DOMINGO MARTINEZ DE IRALA

Domingo Martinez de Irala, also known as Iraola, was born in Vergara, Guipuzcoa in 1486. During this life, he was a mighty Spanish solider who finally lost his life in Paraguay in 1557. Starting out, Irala sailed on an expedition in 1534 to South America where he helped with the founding of Buenos Ayres in 1535. Before long, Irala was appointed as commander of the Ayolas expedition, which was established to explore both Paraguay and Parana. This expedition began in 1536 and in August after Asuncion was founded, they sailed the river to the south where Irala stayed in charge of the ships while Ayolas started the interior expedition.

Unfortunately, Ayolas was killed so in the summer of 1538, Irala was elected governor. To protect Asuncion, he took great precaution and even stopped an uprising of the Indians. Then in 1542, Cabeza de Vaca, the appointed adelantado, showed up and appointed Irala as deputy. With that, Irala was sent on an exploration voyage to the upper region of Paraguay. Reaching the port of Los Reyes, he finally returned to Asuncion in the early part of 1543. Unfortunately, Vaca had created hatred of the clergy and officers and in April of the following year, he was imprisoned and sent to Spain. For a second time, Irala was appointed governor.

Then in 1546, Irala started his third expedition, eager to discover an overland route to Peru. With that, he left the ships at Los Reyes and set out with 300 Spaniards, as well as 3,500 Indian allies heading to the northwest. When they reached the foot of the Andes Mountains, they came upon Spanish-speaking Indians who were a part of Pedro Anzures' army. The Indians told Irala about Gonzalo Pizarro's revolution and President La Gasca's triumph.

Soon, Irala retraced his steps and after going through some very difficult times, he returned to Los Reyes only to find the ships gone. Having been gone for two years, he finally arrived at Asuncion where he founded a colony. At that time, Diego de Abreu was in command and refused to give up his governorship. However, Irala was able to defeat him at which time he took control over the colony and led it with great success. Finally, Irala received official word from Spain that he was appointed governor.

By 1550, Irala had taken his final, personal expedition. Unfortunately, because of his level of poverty suffered by the army, this expedition was known as Mala Entrada, which translates to "unfortunate invasion". Irala was known for continuing to send out expeditions to help consolidate the Spanish rule, which included one in 1554 under the command of Nuflo de Chaves for taking control of Guayra and one in 1555, commanded by Melgarejo with the effort of founding the town of Ontiveros.