Fringe theories on the location of New Albion

Laird Nelson proposed that Drake sailed as far north as Prince William Sound, Alaska 60°N 146.5°W / 60; -146.5 based on the westward run of the land in the area. Laird believes Drake was at 58 degrees north and "may have been even further north."[12] Drake then turned south to anchor at Birch Bay, Washington.

Samuel Bawlf maps Drake's voyage as far north as the Stephens Passage53.233°N 133.759°W / 53.233; -133.759 in the now state of Alaska.[9] Bawlf proposes that Drake established New Albion at Comox Bay (see below) and careened the Golden Hinde at Whale Cove (see below).

In December, 2013, metal detector operator Bruce Campbell found an English coin made between 1551 and 1553 near Victoria, British Columbia. While Campbell believes the coin is only the oldest thing he's likely to ever find, and Royal British Columbia Museum curator Grant Keddie did not believe the find can be connected to Drake. Loose finds such as coins have little value in establishing landing sites.

In 2003 Canadian R. Samuel Bawlf suggested[13] that Drake's New Albion was Vancouver Island and that Drake erected a post containing such a proclamation at what is today Comox, British Columbia, located on Vancouver Island.[14]49.66°N 124.95°W / 49.66; -124.95 Bawlf supports the idea that Drake completed the "Neahkahnie Mountain Survey" and believes Drake careened the Golden Hind in Whale Cove, Oregon. He points to a number of pieces of evidence in support of his view that the official published record of Drake's voyage was deliberately altered to suppress the true extent of his discoveries. Bawlf also relies heavily upon the configuration of the coastline as depicted in some of the maps and globes of the era, including the so-called French and Dutch Drake Maps which depict his voyage as having reached a point northward of a chain of islands to the northwest of New Spain and other maps depicting New Albion at latitudes above those of northern California, such as Richard Hakluyt's 1587 map of the New World showing Nova Albion at 50 degrees north latitude. Bawlf also placed emphasis on the fact that on an initial rendition of his globe in 1592 Emery Molyneux depicted the line of the coast of North America behind Vancouver Island with remarkable accuracy, although the islands themselves, depicted on the French and Dutch Drake maps, do not appear.

Although Bob Ward initially drew some of the discrepancies between the official published accounts of Drake's voyage and other documents to Bawlf's attention, and concluded that Drake likely sailed much farther to the north than northern California, he has been critical of some of Bawlf's conclusions, such as Drake's erecting a post proclaiming New Albion at what is now Comox Bay.

Bawlf's claims regarding "spectral analysis" and four matching islands have been disputed by Derek Hayes.[15] Oliver Seeler disputes Bawlf's conclusions[16][17] as does Eric Powell[18]

Bawlf's work has also been criticized by Edward Von der Porten, who calculated that Bawlf's theory requires the Golden Hinde to have traveled "an average of 5.95 knots... in a ship capable of less than one knot in those conditions." Further, Bawlf fails to identify the white cliffs, the Islands of St. James or the Coast Miwok People. Von der Porten states that Bawlf "has no evidence for either the conspiracy or his 'ten degree rule.'"[19][20]

Dr. John Sugden describes Bawlf's proposed route for Drake into Alaska and British Columbia, then concludes, "There is simply no evidence for this adventure, which even Bawlf admits is 'impossible' to reconcile with the records of the voyage."[21]

In 2013, Bob Graham proposed that Drake landed at Foul Bay 48.4116°N 123.3287°W / 48.4116; -123.3287 at the southern end of Vancouver Island.[22] Foul Bay is within the City of Victoria, at the city's southeast corner.

About 1995, Will Paulik, a local historian and environmentalist, suggested Drake landed at Boundary Bay 49.0795°N 122.8595°W / 49.0795; -122.8595 Northeast of Point Roberts, Washington and to the east of Vancouver Island.[23]

Fisherman Laird Nelson has proposed that Drake left Guatulco, Mexico, headed west 2,100 miles, then magnetic north for 2,700 miles with three ships: the un-renamed Pelican; the Los Reyes, a captured Spanish vessel; and a pinnace. From that point, the ships travelled an additional 550 miles north to Prince William Sound and back along the coast.[24] The ships then travelled 700 miles south through the Inside Passage to the first of three landing sites: Birch Bay. 48.92°N 122.78°W / 48.92; -122.78 Here, on the third day, the Pelican sank.[25]

Nelson does not explain how Drake could have covered 5,350 miles west and north when The World Encompassed establishes the distance traveled as 1,400 English 16th-Century leagues which is only 4,000 miles. (Laird's distance of 4,800 miles for the west and first portion north is equivalent to 1,400 modern leagues.)[26] Laird's proposal has Drake traveling the entire distance and dangerous Inside Passage at surprising speed, covering the 6,600 miles in 62 days.

