Juan del Junco  Juan de(l) Junco (1503 in Ribadesella, Asturias, Castile – ? in Santo Domingo) was a Spanish conquistador who participated in the Spanish conquest of the Muisca people. Del Junco started his career as a conquistador in the 1526 expedition led by Sebastian Cabot exploring the Río de la Plata in present-day Argentina. In 1535, he arrived in Santa Marta on the Colombian Caribbean coast from where the expedition in search of "El Dorado" set off in April1536. Del Junco played a role in the foundations of Bogotá (August6, 1538), and Tunja (August6, 1539). He was a senior captain under Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. Del Junco was named second in line of succession, after Gonzalo's brother Hernán, in the event of the death of the first governor of the New Kingdom of Granada. Del Junco was awarded the "encomienda" (mayoralty) of Cucaita, close to Tunja, for his efforts as a soldier. In 1541, Del Junco left South America for Santo Domingo, where he married and remained until his death. Juan del Junco was named by several early chroniclers of the Spanish conquest of Colombia: "Epítome de la conquista del Nuevo Reino de Granada" (first published in 1889); "Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias" (De Castellanos, 1589); "El Carnero" (Freyle, 1638); and "Historia general de las conquistas del Nuevo Reino de Granada" (De Piedrahita, 1676). Juan del Junco, in some texts also named as Juan de Junco, was born in Asturias in 1503. He was baptised in Ribadesella; as was his brother, Rodrigo del Junco, who would become governor of La Florida. He was active as a soldier in Hungary and Italy in his early years. The conquest expeditions of Juan del Junco commenced in 1526, when he embarked on a ship leaving Sanlúcar de Barrameda. He served under Sebastian Cabot in the exploration of the Río de la Plata. In 1532 or 1533, taking Hernán Venegas Carrillo with him, Del Junco sailed to Santo Domingo, Hispaniola.