Almagro, Diego de

(c.1475 –1538) was a Spanish conquistador and a companion and later rival of Francisco Pizarro. He participated in the Spanish conquest of Peru and is credited as the first European discoverer of Chile. After the conquest of Peru he got a conflict with Pizarro about the division of the Inca treasures. Looking for more gold he organized an army to follow the Inca Trail southwards. The expedition led to the discovery of what we now call Chile, but not to the desired gold. After exhausting crossings of deserts and the Andes, Almagro returned to Cuzco in Peru in 1537, where he was captured by Pizarro and executed in 1538.