In Chilean folklore the entierros (lit. "burrowing") are legendary treasures buried in different locations by different motives. The identity of the alleged burrowers vary from case to case, sometimes being indigenous peoples,

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

and

privateers A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 (t ...

or the Jesuits.Montencino 2015, p. 268–273 A significant number of the entierro legends relate to the Spanish Conquest of Chile in the 16th century. Associated to this there is a significant folklore on how to unearth the entierros. Some people believe that a nocturnal bird called

Alicanto The Alicanto is a mythological nocturnal bird of the desert of Atacama, pertaining to Chilean mythology. Legend says that the alicanto's wings shine at night with beautiful, metallic colors, and their eyes emit strange lights. The color of th ...

can show to treasure hunters the location of entierros. Patagua trees are said to signal or guide people to an entierro.

Particular entierros

Colonial era entierros

In the far north of Chile a tale says that because Francis Drake feared falling prisoner to the Spanish he buried his treasure near Arica. Further south in Quintero is

Cueva del Pirata Cueva del Pirata, Spanish for "Cave of the Pirate" is a sea cave in the town of Quintero, near Valparaíso, Chile. In Valparaíso folklore associates the cave with Francis Drake. One version says that when Drake sacked the port he became disappoin ...

(lit. "Cave of the Pirate") which is also associated with a treasure of Francis Drake.Montencino 2015, p. 196-197 In Carelmapu an entierro is said to have been left by the Spanish in an effort to hide valuables from Dutch invaders that sacked the settlement in 1643. During the Suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1767 folklore says Jesuits of buried their valuables near their confiscated estate in

Ocoa Ocoa may refer to: Places *San José de Ocoa, Dominican Republic *Ocoa, Chile, a populated area *Ocoa Valley, a valley in Chile Animals *''Ocoa ochromimoides'', a species of beetle *''Evocoa ''Evocoa'' is a monotypic genus of flies containing t ...

.Plath 1979, p. 129 By some accounts the buried treasure was once found but nothing was extracted since the vault proved resistant to dynamite. Another saying tells that those who seek to recover the treasure become cursed.

Post-colonial and undated entierros

Also associated with the Jesuit was an entierro said to exist at a large rock known as Piedra del Padre in

Cajón del Maipo Cajón del Maipo is a canyon located in the Andean southeastern portion of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile. It encompasses the upper Maipo River basin, where the river has entrenched itself in a narrow valley. The zone features a series ...

. The rock was said to resemble a priest. Allegedly the rock was blown up with explosives in an attempt to retrieve the treasure but nothing was found. One story about an entierro is set during the Chilean War of Independence. Reportedly in the aftermath of the patriot defeat at the Battle of Rancagua (1814) some patrician families gathered their valuables in an

ox cart A bullock cart or ox cart (sometimes called a bullock carriage when carrying people in particular) is a two-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle pulled by oxen. It is a means of transportation used since ancient times in many parts of the world. They ...

to have them evacuated to Mendoza across the Andes. Its is said that the cart had only reached to

Laguna de Aculeo Laguna de Aculeo is since 2018 a dried-out lake located in the city of Paine, Maipo Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile. It featured muddy banks and is surrounded by gently tilting ground. The lake's bottom is largely impermeable limitin ...

when the Spanish cought up with it. To avoid capture of treasure the driver hit the oxes with the spike of his picana making the oxen plunge towards the centre of the lake where the cart and the treasure then sunk and was lost in the lake's mud. Another entierro is said to exist in

Laguna de los Cristales Laguna de los Cristales (lit. Lagoon of the Crystals) is a small lake located in the Andes of O'Higgins Region in Central Chile. The lake is natural in origin, but its water level was raised by a dam inaugurated in 1976 aimed to provide water for ...

in the Andes in the commune of Rengo. The entierro is said to have came to being when an arriero sought shelter near the lake amidst a

snow storm A winter storm is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental climates, these storms are not ne ...

. While at sleep the lake's water rose and brought him and his mule to the bottom of the lake. According to folklore the mules can still be seen in the bottom of the lake during sunny days. In some versions the arriero can be occasionally seen getting out of lake with his mules into a path.

References

;Bibliography * * {{Pirates Chilean legends Legendary treasures

Particular entierros

Colonial era entierros

Post-colonial and undated entierros

See also

References