Francisco de Orellana, born in Trujillo in Extremadura c.1511, d. November 1546, was a Spanish explorer who discovered the Amazon River. He participated in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of Peru in the 1530s and set out from Quito on an expedition, led by Gonzalo Pizarro, to explore interior areas of South America.      Orellana abandoned the main party and followed the Napo River to the Amazon. His party drifted down the river, reaching the Atlantic in August 1542. He told of encounters with female warriors, like the Amazons of the classical legend that gave the river its name. A later expedition failed in its attempt to conquer the region, and Orellana died in Venezuela. Robin Buss Bibliography: De Carvajal, Gaspar, The Discovery of the Amazon According to the Account of Friar Gaspar de Carvajal, ed. by H. C. Keaton, trans. by Bertram Lee (1934; repr. 1970).

Map shows where Orellana first dicovered the Amazon River and shows his incredible journey to return to civilization