Lautaro

Lautaro ( "swift hawk") (1534?–April 29, 1557) was a young Mapuche toqui who achieved notoriety for leading the indigenous resistance against Spanish conquest in Chile. Lautaro begun his career as a captive of Pedro de Valdivia but escaped in 1551. Back among his people he was declared toqui and led Mapuche warriors into a series of victories against the Spanish culminating in the Battle of Tucapel in December 1553 where Pedro de Valdivia was killed. The outbreak of a  typhus plague, a drought and a famine prevented the Mapuches from taking further actions to expel the Spanish in 1554 and 1555. Between 1556 and 1557 a small group of Mapuches commanded by Lautaro attempted to reach Santiago to liberate the whole of Central Chile from Spanish rule. Lautaros attempts ended in 1557 when he was killed in an ambush by the Spanish.