Nelson proposed that after the loss of his flagship, Drake explored in a small boat for five days and then moved the Los Reyes to a second port at Lummi Bay, Washington.48.77°N 122.67°W / 48.77; -122.67 .[27] Here Drake careened the Los Reyes.

Nelson puts Drake's second anchorage at Sandy Point, Washington, a part of Lummi Bay, where Drake reportedly spent the second week of his New Albion visit.48.73°N 122.54°W / 48.73; -122.54[28] At Post Point, within Bellingham Bay, Drake created his "monument", a rock carvings in the cliff face of King Henry VIII and his sixth wife Katherine Parr. Initials attributed to the carver, Richard Cadwell were inscribed. The 3 ton rock carvings have been knocked down, but still there in 2000. The Plate of Brasse refers to the "thick coat of bottom paint" the carver put over the carvings.[29]

Robert Ward proposes that Drake ventured as far north as the Strait of Juan de Fuca, 48.478°N 124.688°W / 48.478; -124.688 but traveled south to Whale Cove (see below) to careen the Golden Hinde and establish New Albion.[30]

The Strait of Juan de Fuca is the only practical access to Comox Bay, given the difficult waters and warlike tribes of the Johnstone Strait.

In 1971, Don Viles and Wayne Jensen published the idea that Drake landed at Nehalem Bay.[31]45.686430°N 123.932860°W / 45.686430; -123.932860

Garry Gitzen has continued to support this idea.[32] Gitzen claims the "Neahkahnie Mountain Survey," the Hondius Map, the Edward Wright World Chart of 1599,[33] the Nehalem Indians and the Three Arch Rocks prove Drake's landing site was in Nehalem Bay, Oregon as well as the Indian culture of the Pacific Northwest.[34]

Gitzen argues that the "Survey" is a formal survey by Robert Schultz A.S.C.E and Phillip Costaggini's 1981 Oregon State thesis "Survey of Artifacts at Neahkahnie Mountain Oregon (1976-1981)" of the coastal area two to four miles north of Nehalem Bay encompassing the area up to one mile over the countryside of Neahkahnie Mountain. The incised rocks and carins are explained as recordings of a land survey and latitude showing angles and bearings in "The Treasure Rocks of Neah-kah-nie Mountain (2012)., the "W" rock which has components that "represent a combination of sun and star sighting points to determine the longitude, date and time and day," and the "Rays Rock" which "is a compass rose point used to measure points on Neahkahnie Mountain and beyond.".

Gitzen claims the outline and topography of Nehalem Bay match the Hondius Map, and that the Islands of Saint James are the Three Arch Rocks 13 miles south of the entrance to Nehalem Bay.

An article "Edward Wright's World Chart 1599 published in the blind peer-review "Terrae Incognitae" journal of the Society for the Histories of Discoveries contains Queen Elizabeth's Privy Seal. The only such map of the 16th century to carry the Queen's seal. The map was originally published in 1599 by Richard Hakluyt and reissued by the Hakluyt Society's 2 volume publication "The Hakluyt Handbook"(1974) where it is identified by David Beers Quinn, editor, and Helen Wallis, Map Curator of the British Museum, both agree the map is the most authentic map Hakluyt published in his books.

In 1978 British amateur historian Bob Ward, after making a study of the geography of the Pacific coast of the U.S. and Canada,[35] suggested that Drake actually landed much farther north, in Whale Cove in present-day Oregon.44.788944°N 124.070689°W / 44.788944; -124.070689 Advocates of the Whale Cove theory argue that when Captain James Cook first sighted the American coast at Cape Foulweather two centuries later, he described it in his log, with unknowing accuracy, as "the long-looked for coast of New Albion." Whale Cove lies just north of Cape Foulweather. Advocates of the Whale Cove theory dismiss the latitude given by Drake on the grounds that he may have deliberately falsified it in order to deceive the rival Spanish. Although the official account of Drake's voyage gives the anchorage location as 38 degrees, the only two known hand-written accounts of the voyage, preserved in the British Library, say that it was at 44 degrees, which is on the mid-Oregon coast. Drake and Queen Elizabeth, they argue, falsified the location because he mistakenly thought he had discovered the North West Passage when he found, and sailed into, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which today separates Vancouver Island, British Columbia from the mainland Olympic Peninsula of Washington state.[36][37] In 2012, Ward established a website supporting Whale Cove.[38]

Melissa Darby has established the Drake Anchorage Research Collaboration (DARC) in support of the possible Whale Cove landing site,[39] although she says she "can not say for sure where he (Drake) was."[40]

Whale Cove is the site identified by Bawlf as Drake's careening location.

