Caupolicán — Mapuche war leader and legendary figure

After the death of Lautaro, the Araucanians were without worthy leadership, which led to unsuccessful battles around the fortress of San Luis, which could not be taken, and at Lagunillas on September 5, 1557, where a force of about 12,000 Mapuche under the command of various caciques, including Lincoyán and Galvarino, faced a powerful royal army under García Hurtado de Mendoza. Crossing the Biobío River from Concepción, García led 600 heavily armed soldiers and close to 1500 Yanacona, who were attacked by Mapuche forces in a morass area called Lagunillas. The attack was poorly organized, so that despite their great numerical superiority, the Mapuche were defeated in a brutal hand-to-hand battle that ended with hundreds killed and wounded and 150 taken prisoner, among whom was the cacique Galvarino. Following the example of Pedro de Valdivia at the Battle of Andalíen, García Hurtado de Mendoza ordered the right hands and noses of prisoners to be mutilated as punishment, in the common manner of the Conquistadors. Galvarino had both hands chopped off as a deterrent, and twelve other caciques were hanged. However, this kind of chastisement further antagonized the Mapuche against the occupiers.

The circumstances of Caupolicán's election as Toqui have been transmitted mainly through the literary text La Araucana by Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga, and are therefore of questionable veracity. Moreover, no Spaniards were present at the ceremony, so that the information was passed on exclusively through Araucanian Indians. In the literary account, after previous defeats, a great council gathered in the Sierra de Pilmaiquén to unite the Mapuche forces under a single command with the election of a Toqui. Because of his extraordinary physical strength and courage, the choice fell on the stern-faced Caupolicán, who had been blind in one eye since childhood. According to tradition, Caupolicán first had to prove his strength before the council of caciques, which included Tucapel and Rengo and was presided over by Colo Colo, by carrying a large tree trunk on his shoulders for two days and two nights without collapsing. He was victorious over other candidates such as Paicabí, Lincoyán and Elicura. Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga describes the election as follows:

"Con un desdén y muestra confiada asiendo el tronco duro y nudoso, como si fuera vara delicada se lo pone en el hombro poderoso: la gente enmudecía maravillada de ver el fuerte cuerpo tan nervoso. El calor de la Lincoya se le muda poniendo en su victoria mucha duda ... El bárbaro sagaz despacio andaba, y a toda prisa entraba el claro día; El sol las largas sombras acortaba, más el nunca decrece en su porfía: Al ocaso de la luz se retiraba, ni por eso flaqueza en el había; Las estrellas se muestran claramente, y no muestra cansancio aquel valiente"

(About: "It tests him with mockery and with confidence, and raises him to the mighty shoulder, as if it were only a thin branch, and not a knotty and heavy trunk, The crowd kept silent amazed at the sight of the strong body so tense. The heat of Lincoya's moving force, now makes his victory doubtful. The clever barbarian was not deterred, the bright day was already approaching, The sun shortened the shadows, one saw that never the obstinacy dwindled, and never weakness was in him, even when the sun was on the horizon. The stars show clear, even then no fatigue the brave man shows.")

The chronicler Mariño de Lobera calls this account a poetic exaggeration of the truth and remarks that the Araucanian Indians certainly had enough sense not to make the choice of their leader dependent on his ability to carry a tree trunk. In addition to other tests, such as running, jumping, fighting, or spear throwing, the candidate's acumen and wisdom were surely the most important factors in his choice.