Scott here with another episode of the History and Plug podcast.

The Spanish conquistadors slowly moved through Latin America in the 16th century.

They encountered levels of wealth that were unimaginable.

Most famously, the Incan emperor was captured by Francisco Pizarro and paid a ransom

of a room filled with gold and then twice over with silver.

The room was 22 feet long by 17 feet wide, filled to a height of about 8 feet.

Such events fired the imaginations of the Spanish, who created myths such as that of El Dorado,

the gilded man, who legend held, was daily powdered from head to toe with gold dust,

which he would then washroom himself in a lake, whose bottom was now covered with cold dust, and the golden trinkets

tossed in a sacrificial offerings. The story was fake, but it led to real expeditions, some of which

were so dangerous that they nearly killed party members, such as the 1541 expedition led by

Gonzalo Pizarro, Francisco's brother, to find El Dorado and his well-born

Lieutenant Francisco Oriana down the Amazon to find these riches. In today's rebroadcast episode,

I'm speaking to Buddy Levy, author of River of Darkness, Francisco Oriana, and the deadly first

voyage through the Amazon. He reconstructs the first complete European exploration of the world's largest

river and the relentless dangers around every bend. The enormous retinue of mercenaries,

enslaved natives, horses, and hunting dogs are decimated by disease, starvation, and attacks

in the jungle. Hopelessly lost in the swamp elaborate, Pizarro and Oriana make a fateful decision

to separate. While Pizarro eventually returns home barefoot and in rags,

Oriana and 57 men continued downriver into the unknown reaches of the Amazon jungle and river.

Theirs would be the greater glory.

Hope we enjoyed this discussion.

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