Ward, Bawlf and Darby do not agree on the general route taken by Drake, but all have Drake's careening site at Whale Cove.

Whale Cove remains an unnavigable bay in a dangerous part of the Oregon coast: mariners are advised to stay at least 600 yards offshore for the distance one mile north of Whale Cove to one mile south of Whale Cove. Whale Cove is not considered a usable bay by any size of vessel.[41]

The Drake Navigators Guild studied the landfall site for Drake - the place where he found land after his northwest, then east sailing - and determined that the site was Oregon Dunes.43.597°N 124.202°W / 43.597; -124.202 (Oregon Dunes) This site had the same mysterious "snow" even though the temperatures were well above freezing as were observed by Captain George Vancouver in 1792.

The accepted site of the "bad bay" described by Drake is South Cove, Oregon. It is here that Drake anchored, but was unable to land or repair his ship.43.298°N 124.397°W / 43.298; -124.397 (South Cove, Oregon)[42] The site was recognized as an Oregon landmark by the Oregon Historical Society and Oregon State Parks in 1977: it also recognizes that Drake later spent five weeks in California.43.304291°N 124.399177°W / 43.304291; -124.399177 (Drake landfall monument)[42][43]

Brereton reported that local citizens had suggested that Drake had landed at Port Orford, Oregon.42.741°N 124.496°W / 42.741; -124.496[44]

Brereton reported that local citizens had suggested that Drake had landed at the Chetco River in Oregon.42.045°N 124.271°W / 42.045; -124.271[44]

In 1926, Henry Wagner wrote about Drake's circumnavigation. Determining that Drake would have stopped at the first suitable location, Wagner concluded that Drake spent most of his time at Trinidad Bay.41.057°N 124.144°W / 41.057; -124.144[45]

"In the 19th century, a number of observers argued that Bodega Bay was the site of Drake's New Albion. One of the most prominent of these was Alexander von Humboldt, who, however, had never been in California."[46]

In 1894, Edward Berthould wrote in National Geographic that the geography of Bodega Head and its proximity to the Farallon Islands seem to point to Bodega Bay as Drake's landing site.[47]

Brian T. Kelleher established a website which concludes that Drake careened at Bodega, California.37.407°N 122.107°W / 37.407; -122.107 – [48]

Bob Graham has evaluated the reported latitudes and the technologies available to Drake. If the 38-1/2 degree value is more accurate than the 38 degree value, and if Drake took a scientific series of experimental data and averaged it (for which there is no evidence), then the Bodega Bay latitude is more likely to be right than the Drakes Bay latitude.[49] In comparison to other reported Drake latitudes across the globe, the reported latitudes establish that Drake's harbor was within 1/2 degree of 38 degrees north latitude or 38-1/2 degrees north latitude based on average errors.[50]

Just inside the entrance to Tomales Bay, behind Sand Point 38.2317°N 122.967°W / 38.2317; -122.967 is a location which has been suggested as Drake's landing site.

Historian Robert Becker found a location to which the Hondius Broadside map could apply at Tom's Point on the east side of Tomales Bay.38.171°N 122.913°W / 38.171; -122.913[51]

One of San Francisco's earliest historians, Frank Soule, wrote in support of a Drakes Bay landing site.[52] George Davidson concluded that Drake was at Drakes Bay, but believed the actual careening point was just inside Point Reyes Head. 37.994°N 122.974°W / 37.994; -122.974 Davidson's work was based on sailing the coast. The identification of the careening point required exploring the site the way the artist of the Hondius Broadside inset viewed the site.[53]

Two Bolinas Bay locations have been proposed:

George Epperson believed Drake stayed at Agate Beach 37.9°N 122.713°W / 37.9; -122.713 at Bolinas Bay in Marin County, California. Epperson collected many objects from the area, but none could be linked to Drake.[54][55]

In 1974, Aubrey Neasham and William Pritchard wrote in support of Bolinas Lagoon 37.906°N 122.682°W / 37.906; -122.682 as Drake's landing site.[56]

Several early claims put Drake in San Francisco Bay, but did not establish where in the Bay Drake visited and then careened the Golden Hind. These include Robert Greenhow in 1845, Jules Verne in 1879[57][58] and Samuel Johnson.

