in Extremadura, where he grew up before venturing to America.
Shortly after the founding, attacks from local tribes became commonplace and �uflo de Chaves was killed in 1568 by Itatine natives. After Chaves�s death, the conflicts with the local population as well as power struggles in the settlement forced the authorities in Peru to order the new governor, Lorenzo Suarez de Figueroa to relocate the city to the west. Many of the inhabitants, however, chose to stay behind and continued living in the original location. On September 13, 1590 the city was officially moved to the banks of the Guapay Empero river and renamed San Lorenzo de la Frontera. Nevertheless, the conditions proved to be even more severe at the new location forcing the settlers to relocate once again on May 21, 1595. Although this was the final relocation of the city, the name San Lorenzo continued to be used until the early 1600s, when the settlers who remained behind in Santa Cruz de la Sierra were convinced by the colonial authorities to move to San Lorenzo. After moving, in 1622, the city was finally consolidated and took its original name of Santa Cruz de la Sierra given by �uflo de Chaves over 60 years before. Remnants of the original settlement can be visited in Santa Cruz la Vieja ("Old Santa Cruz"), an archeological site south of San Jos� de Chiquitos.
Colonial Santa Cruz and revolutionary war
Over the next 200 years, several tribes were either incorporated under Spanish control or defeated by force. The city also became an important staging point for Jesuit Missions to Chiquitos and Moxos, leading to the conversion of thousands of Guaranies, Moxe�os, Chiquitanos, Guarayos, and Chiriguanos that eventually became part of the racially mixed population of the modern Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, and Tarija departaments of Bolivia. Another important role the small town played in the region for the Spanish Empire was to contain the incursions of PortugueseBandeirantes,
