Editing Diego de Almagro (section)

== Arrival in America ==
{{see also|Spanish conquest of the Chibchan Nations}}
[[File:Conquest_of_Colombia.png|right|thumb|Conquest of Colombia<br>Route by Diego de Almagro shown in '''{{purple|purple}}''']]
Diego de Almagro, now in his late thirties, arrived in the [[New World]] on June 30, 1514, with the expedition that [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] had sent under the leadership of Dávila. The expedition arrived at the city of [[Darién Province|Santa María la Antigua del Darién]], [[Panama]], where many other future conquistadors were already assembled, among them Francisco Pizarro.

There are not many details of Almagro's activities during this period, but it is known that he accompanied various sailors who departed from Darien between 1514 and 1515.  He eventually returned and settled in Darien, where he was granted an [[encomienda]], building a house and making a living from agriculture.

Almagro undertook his first independent conquest on November 1515, commanding 260 men as he founded [[Acla|Villa del Acla]], named after the Indian place. Due to illness he had to hand over command to [[Gaspar de Espinosa]].

Espinosa decided to undertake a new expedition, which departed in December 1515 with 200 men, including Almagro and Francisco Pizarro, who for the first time was designated as a captain. During this expedition, which lasted 14 months, Almagro, Pizarro and [[Hernando de Luque]] became close friends.

Also during this time Almagro established a friendship with [[Vasco Núñez de Balboa]], who was in charge of Acla. Almagro wanted to have a ship built with the remaining materials of the Espinosa expedition, to be finished on the coast of the "Great South Sea", as the [[Pacific Ocean]] was first called by the Spanish. Current historians do not believe that Almagro was expected to participate in Balboa's expedition and probably returned to Darien.

Almagro took part in the various expeditions that took place in the [[Gulf of Panama]], including those of Espinosa, which were supported by Balboa's ships.  Almagro was recorded as a witness on the lists of natives whom Espinosa ordered to be carried. He remained as an early settler in the newly founded city of Panama, staying there for four years, managing his properties and those of Pizarro. He took Ana Martínez, an indigenous woman, as a common-law wife. In this period, his first son, ''[[Diego de Almagro II|El Mozo]]'', was born to them.{{fact|date=November 2024}} By some accounts it was Almagro's former black African slave [[Malgarida]] who was the mother of  Diego de Almagro II.<ref>Salvo, J. (2015). El origen africano del Kultrún mapuche. Trans. ''Revista transcultural de música'', (19), 1-22.</ref>