Huilliche uprising of 1792

Santiago

Ancud

Valdivia

Futahuillimapu

Bueno River

The location of Spanish settlements (yellow dots) by 1792 within the modern boundaries of Chile. In red is the land of Cuncos and Huilliches where the Spanish aimed to build a road to conect Valdivia with the settlements to the south.

Beginning in the mid-18th century the Spanish enclave of Valdivia begun a period of agricultural expansion. The expansion was mainly directed to the south and was done mostly by pacific means, but hostilities with indigenous Huilliches did occur.[1] The expansion of Valdivia included a process of mestization and the purchasing of indigenous lands by criollos and transformation of previous indigenous proprietors into inquilinos.[2] In contrast the Spanish settlement at Chiloé Archipelago had a history of conflicts with the indigenous peoples north of the archipelago. After the Valdivian colonization had reached Bueno River Spanish authorities pushed for connecting the city of Valdivia with the settlements at Chacao Channel by a road. This way the Spanish authorities hoped to make its possible for Valdivia and Chiloé to offer each other mutual aid in the case of an invasion by a European power.[1]

In the 1780s when attempting to cooperate to establish the road the Governor of Valdivia Mariano Pusterla and the Intendant of Chiloé Francisco Hurtado del Pino disagreed. Hurtado del Pino preferred to militarily confront the Huilliches, while Pusterla rejected this approach.[3] As Hurtado del Pino was removed from his position and replaced by Francisco Garos cooperation ensued.[3] In October 1788 Pusterla sent an expedition to traverse the Huilliche-ruled territories to reach Chiloé. The expedition proved successful and by February 1789 its men were back in Valdivia.[4] After this Pusterla made arrangements to improve the path to Chiloé, in particularly to widen it at places is was a narrow track along forests.[4] In a parliament the Spanish held with local Cuncos and Huilliches Pusterla assured that the opening of the road would not imply a reestablishment of the city of Osorno.[4][upper-alpha 1] subsequently the safe transit along the road came to depended on the goodwill of local tribes.[4]

The uprising begun in September 1792, with a series of assaults against Spanish settlers in Río Bueno and Lago Ranco.[5] Houses were torched and animals stolen. Ten Spanish settlers are reported to have been killed.[5] Spanish messengers and priests were caught off guard and brutally killed.[6] Spanish refugees escaped north reaching Valdivia.[6] Once authorities realised it was an uprising and not ordinary crime a detachment in charge of Tomás de Figueroa was sent south from Valdivia on October 3, following Futa River.[6] The first step of the campaign was to Daglipulli where the militia of Figeroa was to absorb the 22 soldiers stationed to reach a total of 104 men.[6]

When Figueroa reached the conflict zone the local Huilliches presented themselves as friends.[7] Deeming this to be a tactic to avoid retribution Figueroa had local cacique Manquepán executed along his two sons and seventeen of his men.[7] These men rejected baptism before their death.[8] Subsequently, the Spanish took custody of women and children, while animals were confiscated.[9] Next on the militia continued to cross Bueno River. Thereafter it advanced slowly amidst heavy rains, obstacles put in their way and minor ambushes.[9] Figueroa reached the ruins of Osorno on November 22, the view of which made a strong impression on him.[9] The campaign continued to ravage Huilliche territory in pursuit of rebel elements until it arrived back to Valdivia on January 14, 1793.[10]

After the Spanish had suppressed the uprising Royal Governor of Chile Ambrosio O'Higgins summoned local chiefs to the Parliament of Las Canoas.[11] The parliament is historically relevant since the treaty signed at the end of the meeting allowed the Spanish to reestablish the city of Osorno and secure the transit rights between Valdivia and the Spanish mainland settlements next to Chiloé Archipelago (Carelmapu). The indigenous signatories recognized the king of Spain as their sovereign but they kept considerable autonomy in the lands they did not ceded.[12]

• Barros Arana, Diego (2000) [1886]. "Capítulo XVII". Historia General de Chile (in Spanish). VII (2 ed.). Santiago, Chile: Editorial Universitaria. ISBN 956-11-1535-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)