Modern San Francisco Bay landing ideas share several important clues with the accepted Drakes Bay site: meeting with the Coast Miwok people, latitude close to 38°north and proximity to the Farallon Islands.

These landing ideas also claim that after sailing 400 miles down the Oregon and California coasts unsuccessfully seeking a harbor, Drake saw Drakes Bay and the white cliffs in the excellent bay, but continued past the harbor.

The new ideas suggest birds above the inland from Drakes Bay suggested the harbor of San Francisco Bay[59] or that the Spanish had earlier surveyed San Francisco Bay and that Drake had those maps.[60]

The new ideas ignore the difficulty of finding the Bay from the sea including the fog and islands which make the entrance to the Golden Gate nearly invisible.

The entrance to San Francisco Bay is dangerous and none of the accounts discuss the shoals and difficulties of entering the Bay, especially on an unknown basis.

The accounts indicate that there was a single anchorage within the harbor, not the scores of possible sites for a mariner within San Francisco Bay.

Except for the entrance to the Bay, the San Francisco Bay shoreline is warm or even hot on summer days, far different from the continuous cold and fog reported by Drake.

Late in the five-week stay, Drake took a trip up and into the interior of the country which was found to be far different. This corresponds to a coastal site, not a site within San Francisco Bay.

Had Drake entered San Francisco Bay, he would have spent weeks exploring up the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers in the belief that the Strait of Anian had, indeed been found. He would have reported one of the world's most important bays. Neither of these occurred. There is an argument to be made, however, that Queen Elizabeth I wanted to keep the discovery of "San Francisco Bay" a secret from the Spanish. The area had been claimed for England as "Nova Albion" (New Britain) and both Drake an his men were forbidden (by the Queen) to discuss or publish any details of their voyage under "pain of death".

All of the specific proposed landing sites, below, within San Francisco Bay are north of the Golden Gate. Holmes reports that if Drake had entered San Francisco Bay, the summer winds would have forced Drake to find a harbor south of the Golden Gate.[61]

Duane Van Dieman has developed a compelling, evidence-based hypothesis that Drake entered San Francisco Bay and careened the Golden Hind at Strawberry Cove. 37.888°N 122.511°W / 37.888; -122.511 His evidence, presented on his website: sfdrakefoundation.org, shows a strong comparison to the Hondius Broadside insert (presented to Flemish map maker Jodocus Hondius by Drake himself). In addition, Van Dieman has successfully compared the overall geography, weather conditions, flora, fauna and other key factors that were published in Richard Hakluyt's "The Famous Voyage" (1589) and The World Encompassed" (1628 / by Sir Francis Drake). His website also offers a direct comparison between the Strawberry Cove location (in upper Richardson Bay) and the still-debated Drakes Estero location at Drakes Bay. Van Dieman's landing site hypothesis has been favorably reviewed by author Dr John Sugden, considered by many to be England's foremost Drake historian, and John Francis, former vice president of the National Geographic Society.

Robert Stupack believes Drake established New Albion at Portsmouth Cove 37.967°N 122.495°W / 37.967; -122.495 and then careened the Golden Hinde at Larkspur. 37.943°N 122.504°W / 37.943; -122.504 [62][63] Stupack believes "Drake's Treasure" was cached in the area and has done extensive excavations. 525,000 pounds of material have been removed from the site.[64][65] 37.9495°N 122.5142°W / 37.9495; -122.5142 In 2017, Stupack claimed, "There are 7,347,000,000 people on this planet who would like to find a buried treasure on their property. IT HAPPENED TO ME."[66]

Robert H. Power (1926–1991), co-owner of the Nut Tree in Vacaville, CA, promoted the idea that Drake's New Albion was inside San Francisco Bay near Point San Quentin.37.939400°N 122.486700°W / 37.939400; -122.486700 Among his arguments was that the Hondius Broadside map matched a part of the topography when parts were adjusted using a 2:1 correction.[67] Among the problems with Power's idea is the difficulty of sailors finding San Francisco Bay from the ocean (it was first discovered by land and the first sea attempts to then locate the Bay failed), the lack of continuous foggy weather,[68] the multitudes of good harbors, and the extreme dangers of entering such a bay on an unknown basis.

