in the area. Miguel Riflos led some further explorations with 30 men, but most of them died during a mutiny of Del Puerto against Núñez de Balboa , caused by personal enmity. The new ships, which intercepted Cabot before his return to Sancti Spiritu, were led by Diego García de Moguer , who had taken part in

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348-491: The bodies of those who died. In addition to these difficulties, a coalition of the natives formed. They attacked the city again and again, many times leaving the city almost completely burned to the ground. Still suffering from syphilis, Mendoza appointed Juan de Ayolas to succeed him as captain-general. Ayolas dealt with the problem by sailing up the Parana River with a large part of the remaining force. They defeated

377-740: The death of his wife, he served as a privateer in French fleets for a short time, before serving, later, the Spanish Crown. He served as navigator on expeditions to the Yucatán in 1506-1507 and Brazil in 1508 with Vicente Yáñez Pinzón . He became Pilot Major of Spain in 1512 following the death of Amerigo Vespucci , and was thereafter commissioned to update the Padrón Real with Juan Vespucio . Two years after appointment to this office, Díaz de Solís prepared an expedition to explore

406-530: The endnote #48 refers to this person as "a certain Pedro de Mendoza" and goes on to say, The colonists' city was surrounded by a hastily made 1 metre (3 ft) thick adobe wall made of mud. Every time it rained the wall partially dissolved. Along with this occasionally deteriorating wall, the colonists had to deal with another problem: famine. Food eventually became scarce, and the residents had to resort to eating rats, mice, snakes, lizards, rawhide boots, and even

435-460: The establishment of the city of Buenos Aires , near the mouth of the River Paraná. Ruy Díaz de Guzmán wrote a history of Sancti Spiritu in his book La Argentina (1612). The book included the story of a woman named Lucía Miranda, involved in a love triangle with a Spaniard and a cacique. Miranda's relationships were said to have inadvertently helped the success of the Amerindians' attack on

464-593: The evidence points towards it being the Guarani people who killed him. It has been suggested that he was eaten by the Charrúa after disembarking. However, the Charrúa didn't practice cannibalism, while the Guarani Indians did . Surviving crew members reported Díaz de Solís and most of the other men had been killed, thus putting the expedition to an end. His brother-in-law, Francisco de Torres , took charge of

493-472: The fort almost immediately, as he learned that the indigenous peoples in Paraguay and around the fort had become hostile to the Spaniards and had organized a rebellion against them. Cabot and Moguer returned to the fort, where Gregorio Caro had relaxed military discipline. They ordered him to kill a hundred Amerindians as a deterrent, and Cabot abused the cacique Yaguari. The measures were not effective, and

522-414: The fort on fire while all the soldiers were sleeping. When they woke up, realizing defense would be useless, they tried to board the two ships and flee. Most of them were killed and one of the ships was destroyed before it could leave. The survivors joined Cabot and García who immediately returned to help. By the time they returned, all remaining Spaniards were dead, and the fort had been burned and razed to

551-430: The fort. The story was repeated by later chroniclers and historians, but it is now known that it was fictitious: there was no woman among the crew of Sebastian Cabot. 32°26′31″S 60°48′19″W  /  32.44194°S 60.80528°W  / -32.44194; -60.80528 Juan D%C3%ADaz de Sol%C3%ADs Juan Díaz de Solís ( c.  1470 – 20 January 1516) was a 16th-century navigator and explorer. He

580-572: The ground. Completely defeated, they left the Americas and returned to Europe. The destruction of Sancti Spiritu ended the period of Spanish exploration of Argentina, leading to the period of colonization. The rumors of the White King and the silver mountain continued to raise interest in Spain and Portugal. Spain sent Pedro de Mendoza to colonize the area before Portugal could do so. This led to

609-595: The mountain. The rumor was ultimately proved to be false; there were no precious metals in the La Plata basin. But the European belief in the rumor was one of the reasons for the name of Argentina . The Sancti Spiritu fort was built next to the Carcarañá River , in what is currently Santa Fe Province . The Spanish enjoyed the warm climate, and Cabot built a house nearby. They got help from the Amerindians, and

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638-410: The old voyage of Solís. They discussed the validity of exclusive navigation rights on the river, but finally agreed to return to the fort, join forces, request Spanish aid and embark on a second expedition against the White King. Cabot sent three groups of scouts to the west, to seek more information about the White King, but then left the fort without waiting for their return. However, Cabot returned to

667-438: The priest Francisco García provided religious support. The Amerindians were initially friendly towards the Spanish. Cabot left the fort on December 23, in a ship with 130 men, in a quest to find the empire of the White King. He left the other 32 men at the fort. The expedition was a harsh one and the Amerindians were forced into obedience. As a result, they left and did not provide any more food. Many Spaniards did not agree with

696-470: The ships and returned to Spain. Several places in Uruguay are named after Juan Díaz de Solís: Pedro de Mendoza Pedro de Mendoza ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpeðɾo ðe menˈdoθa] ) (c. 1487 – June 23, 1537) was a Spanish conquistador , soldier and explorer, and the first adelantado of New Andalusia . Pedro de Mendoza was born in Guadix, Grenada , part of a large noble family that

725-520: The southern limit of New Toledo . Although this was measured along the Pacific coast, it was understood that his efforts would be directed towards the Río de la Plata on the Atlantic. The Emperor gave Mendoza 2000 men and 13 ships on the condition that within two years Mendoza should transport 1000 colonists, build roads into the interior, and construct three forts. He was to have half the treasure of

754-570: The southern part of the new American continent. His three ships and crew of 70 men sailed from Sanlúcar de Barrameda , in Spain, on 8 October 1515. He followed the eastern coast of South America southward as far as the mouth of the Río de la Plata . He reached and named the Río de la Plata in 1516, sailing upriver to the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River with two officers and seven men. The little party had not proceeded far when they were attacked by local Charrúa Indians, but

783-610: Was in Castile, as vecino ("neighbor"), meaning living there. However he began his naval career in Portugal as João Dias de Solis, where he became a pilot in the Portuguese India Armadas . After leaving his home in Lisbon and the ship that he was going to sail as Pilot, in the same day of departure of the fleet (ship captained by Afonso de Albuquerque , in the 1506 armada of Tristão da Cunha , to India), accused of

812-559: Was left behind, lived for ten years among the indigenous people. He was rescued by a subsequent European voyage led by Sebastian Cabot . Del Puerto told Cabot rumors of a "white king" and a mountain of silver that was located north of the Paraná River . Cabot considered the tale to be true, and dropped his initial orders (to seek a path to the Indies shorter than the one found by the Magellan-Elcano expedition ) in order to look for

841-590: Was preeminent in Spain. His family settled in Guadix after its reconquest by the Christians in 1489. He was a page at the Spanish court of Emperor Charles V and accompanied the sovereign on his trip to England . In 1524 he received the title of knight of the Order of Alcántara and later, through the influence of his father — the knight Fernando de Mendoza Guadix — entered the Order of Santiago . He later fought in

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