Francisco de Orellana (ca. 1511-1546) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer of the Amazon whose name remains somewhat tainted because of the suspicion that he deserted Gonzalo Pizarro in a desperate situation.

Francisco de Orellana a relative of the Pizarros, was born in Trujillo, Estremadura. He evidently reached the New World as a teen-age boy and took part in the Pizarro conquest of Peru, where he lost an eye in battle. In 1538 he fought under Hernando Pizarro at the battle of Las Salinas, where Hernando captured Diego de Almagro, whom he executed. Orellana next went north and founded Guayaquil in late 1538 or early 1539.

He was now immediately subordinate to his kinsman Gonzalo Pizarro, governor of Quito. Gonzalo had orders from his brother Francisco to seek the reported Cinnamon Forests east of the Andes, and Orellana went as second-in-command of the large expedition in 1541. The explorers marched in good...