This article presents the results of research focused on evaluating skills associated with students’ historical thinking. The research specifically focused on the analysis of historical sources and four second-order concepts: continuity, change, causes, and consequences. The Hispanic-Mapuche conflict was addressed. The qualitative study included 86 students from eighth to second grade in a public establishment in the Biobío Region, Chile, a historically significant territory for the conflict since the arrival of the Spanish conqueror. Initially, a historical narrative was designed as an information collection instrument. However, the exploration pilot revealed limitations due to the student’s lack of familiarity with this type of instrument in history classes. In response, a battery of open questions was introduced to address the topics of interest in a more accessible way. The results highlight the limited capacity to make explanatory textual inferences and their skills of interpretation and critical analysis of historical sources. Furthermore, a mostly negative vision of the Mapuche people’s transformations is observed. These findings underscore the need to strengthen historical thinking skills, suggesting pedagogical approaches that facilitate a deeper connection between the past and the present, thus promoting a more nuanced and balanced understanding of historical events.