Jean-Paul Faguet

Half the Spanish who are there are still convinced that they're on the coast of India, right? And they start to suffer from their clean water gets contaminated. They've been marauding around digging up graves to steal the gold and ship it back to Spain. But that's running out. They're not really finding any more graves. The Indians already have decided.

Half the Spanish who are there are still convinced that they're on the coast of India, right? And they start to suffer from their clean water gets contaminated. They've been marauding around digging up graves to steal the gold and ship it back to Spain. But that's running out. They're not really finding any more graves. The Indians already have decided.

At the beginning, they were kind of hedging their bets, saying, can we work with these people who are these weird people? They saw the Spaniards, a Spaniard knight mounted on a horse and thought this was one animal. They thought it was a godlike messenger, literally, because their cosmology predicted that the gods would send messengers who would have some sort of fantastical form.

At the beginning, they were kind of hedging their bets, saying, can we work with these people who are these weird people? They saw the Spaniards, a Spaniard knight mounted on a horse and thought this was one animal. They thought it was a godlike messenger, literally, because their cosmology predicted that the gods would send messengers who would have some sort of fantastical form.

And they thought these people were some other kind of either a spirit or a new animal that they'd never seen. But by 1536, 37, they figured out they don't like the Spaniards, and they're not cooperating, and they're often killing them. And the whole colony is on the verge of collapse, which means that the entire colonial project in northern South America is on the verge of collapse.

And they thought these people were some other kind of either a spirit or a new animal that they'd never seen. But by 1536, 37, they figured out they don't like the Spaniards, and they're not cooperating, and they're often killing them. And the whole colony is on the verge of collapse, which means that the entire colonial project in northern South America is on the verge of collapse.

And in order to try to save colonialism and save these Spaniards from basically being wiped out, there's a guy called Jimenez de Quesada – who decides to lead an expedition south trying to get to Peru because they've heard news of fantastic riches, like unbelievable amounts of gold that Europeans and possibly in the world had never been seen before that are coming out of Cusco and the Inca Empire.

And in order to try to save colonialism and save these Spaniards from basically being wiped out, there's a guy called Jimenez de Quesada – who decides to lead an expedition south trying to get to Peru because they've heard news of fantastic riches, like unbelievable amounts of gold that Europeans and possibly in the world had never been seen before that are coming out of Cusco and the Inca Empire.

And this sort of, the flows of gold, A, sustained the entire Spanish Empire, and B, was all that Europeans talked about for about a century. It's unimaginable riches. So they're on the northern coast. Those of you who know your Latin American geography, they're on the northern coast of Colombia, which is pretty much the northern tip of the continent. And they're trying to get down to Cusco.

And this sort of, the flows of gold, A, sustained the entire Spanish Empire, and B, was all that Europeans talked about for about a century. It's unimaginable riches. So they're on the northern coast. Those of you who know your Latin American geography, they're on the northern coast of Colombia, which is pretty much the northern tip of the continent. And they're trying to get down to Cusco.

And so they set off walking, right? Because they're going to do this walking. And after 11 months, the 800 soldiers, the expedition of 800 people that left Santa Marta, after 11 months, they finally struggle up onto the savannah of Bogota. And only 170 of them have survived. 630 have died of drowning, of diseases, of hunger and being killed by the Indians. Right.

And so they set off walking, right? Because they're going to do this walking. And after 11 months, the 800 soldiers, the expedition of 800 people that left Santa Marta, after 11 months, they finally struggle up onto the savannah of Bogota. And only 170 of them have survived. 630 have died of drowning, of diseases, of hunger and being killed by the Indians. Right.

And they're really not very close to Peru at all. This idea they're going to walk there is just crazy. They had no idea where they were. Many of them thought that all of South America was an island and that they could just sort of walk from one end to the other.

And they're really not very close to Peru at all. This idea they're going to walk there is just crazy. They had no idea where they were. Many of them thought that all of South America was an island and that they could just sort of walk from one end to the other.

And they get there and they meet a much, much, much larger force of indigenous warriors controlled by the chief of Bogota, who is the top chief, the first chief in a confederation. It's not an empire unlike the Aztecs in Mexico and unlike the Incas in Peru and Bolivia. It's more of a confederation of chieftains, but the one from Bogota is the biggest and most powerful one.

And they get there and they meet a much, much, much larger force of indigenous warriors controlled by the chief of Bogota, who is the top chief, the first chief in a confederation. It's not an empire unlike the Aztecs in Mexico and unlike the Incas in Peru and Bolivia. It's more of a confederation of chieftains, but the one from Bogota is the biggest and most powerful one.

And these guys could have crushed the Spanish, and somehow they didn't. And this is one of the great historical mysteries. No one knows. In Mexico, it was a closer run thing, and they were basically defeated, and they came back and triumphed. In Peru and Colombia, no one can understand.

And these guys could have crushed the Spanish, and somehow they didn't. And this is one of the great historical mysteries. No one knows. In Mexico, it was a closer run thing, and they were basically defeated, and they came back and triumphed. In Peru and Colombia, no one can understand.

In Cajamarca, Peru, where Pizarro defeated the Inca Empire, and in Bogota, Colombia, nobody can understand how this happened. Because they had something like 30,000 warriors in Peru and more than 10,000 warriors in Colombia. And in both places, there were about 170 Spanish, 176. in Peru, 170 in Colombia. And they won because of the element of surprise, psychology.

In Cajamarca, Peru, where Pizarro defeated the Inca Empire, and in Bogota, Colombia, nobody can understand how this happened. Because they had something like 30,000 warriors in Peru and more than 10,000 warriors in Colombia. And in both places, there were about 170 Spanish, 176. in Peru, 170 in Colombia. And they won because of the element of surprise, psychology.