Editing History of Chile (section)

==European conquest and colonization (1540–1810)==
{{Further|Discovery of Chile|Conquest of Chile|Captaincy General of Chile|Arauco War}}
[[Image:Pedro de Valdivia.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Pedro de Valdivia]]]]
The first European to sight Chilean territory was [[Ferdinand Magellan]], who crossed the [[Strait of Magellan]] on November 1, 1520. However, the title of discoverer of Chile is usually assigned to [[Diego de Almagro]]. Almagro was [[Francisco Pizarro]]'s partner, and he received the Southern area (''Nueva Toledo''). He organized an expedition that brought him to central Chile in 1537, but he found little of value to compare with the gold and silver of the Incas in Peru. Left with the impression that the inhabitants of the area were poor, he returned to Peru, later to be garotted following defeat by Hernando Pizarro in a Civil War.<ref>Prescott</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/chile/5.htm|title=Chile – Conquest and Colonization, 1535–1810|access-date=25 February 2015|archive-date=5 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805063531/http://countrystudies.us/chile/5.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

After this initial excursion there was little interest from colonial authorities in further exploring modern-day Chile. However, [[Pedro de Valdivia]], captain of the army, realizing the potential for expanding the Spanish empire southward, asked Pizarro's permission to invade and conquer the southern lands. With a couple of hundred men, he subdued the local inhabitants and founded the city of Santiago de Nueva Extremadura, now [[Santiago de Chile]], on February 12, 1541.<ref>{{cite book |title=Carta a sus apoderados en la corte |last=Valdivia |first=Pedro de |author-link=Pedro de Valdivia |date=October 15, 1550 |language=es |quote=...y llegado al valle de Copiapó, lo que trabajé en hacer la guerra a los naturales e fuertes que les rompí y la guerra que hice por todos los valles adelante, hasta que llegué al valle de Mapocho, que es cien leguas de Copiapó, e fundé la cibdad de Sanctiago del Nuevo Extremo, a los veinte e cuatro de hebrero del año de mill quinientos e cuarenta e uno, formando Cabildo, Justicia e Regimiento. |url=http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/12593842001258285209068/index.htm |access-date=April 11, 2009 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924072519/http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/12593842001258285209068/index.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:El joven Lautaro - P. Subercaseaux.PNG|thumb|upright=1.4|Picture "The young [[Lautaro]]" of [[Pedro Subercaseaux]] that show to genius military and hero of the Arauco war after the arrival of the Spanish to Chilean territory]]
Although Valdivia found little gold in Chile he could see the agricultural richness of the land. He continued his explorations of the region west of the Andes and founded over a dozen towns and established the first ''[[encomienda]]s''. The greatest resistance to Spanish rule came from the [[Mapuche]] people, who opposed European conquest and colonization until the 1880s; this resistance is known as the [[Arauco War]]. Valdivia died at the [[Battle of Tucapel]], defeated by [[Lautaro (toqui)|Lautaro]], a young Mapuche ''[[toqui]]'' (war chief), but the European conquest was well underway.

The Spaniards never subjugated the Mapuche territories; various attempts at conquest, both by military and peaceful means, failed. The Great Uprising of 1598 swept all Spanish presence south of the [[Bío-Bío River]] except Chiloé (and Valdivia which was decades later reestablished as a fort), and the great river became the frontier line between Mapuche lands and the Spanish realm.
North of that line cities grew up slowly, and Chilean lands eventually became an important source of food for the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]].

Valdivia became the first governor of the [[Captaincy General of Chile]]. In that post, he obeyed the viceroy of Peru and, through him, the King of Spain and his bureaucracy. Responsible to the governor, town councils known as ''[[Cabildo (council)|Cabildo]]'' administered local municipalities, the most important of which was Santiago, which was the seat of a Royal Appeals Court (''Real Audiencia'') from 1609 until the end of colonial rule.

Chile was the least wealthy realm of the Spanish Crown for most of its colonial history. Only in the 18th century did a steady economic and demographic growth begin, an effect of the reforms by Spain's [[Enlightenment in Spain|Bourbon]] dynasty and a more stable situation along the frontier.