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 death have not been documented.

He was a map-maker with the expedition of Francisco de Ulloa sent in 1553 by the governor of Chile to survey the southern coast of the country and the Strait of Magellan. He later commanded the San Sebastián under the orders of captain Juan Ladrillero in the expedition sent in 1557 by governor García Hurtado de Mendoza.

On May 29, 1555, Joanna of Castile, the princess-regent of Spain, issued a real cédula (royal ordinance) ordering the governor of Chile to conduct a recognizance of the lands situated in the other part of the Strait of Magellan. Spain expected to find there a region rich in spices and resources as valuable as those the Portuguese were drawing from the East Indies.

In 1552 Pedro de Valdivia, governor of Chile, decided to send an expedition of two ships of 50 toneles each under Francisco de Ulloa to explore the southern coast of the country, including the strait of Magellan.

The expedition took on supplies in the port of Valdivia at the end of October 1553 and sailed along the west coast of the island of Chiloé and of the Chonos Archipelago, and continued to the west of the channels of Patagonia, arriving 5 January 1554 at a bay (San Simeón or San Francisco). From there the expedition continued south, entering into the strait and travelling about 90 miles into it. Given the lateness of the season and a lack of supplies, de Ulloa decided to return north and did so, helped by a wind from the south that accompanied him. He dropped anchor at Valdivia in mid-February. On this expedition, Cortés Ojea acted as the flotilla's mapmaker.

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