Pedro de Heredia - Inland Expeditions and Trials of Residence

Inland Expeditions and Trials of Residence

Heredia signed friendship pacts with the Indian chiefs of the nearby islands. With the help of Catalina acting as interpreter, Heredia conquered and ruled the area around Cartagena, including Turbaco and the Magdalena River. He looted Indian graves in the Sinú river area and founded Santiago de Tolú. His spoils from these expeditions included a solid gold porcupine weighing 132 pounds - the heaviest gold object plundered during the Conquest. Heredia returned with a bounty of one and half million ducats in gold. Each soldier received six thousand ducats, much more than the amount gotten by those who conquered Mexico and Peru.

Heredia prepared a second expedition to the South Sea and in 1934 he reached the Sinú river, where he ransacked indigenous peoples' tombs for gold. He and his troops then penetrated to Antioquia and returned exhausted to Cartagena. Once there, Heredia met Fray Tomas de Toro, the first bishop of Cartagena sent by the king Carlos I of Spain, and his brother Alonso, who had recently arrived from Guatemala. Heredia rescinded of Francisco Cesar and appointed Alonso as Lieutenant General. His brother Alonso lead two expeditions to the Sinú, in the last he arrived at the Cauca river on 1535. in 1536, Pedro de Heredia mounted an expedition southward on the Atrato river with no results.

The irregularities of the Heredia brothers earned them numerous complaints. In 1536, Judge Juan de Vadillo (relative of Pedro de Vadillo) was appointed by the Royal Audiencia of Santo Domingo to find out the charges against Pedro de Heredia and his brother on the payment of the real estate and the mistreatment of natives.

Badillo found Heredia guilty and imprisoned him, taking for himself the interim government of Cartagena. He was allowed to go to Spain to attend his trial, of which he was acquitted. He returned to Cartagena with some members of his family; a few nieces and his two sons, Antonio, who from then on joined him in all the expeditions and Juan, who later established in Santa Cruz de Mompox. Shortly after, Heredia embarked in a quest of the treasure of Dabaiba, the earliest form of the El Dorado myth. After an unfruitful long trip, Heredia returned to San Sebastián de Urabá where he accused and sent Jorge Robledo imprisoned back to Spain for usurpation of Heredia’s jurisdiction. On March 16 of 1542, Heredia departed to Antioquia to annex the territory to Cartagena. Heredia was taken prisoner by Sebastián de Belalcázar and sent to Panamá to be judged for his attempts to overtake the Antioquia territory. Unable to mediate in such a delicate affaire, the Royal Audience of Panama set Heredia free, who immediately returned to Cartagena in 1544. Right after his arrival in Cartagena, on July 25 of 1544, the city was pillaged by a French Huguenot nobleman Jean-François Roberval, known as "Robert Baal". By the time Roberval arrived, Cartagena de Indias was not yet fortified and was an easy target to the French. Pedro de Heredia fought with his sword at his own house, though the numerous advantage of the enemy forced him to flee and hide nearby with his relatives. The price of the ransom for the city was 200.000 ducats in gold, which were enough to satisfy the greed of Roverbal who would then abandoned the city. Shortly after Roverbal assault, Heredia left to Antioquia to annex the territory under the jurisdiction of Cartagena. He returned to Cartagena in 1548 to attend a trial of residence for abuse of power and authority during his office. The visitador Miguel Diez de Armendáriz found him guilty of all charges; however, Heredia continued in office.