The region gave its name to the Mapuche people of the area, who were famed for their long resistance to the Spanish in the Arauco War. Tucapel is also the name of a famous leader in the first resistance against the Spanish mentioned in Ercilla's La Araucana.
The fortress of San Diego de Alcalá de Tucapel was founded by Pedro de Valdivia in 1552 on a hill in the valley of the Tucapel River at the present location of the city of Cañete, Chile. Near here, the conqueror died after being surprised and defeated at the Battle of Tucapel by Lautaro, after he had arrived to relieve the fortress, which Lautaro had already destroyed on 25 December, 1552.
In 1557, the fortress and the later city of Cañete de la Frontera were later rebuilt three kilometers to the west of the present location of the city and resisted an attack by Toqui Caupolicán. It was finally abandoned after the Battle of Curalaba in the Mapuche Uprising of 1598.
