Beyond merely satisfying historical curiosity, why does it
matter exactly where in Nova Albion Drake stayed? The
question is not common, perhaps because the answers are
sometimes less than flattering. Provincial pride and personal
fame have been, and continue to be, major motives in the
search for the lost harbor. A tinge of commercialism is
found now and then, both in regard to the selling of
publications and in the promotion of proposed locations as
parks or protected open space. Bizarre claims of buried
treasure have occasionally been heard. Then there are things
like the Golden Hind Motel, near Drakes Bay. More
legitimate reasons can be found: At one time Drake's
movements along the North American coast became an issue
in a boundary dispute between the United States and England.
Drake's harbor was the site of the first Protestant services
held in North America, which may be of interest to religious
historians, as might be the site of the first English presence in
the region to Anglophiles. All told, this does not add up to
much, but there are further reasons why the continued pursuit
of the Golden Kind is justified.
Viewed from the present, when the world seems more
divided than ever, and looking back at a time when European
exploration and expansion was characterized by the utterly
ruthless exploitation of native populations, Drake's visit with
the people of Nova Albion is striking for its harmonious
nature. It may be a hopeless quest, and it is one not addressed
in this work, but it is possible in light of ever more intense
archeological and anthropological investigations of the
original Californians that some valuable insights into the
more subtle mechanisms of this remarkable meeting can be
gained. However, the implications of this encounter cannot be
fully discussed without knowing exactly which of the diverse
native Californians met with Drake; this in turn depends on
knowing exactly where he was. This is in a sense an inversion
of the usual purpose of an investigation into who the
described people were; attempts to identify the group have
traditionally been used to support a location, rather than the
other way around. Perhaps who rather than where is the more
important historical question.
This book contains original research regarding the weather
conditions encountered by the circumnavigators along the
Northwest American coast during the early summer of 1579.
The positions and movements of the Golden Hind are of
importance in analyzing the severe climatic anomaly
described and now verified; thus a new group, climatologists,
are suddenly interested in where Drake anchored. There is
room for further investigation of this matter, which might
have importance not only for the past, but for the present.
This is the sort of unpredictable turn any historical
investigation can take, and is the sort of thing that itself can
justify the continuing search, regardless of seeming futility
and controversies, for the lost harbor.
Finally, whatever the direct significance might be of
establishing where Drake spent June and July of 1579, the
great majority of attempts to track him have been - to again
put it bluntly - badly botched. Seldom has a rather isolated
historical episode generated so much ephemeral smoke and
flame, and many are the consequential burned fingers anc
singed eyebrows. As will be seen nearly every search for the
lost harbor can be viewed as a case study in how not to
conduct an historical investigation. To finally resolve the
primary questions would further open the more general
questions raised herein, of how and why historical study can
go so badly awry. But first the mystery must be restored.
Author's Note: Some of this material is adapted from or relates to my yet-unpublished book Francis Drake in Nova Albion - The Mystery Restored, in which these and neighboring thickets are explored much more deeply than on these few web pages. Thus there may be references here not fully explained, or answers missing their questions. Also lacking here is documentation, provided in the book by 782 endnotes. - Oliver Seeler