When Don Benito Chapter Summary

1) When Don Benito came across the land he described as the ‘Garden of Eden’ he saw a valley filled with oaks and other trees, many unknown in Spain. They arrived in the middle of summer but there were towering mountains on the horizon covered with snow. Hills encircled the gentle, golden valley, which was filled with an intense blue sky, luminous air, exuberant forest, and fecund earth bathed by streams and a river called the Mapocho. Pedro realized this was the right place after one look. This land was important because it satisfied Emperor Charles V’s rules for settling villages, and it was evident that many Indians prospered in this area. After some inquiry by the generals it was declared that the Indians were not hostile, and Vitacura,
When the expedition team arrived, he agreed to meet with them, but arrived three hours later as per tradition. When he arrived, with family and members of his court, he spent hours exchanging compliments with Valdivia, but this was all formality and in truth he only came to evaluate the Spanish military strength, which was severely lacking in his eyes. Valdivia gave the Vitacura some gold, silver, alpaca wool blankets, and several horses which the Indians were fascinated by. In exchange the Vitacura told the Spanish soldiers about a Silver mine in the nearby hills. The soldiers were ecstatic at the idea of riches in silver and began to talk endlessly about what they would do with their wealth. Unlike his men, Valdivia was distraught by the idea of quick riches from the silver mine. He wanted tough soldiers, not soldiers who lived off of quick wealth. The next day, when the soldiers split into groups in search for the silver mine, Ines became concerned about the safety of Santiago, as nobody would be able to defend the small city in an
In the events leading up to the battle, Michimalonco’s Indians rebelled in the silver mine, killing many Yanaconas, 23 Spanish soldiers, and burning the boat being constructed on Marga-Marga to ashes. Only two soldiers survived, who escaped and brought the information to Santiago. Shortly after, Villagra and Aguirre confirmed what Cecelia’s spies had known for weeks: thousands of Mapuche Indians were gathering in the valley to prepare for war. In response, Pedro took 40 soldiers as a pre-emptive strike, but quickly realizing there were too many Mapuche to defeat, he returned to Santiago with three Caciques as prisoners and some liberated Yanaconas. After their first winter in Chile, Valdivia again attempted to attack the Mapuche hiding in the forests around Santiago. This time he took 60 Spanish soldiers to face, head on, the 1500 Mapuche Indians camped 20 leagues from the town. When Valdivia left, Ines became worried that he may have taken too many soldiers, leaving Santiago vulnerable. Her fears were realized one night when she took a bowl of soup to a lookout in the mid of night. Stepping onto the guard post, Ines saw something in the distance, prompting her to immediately wake Quiroga, who confirmed thousands of souls coming towards Santiago. Hastily, the forces of Santiago, severely weakened after Valdivia