Pedro de Heredia, Spanish Conquistador The earliest recorded history of Colombia dates back to about 1499 with the first Spanish conquest. Conquistador Alonso de Ojeda landed at Cabo de la Vela where he encountered the Muisca Confederation. A later expedition in 1533 led by Pedro de Heredia founded the first permanent settlement of Cartagena. The Muisca Confederation was a nation of Amerindians located near what is now the city of Bogota. They had an economy largely based on agriculture and salt mining and would trade with other nearby tribes such as the Inca. The capital of the new colony, Colombia, Bogota, was founded in August of 1538 by Conquistador Jimenéz de Quesáda . The colony's main exports were gold and jewels mined through the forced labor of the Muisca people through the Encomienda system, a precursor to African slavery. In 1739 the Spanish holdings in the New World were reorganized and the Viceroyalty of New Granada Map of the Viceroyalty of New Granada was form...