Editing Hernando de Soto (section)

== Conquest of Peru ==
When Pizarro and his men first encountered the army of Inca [[Atahualpa]] at [[Cajamarca]], Pizarro sent de Soto with fifteen men to invite Atahualpa to a meeting. When Pizarro's men attacked Atahualpa and his guard the next day (the [[Battle of Cajamarca]]), de Soto led one of the three groups of mounted soldiers. The Spanish captured Atahualpa. De Soto was sent to the camp of the [[Inca]] army, where he and his men plundered Atahualpa's tents.<ref>MacQuarrie. pp. 57–68, 71–72, 91–92.</ref>

During 1533, the Spanish held Atahualpa captive in Cajamarca for months while his subjects paid for his ransom by filling a room with gold and silver objects. During this captivity, de Soto became friendly with Atahualpa and taught him to play [[chess]]. By the time the ransom had been completed, the Spanish became alarmed by rumors of an Inca army advancing on Cajamarca. Pizarro sent de Soto with 200 soldiers to scout for the rumored army.<ref name=Hagen>Von Hagen, Victor W., 1955, "De Soto and the Golden Road", ''[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]]'', August 1955, ''Vol. VI, No. 5'', [[American Heritage Publishing]], New York pp. 32–37</ref>

While de Soto was gone, the Spanish in Cajamarca decided to kill Atahualpa to prevent his rescue. De Soto returned to report that he found no signs of an army in the area. After executing Atahualpa, Pizarro and his men headed to [[Cuzco]], the capital of the Incan Empire. As the Spanish force approached Cuzco, Pizarro sent his brother [[Hernando Pizarro|Hernando]] and de Soto ahead with 40 men. The advance guard fought a pitched battle with Inca troops in front of the city, but the battle had ended before Pizarro arrived with the rest of the Spanish party. The Inca army withdrew during the night. The Spanish plundered Cuzco, where they found much gold and silver. As a mounted soldier, de Soto received a share of the plunder, which made him very wealthy. It represented riches from Atahualpa's camp, his ransom, and the plunder from Cuzco.<ref>MacQuarrie. pp. 96, 106, 135, 138, 145, 169.</ref>

On the road to Cuzco, [[Manco Inca Yupanqui]], a brother of Atahualpa, had joined Pizarro. Manco had been hiding from Atahualpa in fear of his life, and was happy to gain Pizarro's protection. Pizarro arranged for Manco to be installed as the Inca leader. De Soto joined Manco in a campaign to eliminate the Inca armies under [[Quizquiz]], a general who had been loyal to Atahualpa.<ref name=Yupanqui>Yupanqui, T.C., 2005, ''An Inca Account of the Conquest of Peru,'' [[Boulder, Colorado|Boulder]]: [[University Press of Colorado]], {{ISBN|978-0870818219}}</ref>{{rp|66–67, 70–73}}

By 1534, de Soto was serving as lieutenant governor of Cuzco while Pizarro was building his new capital on the coast; it later became known as [[Lima]]. In 1535 King [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles]] awarded [[Diego de Almagro]], Francisco Pizarro's partner, the governorship of the southern portion of the Inca Empire. When de Almagro made plans to explore and conquer the southern part of the Inca empire (now [[Chile]]), de Soto applied to be his second-in-command, but de Almagro turned him down. De Soto packed up his treasure and returned to Spain.<ref name=Leon />{{rp|367, 370–372, 375, 380–381, 396}}