The 1651 wreckage of ''San José'' and the subsequent killings and looting carried out by indigenous Cuncos was a defining event in Colonial Chile that contributed to SpanishCunco tensions that led to the Battle of Río Bueno and the Mapuche uprising of 1655.

Background

The Spanish city of

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 ...

was reestablished by the Spanish in 1645 following a 1643 Dutch attempt to establish a settlement in the location. By 1651, the Spanish settlement of Valdivia had grown into a military garrison and was tasked with constructing the Valdivian Fort System to defend against the Dutch or any other naval power that might attempt to retake the city. This was financed by the Real Situado, an annual payment of silver to strengthen the military of war-torn Chile. Because Valdivia was surrounded by hostile

Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

territory, the only access was by sea. In January 1651, the Spanish and Mapuches had celebrated the

Parliament of Boroa In the history of colonial Chile, the Parliament of Boroa () was a diplomatic meeting held on January 24, 1651, between various Mapuche groups and Spanish authorities held in the fields of Boroa. The parliament was attended by the Governor of ...

, which renewed the fragile peace that had been established in the parliaments of Quilín of

1641 Events January–March * January 4 – The stratovolcano Mount Parker (Philippines), Mount Parker in the Philippines has a major eruption. * January 14 – Battle of Malacca (1641), The Battle of Malacca concludes with the D ...

and

1647 Events January–March * January 2 – Chinese bandit leader Zhang Xianzhong, who has ruled the Sichuan province since 1644, is killed at Xichong County, Xichong by a Qing archer, after having been betrayed by one of his officer ...

.Barros Arana 2000, p. 339.

Wreckage and aftermath

The Spanish ship ''San José'', sailing to Valdivia, was pushed by storms on March 26 onto coasts inhabited by the Cuncos, a southern Mapuche tribe.Barros Arana 2000, p. 340. The ship ran aground and, while most of the crew managed to survive the wreck, nearby Cuncos killed them and seized the valuable cargo.Barros Arana 2000, p. 341. It included the payment to the garrison of Valdivia. According to ''Diccionario Geográfico de la República de Chile'' (1899), the site of the wreck was Punta Galera. A subsequent Spanish expedition departed from Chiloé to recover the wreck. Led by Captain Gaspar de Alvarado, the divers of the expedition made unsuccessful attempts to recover the part of the cargo they thought was still in the wreck.Barros Arana 2000, p. 342. Governor Acuña Cabrera was temporarily dissuaded from sending a punitive expedition from Boroa by

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

s fathers Diego de Rosales and Juan de Moscoso, who argued that the murders were committed by a few Indians and warned the governor that renewing warfare would lose the gains obtained at Boroa. Being a peripheral southern group, the Cuncos had not taken part in the Spanish-Mapuche parliaments and the prospect of new hostilities was deemed to be detrimental to sustaining the peace with the tribes further north. Punitive expeditions were sent against the Cunco nonetheless, one from Valdivia and one from Carelmapu.Barros Arana 2000, p. 343. Forces under Governor of Valdivia Diego González Montero advanced south, but the Governor soon found that tribes he expected to join him as allies were indifferent and even misled him. His troops ran out of supplies and had to return to Valdivia. While González Montero was away, coastal Huilliches killed twelve Spanish and sent their heads to other Mapuche groups in southern Chile "as if they wanted to create a grand uprising" according to historian

Diego Barros Arana Diego Jacinto Agustín Barros Arana (; August 16, 1830 – November 4, 1907) was a Chilean professor, legislator, minister and diplomat. He is considered the most important Chilean historian of the 19th century. His main work ''General History o ...

. The expeditions were meant to meet at

Bueno River The Bueno River (Spanish: ''Río Bueno'') is a river in southern Chile. It originates in Ranco Lake and like most of Chile rivers it drains into the Pacific Ocean at the southern boundary of the Valdivian Coastal Reserve. Its lower flow forms t ...

, but the force from Valdivia failed to reach the rendezvous point. The expedition from Carelmapu led by Captain Ignacio Carrera Yturgoyen penetrated north to the vicinity of the ruins of Osorno, where they were approached by Huilliches who handed over three "

cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

s" that were allegedly responsible for the murders. The Spanish and local Huilliches assured each other of the benefits of peace. Then, the Spanish of Carelmapu executed the three accused, hanged them in hooks as a warning, and returned south. Spanish soldiers in Concepción, the "military capital" of Chile, were dissatisfied with the results. Barros Arana consider some may have pushed for renewed war for personal benefit.

Bibliography

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References

{{Coord unknown San Jose San Jose San Jose Conflicts in 1651 History of Los Ríos Region History of Los Lagos Region 1651 in the Captaincy General of Chile January Huilliche history Coasts of Los Ríos Region