Mocoa

Mocoa lies where the eastern slopes of the Andes descend towards the forests of the upper Amazon basin. The town stands between the Mocoa and Mulato rivers, in a district once contested by Indigenous peoples and Spanish colonists. Its position placed it between the Andean settlements of Popayán and the forested country farther east, across the eastern foothills and their numerous rivers.

Spanish accounts place a foundation by Gonzalo de Avendaño in 1563, under the name San Miguel de Ágreda de Mocoa. The settlement fell under the governor of Popayán and the bishop of Quito. In 1683 the Andaquí attacked and burned it, and the town was moved to its later site between the two rivers. Difficult communications continued to constrain the colonial settlement.