To support his idea, Power formed an organization called Nova Albion Explorations which supported investigative work including archaeology of San Francisco Bay Shellmounds. The excavations "did not reveal any historic material which would lead anyone to believe the site experienced any contact with Caucasian parties of the 16th century."[69]

A. Bray Dickinson supported an upper San Francisco Bay site in 1954.[70][71]

Walter Starr and Francis Farquhar supported the San Quentin site.[72]

Robert C. Thomas advocates that Drake landed at Olompali, on the Petaluma River, inside San Francisco Bay.[59] "Under the shelter of cliffs" at Drakes Bay, Thomas believes Drake's men saw seagulls that rode east on updrafts, so that the men "could see that the land over which they (the birds) were flying was really a peninsula (a Marin County peninsula formed by the Pacific coast and San Francisco Bay.)" "The home-bound gulls swept inland" to Olomp-ali. Thomas dismisses the likelihood that Drake stayed at Drakes Bay, but instead headed south.

Thomas believes that while "there appeared to be no break in the shoreline" showing San Francisco Bay, Drake ran into a "strong current." Risking "imminent danger," Drake "was committed to an uncontrollable approach" and then "miraculously...found that they had passed through..." the Golden Gate.

According to Thomas, over the next five days, Drake explored the 21 nautical miles in the northwest portion of San Francisco Bay, ignored numerous promising harbors, and moved "his ship on June 21" to Chok-olom, the port near Olomp-ali.38.119°N 122.515°W / 38.119; -122.515

Thomas glosses over the fact that the Marin "peninsula" is not visible or discernible from the coast. Thomas does not solve the problems with any proposed San Francisco Bay Drake landing site: the difficulty of sailors finding San Francisco Bay from the ocean (it was first discovered by land and the first sea attempts to then locate the Bay failed), the lack of continuous foggy weather, the multitudes of good harbors, and the extreme dangers of entering such a bay on an unknown basis. Thomas also proposes that Drake sailed inland a significant distance quickly without it being noted in any of the accounts

Allen Schuh suggested that Drake landed at Grizzly Bay38.130°N 122.033°W / 38.130; -122.033 in Suisun Bay, Solano County, California.[73]

Mrs. Duncan S. Robinson wrote that "Drake probably explored this region on his trip up the Sacramento River in 1578"38.157°N 121.687°W / 38.157; -121.687[74]

Alan Brown posed the question, "Did Drake Land Here" in 1960.37.5°N 122.49°W / 37.5; -122.49[75] Frank M. Stanger proposed that Drake landed at Pillar Point.[76]

Louise Welshons Buell, Harry Morrison, Richard Scott and Gerald Webber suggested that Drake landed at Point Año Nuevo Cove.37.116°N 122.312°W / 37.116; -122.312[77][78][79]

Around 1934, a bottle found with a thin, rolled lead plate was found at Monterey Bay, California. Myron Oliver and Ed Kennedy believed this proved Drake at been at that location.36.603°N 121.88°W / 36.603; -121.88[80]

In 1718, mission friar Juan Amando Niel, speculated that Drake had entered the Carmel River.36.536°N 121.929°W / 36.536; -121.929[81]

Margie Mallagh reported a local legend regarding Drake landing in San Luis Obispo Bay at a site known as Mallagh's Landing 35.1740°N 120.7165°W / 35.1740; -120.7165 or Pirate's Cove.35.175°N 120.715°W / 35.175; -120.715 Robert Pate, Richard Dobson and Ethyl Sagen pursued this work.[82][83]

Justin M. Ruhge reported that he believed Drake landed at Goleta, California. 34.412°N 119.839°W / 34.412; -119.839[84] Jim Gilmore believes that cannon found in the area came from Drake.[85]

Harry Kelsey speculates that Drake did not head out to sea on a northerly course. Instead, Kelsey guesses that Drake coasted north to the known Spanish areas near the Baja California Sur and Baja California Norte border coastal area. Three possible sites are identified without any detailed analysis and no specific harbors are found. Cedros Island is the northernmost of these ideas.28.19°N 115.21°W / 28.19; -115.21[86]

The San Benito Islands is the middle of the Kelsey ideas.28.304°N 115.59°W / 28.304; -115.59[86]

Magdalena Bay is the southernmost of the Kelsey ideas.25.418°N 111.99°W / 25.418; -111.99[86]