Pre-Columbian era Like much of the history of the people of the region, the history of the area before the arrival of European explorers is not well documented, mostly because of the somewhat nomadic nature and the absence of a
written language in the culture of the local tribes. However, recent data suggests that the current location of the city of Santa Cruz was inhabited by an
Arawak tribe that later came to be known by the Spanish as
Chané. Remains of ceramics and weapons have been found in the area, leading researchers to believe they had established settlements in the area. Among the few known facts of these tribes, according to accounts of the first Spanish explorers that came into contact with the Chané, are that they had a formal leader, a
cacique, called Grigotá for several years but his reign came to an end after one of the several
Guarani (Chiriguano) incursions in the area.
Early European incursions and founding of the city before the establishment of the
Viceroyalty of Peru. The first Europeans to set foot in the area were Spanish
conquistadores from the recently created
Governorate of New Andalusia that encompassed the territories of present-day Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile. In 1549, Captain General
Domingo Martinez de Irala became the first Spaniard to explore the region, but it was not until 1558 that
Ñuflo de Chavez, who had arrived in
Asunción in 1541 with
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, led a new expedition with the objective of settling the region. After discovering that a new expedition from Asunción was already underway, he quickly traveled to
Lima and successfully persuaded the
Viceroy to create a new province and grant him the title of governor on February 15, 1560. Upon returning from Lima, Chavez founded the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Holy Cross of the Mountain Range) on February 26, 1561, east of its present-day location, to function as the capital of the newly formed province of
Moxos and Chaves. The settlement was named after Chaves's
home town in
Extremadura, where he grew up before venturing to America. Shortly after the founding, attacks from local tribes became commonplace and Ñuflo de Chaves was killed in 1568 by Itatine natives. After Chaves's death, the conflicts with the local population as well as power struggles in the settlement forced the authorities in Peru to order the new governor, Lorenzo Suarez de Figueroa to relocate the city to the west. Many of the inhabitants, however, chose to stay behind and continued living in the original location. On September 13, 1590, the city was officially moved to the banks of the Guapay Empero river and renamed San Lorenzo de la Frontera. Nevertheless, the conditions proved to be even more severe at the new location forcing the settlers to relocate once again on May 21, 1595. Although this was the final relocation of the city, the name San Lorenzo continued to be used until the early 17th century, when the settlers who remained behind in Santa Cruz de la Sierra were convinced by the colonial authorities to move to San Lorenzo. After they moved the city was finally consolidated in 1622 and took its original name of Santa Cruz de la Sierra given by Ñuflo de Chaves over 60 years before. Remnants of the original settlement can be visited in Santa Cruz la Vieja ("Old Santa Cruz"), an archaeological site south of San José de Chiquitos.
Colonial Santa Cruz and revolutionary war , the first governor of Santa Cruz|left Over the next 200 years, several tribes were either incorporated under Spanish control or defeated by force. The city also became an important staging point for
Jesuit missions to
Chiquitos and Moxos, leading to the conversion of thousands of Guaranies, Moxeños, Chiquitanos,
Guarayos and Chiriguanos that eventually became part of the racially mixed population of the modern Santa Cruz,
Beni,
Pando and
Tarija departments of Bolivia. Another important role the small town played in the region for the
Spanish Empire was to contain the incursions of Portuguese
Bandeirantes, many of which were repelled by the use of force over the years. The efforts for consolidating the borders of the Empire were not overlooked by the authorities in Lima, who granted the province a great degree of autonomy. The province was ruled by a Captain General based in Santa Cruz, and, in turn, the city government was administered by two mayors and a council of four people. Citizens of Santa Cruz were exempt from all imperial taxes and the
mita system used in the rest of the
Viceroyalty of Peru was not practiced. However, in spite of its strategic importance, the city did not grow much in colonial times. Most of the economic activity was centered in the mining centers of the west and the main source of income of the city was agriculture. Animosity towards imperial authorities began at the turn of the 18th century when the new system of
intendencias reached the new world. The seat of government was taken away from the city and moved to
Cochabamba, and many of the powers delegated by the viceroyalty were now in the hands of appointees of the crown. Like in many parts of Spanish America at the time, angered by the reforms the criollos saw as a threat to their way of life, and taking advantage of the
Peninsular War, the local population, led by Antonio Vicente Seonane, revolted on September 24, 1810, overthrowing the governor delegate. A junta of local commanders took control of the government in his place. The revolutionaries, as it was the case with most of the revolts in
Spanish America, remained loyal to the
King of Spain, while repudiating the colonial authorities until after the end of the Peninsular War. By 1813 the city was once again under imperial control. At this time, by order of General
Manuel Belgrano, the revolutionary armies of Argentina sent a small force led by
Ignacio Warnes to "liberate" Santa Cruz. After his successful campaign, he assumed control of the government of the city. In a little over a year Warnes was able to gather tremendous support from the population, enlisting criollos, mestizos and natives to the revolutionary army, and allying with the revolutionary leader of
Vallegrande, Alvarez de Arenales, to defeat a strong imperial force in the Battle of Florida. This victory proved to be a serious blow to Spanish forces in the region. Nevertheless, two years after the victory of Florida, imperial forces launched a new offensive in the province led by Francisco Javier Aguilera. This campaign ended with the defeat and death of Ignacio Warnes and his forces in the Battle of Pari. Triumphant, Aguilera marched into the city with orders to quell the insurrection and reinstate the Spanish governor. This proved to be a very difficult task, with several revolutionary leaders, such as Jose Manuel "Cañoto" Baca and Jose Manuel Mercado, rising up in the coming years from the city itself and elsewhere in the province. These new leaders fought colonial authorities for seven years until they finally deposed the last Spanish governor, Manuel Fernando Aramburu, in February 1825 after news of the defeat of the imperial armies in the west had reached the city. ==Geography==