Juan Ladrillero (b. c. 1490 in Moguer – 1559) was a 16th-century Spanish

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...

and explorer who from 1557 to 1559 explored the coast of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

from

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and Cau-Cau R ...

(39° 48’ S) to the

Barbara Channel Barbara may refer to: People * Barbara (given name) * Barbara (painter) (1915–2002), pseudonym of Olga Biglieri, Italian futurist painter * Barbara (singer) (1930–1997), French singer * Barbara Popović (born 2000), also known mononymously as ...

(54° S, between Clarence Island and Santa Ines Island). He was the first to navigate the

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural pass ...

from its western entrance to its eastern and back again.

Early career

Ladrillero went to sea at an early age. In 1535, after having made eleven round voyages from Spain to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, he received a pilot's license from Sebastian Cabot. He piloted the fleet that brought Don Antonio de Mendoza to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

as viceroy, and in 1539-40 commanded a fleet of five sail, with which he discovered the Bahia de la Cruz and helped to found Buenaventura in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. In 1539 he had commanded

Hernando Cortés Hernando is a common Spanish given name, equivalent to Fernando and the English Ferdinand. It may refer to: Places ;Canada * Hernando Island, British Columbia ;United States * Hernando, Florida * Hernando County, Florida * Hernando, Mississippi ; ...

's ''San Lázaro'', carrying various goods from Tehuantepec to

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. In 1545 he left for

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

, then moved to

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

. He spent several years in retirement on his

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...

Chuquiago La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bol ...

Exploration of southern Chile

At end of 1557 the governor general of Chile, Don García Hurtado de Mendoza, placed Ladrillero in command of an expedition "to discover, explore and take formal possession of all the country from Valdivia south, and through the Strait of Magellan." On 17 November, with the ships ''San Luis'' and ''San Sebastián'', and the ''San Salvador'', he sailed from

Concepción, Chile Concepción (; originally: ''Concepción de la Madre Santísima de la Luz'', "Conception of the Blessed Mother of Light") is a city and commune in central Chile, and the geographical and demographic core of the Greater Concepción metropolitan a ...

. On 9 December, Ladrillero, in the ''San Luis'', was separated from the other two vessels under

Francisco de Cortés Hojea Francisco Cortés Ojea (also spelled Hojea or Ojeda) was a 16th-century Spanish sailor and explorer who took part in the first expeditions sent from the General Captaincy of Chile to the Strait of Magellan. The times and places of his birth and deat ...

—who would explore the Chilean fjords and sounds to the southward independently (by themselves). Ladrillero spent the month of January 1558 exploring the intricate coastline of southern Chile. After calling at the place he named "Bahia de San Lazáro" (now known as Nelson Strait, at 51° 30’ S) and passing the western entrance of the Strait of Magellan, he sailed along Desolación Island, past

Santa Inés Island Santa Inés Island () is an island in southern Chile, part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago and of Punta Arenas municipality, lying south west of the Brunswick Peninsula, from which is separated by the Strait of Magellan and minor islands. I ...

and entered the Barbara Channel (aka Canal Santa Barbara), which connects to the strait. From 22 March to 22 July he stayed in a harbor he named "Nuestra Señora de los Remedios" and which he locates at around latitude 53° 30’ S; probably the harbor now named Sea Shell. He probably entered the strait near the end of July; by 9 August he had reached

Cape Virgenes Capes in the Americas Cape Virgenes ( es, Cabo Vírgenes, lit=Cape Virgins) is the southeastern tip of continental Argentina in South America. The southern one, a little to the south-west, is Punta Dungeness. Ferdinand Magellan reached it on 21 Oc ...

. He ventured up several channels, only to find them dead ends. Landing at Punta de San Gregorio, he took formal possession of the region for Spain. Only one of his names from this voyage survives today: Bahia Posesión. He spent less than a day in the

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before turning back, probably not reaching the western entrance before early March 1559. After a stormy passage, he made

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ladrillero, Juan Fernandez 16th-century explorers 1490s births 1559 deaths Spanish explorers of South America Spanish explorers of the Pacific

Early career

Exploration of southern Chile

See also

References