Raleigh's El Dorado Expedition

Raleigh's El Dorado Expedition also known as Raleigh's First Voyage to Guiana was a military and exploratory expedition that took place during the Anglo–Spanish War in April 1595. An English expedition led by Walter Raleigh having set out in February 1595 on an exploration of the Orinoco river on the north East tip of South America to find the fabled city of El Dorado. Raleigh first captured the Spanish settlement of San José de Oruña on the colony of Trinidad along with the Governor who was also looking for the city. After questioning De Berrio Raleigh and the English held the place and used it as a base for their exploration. Despite the presence of a Spanish force shadowing him which he defeated, Raleigh successfully navigated the river and inlets penetrating some 400 miles into the Guiana highlands. No gold or lost city was ever found and thus Raleigh returned to England and subsequently exaggerated his account. However an alliance was made with the natives of the region which would have a lasting impact on the region.

With England at war with Spain in 1585, English privateers had set out to raid Spanish and Portuguese possessions and shipping, and conduct illicit trading. Sir Walter Raleigh had enjoyed several years of high esteem from Queen Elizabeth I, which stemmed in part from his previous exploits at sea which included the famous Capture of the Madre de Deus. Soon after however Raleigh suffered a short imprisonment for secretly marrying one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting Elizabeth Throckmorton and bearing a child. In a bid to restore his influence with the Queen Raleigh had set up and funded an expedition under John Whiddon to find the fabled city of Gold known as El Dorado following one of the many old maps. He aimed to reach Lake Parime in the highlands of Guyana (the supposed location of the city at the time).

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