Francisco de Orellana

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Francisco de Orellana (c. 1500 - c. 1549) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador.

Orellana took part in the Spanish conquest of Peru with Francisco Pizarro, and was one of Gonzalo Pizarro's lieutenants during Gonzalo's 1541 expedition east of Quito into the South American interior in search of La Canela, the illusory "Valley of Cinnamon".

In December 1541, at what is today the Napo River, Orellana's ship was separated from the main force. In one of the most improbably successful voyages in known history, Orellana managed to sail the length of the Amazon River, arriving at the river's mouth in August 1542.

It was on this voyage that the Amazon got its name; Orellana wrote that he was attacked by fierce female warriors, but it is possible that he actually fought long haired male Amerindian warriors.

Orellana died on a subsequent voyage down the Amazon.

The present-day Ecuadorian province of Orellana was named after him.

[edit] References

Anthony Smith, Explorers of the Amazon. ISBN 0-670-81310-9
Andrew Dalby, "Christopher Columbus, Gonzalo Pizarro, and the search for cinnamon" in Gastronomica (Spring 2001).
Relación del nuevo descubrimiento del famoso río Grande que descubrió por muy gran ventura el capitán Francisco de Orellana, an account of the voyage by Orellana's chaplain, Gaspar de Carvajal.