Luis Lanchero

Luis Lanchero
Born	unknown Castile
Died	1562 Tunja, New Kingdom of Granada
Nationality	Castilian
Other names	Luis Lancheros
Occupation	Conquistador
Years active	1533-1559
Employer	Spanish Crown
Known for	Spanish conquest of the Muzo Foundation of Muzo, Boyacá
Spouse(s)	unnamed
Children	1 daughter

Luis Lanchero, also known as Luis Lancheros (?, Castile - 1562, Tunja, New Kingdom of Granada) was a Spanish conquistador who is known as the founder of the town of Muzo, Boyacá, the most important emerald settlement of Colombia. This achievement came twenty years after many unsuccessful attempts to submit the Muzo to the Spanish rule. Lanchero arrived in the New World in 1533 and died impoverished in Tunja in 1562.

Luis Lanchero was born in Castile in a noble family. As a young man, he was employed in the guard of Spanish king Carlos V in which role he participated in the Sack of Rome in 1527. In 1533, searching for adventure, Lanchero left Europe for what later would become Venezuela in a conquest expedition led by Jerónimo Ortal, also spelled as Hortal. There, Luis Lanchero joined the expedition by Nikolaus Federmann towards the Colombian Andes, reaching the newly founded capital of the New Kingdom of Granada in 1538. He became encomendero of Susa.

When in 1539 Hernán Pérez de Quesada took over the governance of Bogotá from his elder brother and founder Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, he organised various expeditions in search of valuables and above all the quest for El Dorado. While not really satisfied with the presence of Luis Lanchero, he was sent towards the territories of the Muzo in western Boyacá in the first months of 1540. The expedition into Muzo territories was difficult because of the terrain and to fight the lack of food, some horses were slaughtered. After two unsuccessful attempts to submit the more than 10,000 bellicose Muzo, Lanchero marched through Panche territory in the south, the western portion of the current department of Cundinamarca back towards Bogotá.

...
Wikipedia