VALENZUELA, Pedro Fernandez, Spanish adventurer, born in Cordova, Spain; died in Spain. He lived in the 16th century, He came with Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada to New Grenada, and was commissioned by the latter in 1538 to search for a suitable site on the prairie of Bogota on which to build a city. After exploring the country he found a place at the foot of the hills that was afterward called Monserrate and Guadalupe, on a gentle declivity to which the name Teusaquillo was given by the Indians. Quesada was satisfied and founded there the city of Santa Fe de Bogota. He was the first to discover the emerald mines of Somondoco (1537), which were worked by the Indians with wooden shovels. Afterward he contributed largely to the conquest of the Chipataes Indians, whom he treated with cruelty. At the end of several years he returned to Spain, filled with remorse for the cruel deeds he had perpetrated against the natives. He studied for the priesthood, was ordained, and spent the remainder of his life in solitude.