Diego de Sandoval

They first arrived in the coast of what is now the Ecuadorian province of Manabi, then had to cross the dense jungle around the Guayas River to reach the lower part of the Andes range.

They arrived at a pass called Liribamba, where Sandoval and his men found another conquistador, Sebastian de Benalcazar, whose forces he joined (after the two leaders arranged for monetary compensation for Alvarado).

According to John Hemming "Sandoval captured a group of Inca fugitives including the sister-wife of Atahualpa who was baptized as Doña Francisca Coya (1515–1544).. the natives of Quito venerated her with pathetic passion".

He went to Cali and found buyers for a herd of sheep he had brought from the south and got enough money to convince Benalcazar to name him Governor and General Captain of Nevia and of the Pijao and Panchen Indians.

Vaca de Vega who had been sent by the crown to punish Almagro (the younger) and helped man his forces with people from the amazon regions.

Around 1545 he was named Lieutenant Governor and General Captain of Anserma and helped the now Viceroy Blasco Núñez Vela in his expeditions and conquests with his own money.

This same year he married Catalina Calderón de Robles (widow of Alonso Castro and later of Triana and mother of one son), paying a handsome dowry, with whom he had two daughters and many descendants in Quito.

In 1547 he heeded Pedro de la Gasca (the new crown representative) in his call to war again the rebellious Gonzalo Pizarro from whom he was in bad terms since his imprisonment in 1540, but a rebellion began in Anserma and he could not leave his post.

There is little information from 1550 to 1559, but in that year he returns to Quito and becomes "Regidor Perpetuo de su Cabildo" (a sort of perpetual magistrate of the city).

He visited the town where he was born and the place where his grandfather's weapons (Hernán Dianes de San Pedro) and took some of them back to Quito where they some are still held.

In 1568 he returned to Quito bringing many decorations for the chapel he had built, including a couple of paintings by the Italian artist Titian and to two relics of Santa Maria de Nieva (piece of hand and foot).