Si Sheppard - Cuzco 1536–37: Battle for the heart of the Inca Empire

Dedication

To my nephew, Wild West Coast Wyatt.

Following up on the chance discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492, Spanish colonization of the Caribbean Islands served as a springboard for penetration of the mainland. Vasco Nez de Balboa crossed the isthmus of Central America in 1513, becoming the first European to lay eyes on the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean, and Pedro Arias de vila was appointed governor of Panama the following year. The legendary exploits of Hernn Corts subdued Mexico in 1521, and additional provinces were subsequently carved out of Honduras and Nicaragua by a new generation of conquistadors, men such as Pedro Alvarado, Gil Gonzlez de vila, and Francisco Hernndez de Crdoba.

Time was running out for the veteran conquistadors like Francisco Pizarro and his associate Diego de Almagro, another tough soldier of fortune who was probably older. The two of them approached a priest of Darin Cathedral, Hernando de Luque, who was also schoolmaster and treasurer of the communitys funds, for financial backing and were able to fit out two small vessels for a voyage of discovery to the south. Pizarro set sail on November 14, 1524, with 112 Spaniards and some indigenous servants as soon as the first of the ships was ready. Setting the tone for the future development of their partnership, Almagro was designated to follow later.

After clearing the headland of Punta Pinas, Pizarro put into the mouth of the Biru River (possibly the source of the name Peru). After his bid to push inland upriver was thwarted by the impassable terrain, Pizarro re-embarked and coasted southward, only to be baffled again by the winds and currents. He was forced back to the swamps of the coast, where his men were reduced to scavenging for shellfish and seaweed on the shore and berries and roots in the jungle. Finally breaking free of what he called Puerto del Hambre (Port of Famine), Pizarro continued south. He encountered a hostile reception from the native peoples; in March 1525 he received a total of seven minor wounds in battle at Punta Quemado, with 17 more Spaniards being wounded and five killed. Almagro, following up in the second ship, enjoyed no better fortune; he had penetrated as far south as the headland of Punta Charambira before turning back, losing an eye in a skirmish with Pizarros antagonists at Punta Quemado.

A near-contemporary representation of the conquistadors Diego de Amagro and Francisco Pizarro, by Felipe Guman Poma de Ayala. His account of their core motivations speaks to the mentality that drove men living on the margins in the Old World to risk everything seeking their fortunes in the New: Throughout Castile there were great tumults. It was like a dream, both day and night; everyone said, The Indies! The Indies! Gold, silver! Gold, silver from Peru! That was what the first men were like: they did not fear death, with their self-interest in gold and silver. (Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

A Spanish colonial-era portrait of the sapa incaHuascar, whose reign marked the apogee of Inca civilization. The riches of these barbarian kings were so immense that it is not easy to describe, Bernab Cobo recorded. Huascar is armed with a yauri, described by Garcilaso de la Vega as a sort of halberd, finished on one side with a sharp point and on the other by a keen-edged blade. It was normally of copper or bronze, but those used by high-ranking noblemen could be silver or even gold. It was the civil war between Huascar and his half-brother, Atahualpa, that created the window of opportunity for the conquistadors to seize control of a disrupted and fatally distracted realm; certain it is that if the land had been undivided, we would all have perished here, Pedro Pizarro conceded. (Photo 12/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The partnership had accomplished little and suffered a considerable financial loss. Nevertheless, on March 10, 1526, Pizarro, Almagro, and Luque contracted to a second expedition, which mustered about 160 men sailing in two vessels, piloted this time by a first-rate navigator, Bartolom Ruiz. Instead of following the coast, he stood out to sea, and as a result had a fast passage to the delta of the San Juan River, where the conquistadors proceeded to debauch the local communities. They subsequently decided to split up. Almagro returned to Panama to drum up reinforcements, while Ruiz took the other ship to reconnoiter further to the south. Pizarro marched inland, only to be forced back again by the trackless wastes of swamp he encountered. Ruiz rendezvoused with him on the coast after enjoying a successful cruise, becoming the first Spaniard to cross the equator in the Pacific, observing the Cordilleras of the Andes, and intercepting a balsa coastal trading raft bearing rich cargo.