IX 
ECUADOR 
Sebastian de Benalcazar, a lieutenant of 
Pizarro, on December 6, 1534, was the first 
European to enter the Kingdom of Quito, the 
seat of government of the Caras Indians. The 
Spaniards controlled this territory at different 
times from Lima, Peru, or from Bogota, Col 
ombia, as conditions warranted. 
In 1809 the Ecuadorians attempted to throw 
off the yoke of Spain, but were unsuccessful in 
establishing their independence from the 
Mother Country until May 24, 1822, when 
General Sucre defeated the Spanish forces at 
Pichincha, as a result of which Ecuador en 
tered a union, fathered by the Great Liberator, 
Simon Bolivar, and comprising as its other 
states Colombia and Venezuela. Internal dis 
sension which grew resulted in the dissolu 
tion of this trinity of republics, and on Au- 
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