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Francisco Pizarro: Early Life
Francisco Pizarro was born in 1474 in Trujillo, Spain.
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His father, Captain Gonzalo Pizarro, was a poor farmer. His mother, Francisca González, was also of low birth, and was not married to Pizarro’s father.
Tempted by tales of adventure in the New World, in 1510, Pizarro joined 300 settlers led by Alonso de Ojeda to establish a colony on the South American coast.
They named the swampy colony in today’s Colombia “San Sebastian.” With food supplies running low, Ojeda left the colony to get supplies, leaving Pizarro in charge. Only 100 of the original 300 settlers survived the tropical heat and diseases in their new home, and the remaining survivors returned to Cartagena.
In Cartagena, Pizarro joined forces with Vasco Núñez de Balboa to found a new colony, Darién, on the western side of the Gulf of Urabá. It became the first stable Spanish settlement on the South American continent.
In 1513, Pizarro acted as captain for Vasco Núñez de Balboa on the trip