Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer, landed in Chile in 1520. In 1535, the second visit from European conquistadors was lead by Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro. Disappointed by the dearth of mineral wealth and deterred by the pugnacity of the native population, they returned to Peru in 1537. Under Pizarro, Pedro de Valdivia arrived in 1540 and was able to established settlements in Santiago, Concepción,

La Serena and Valdivia. The Indian tribe of the Araucanians rebelled against the Spanish presence, eventually killing Valdivia and destroying most of his settlements. The Araucanians continued fighting the Spanish for nearly 100 years.

In the Spanish colonial organization, Chile was originally a dependency of the viceroyalty of Peru and later had its own colonial government. In 1810, Chile joined other Spanish colonies in breaking political ties with Spain. On September 18 of that year, the Santiago town council deposed the colonial governor of Chile, delegating his powers to a local council. This act marked the formal establishment of Chilean independence from Spain. However, it was not until 1818 when Bernardo O'Higgins, known throughout Chile as its liberator, proclaimed the absolute independence of Chile. Spanish forces controlled nearly all of southern Chile until 1818, and were not completely expelled from the country until 1826.

If you want to know more history of this country, you can visit the following sites:

http://www.emulateme.com/history/chilehist.htm
http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/HISTOR~5.htm