[MR] Wikipedia: Drake Claims California for England

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1579, Francis Drake (not yet knighted) claimed what is now
California for England. Drake and his crew on the Golden Hind were raiding
Spanish shipping in the Pacific. Drake put into what has now officially
been determined to be Drakes Bay, a feature of the Point Reyes peninsula
north of what is now San Francisco. Here he had the ship careened and
refitted in preparation for his return voyage to England.

According to accounts of the voyage, Drake claimed the land in Queen
Elizabeth's name. He named the country New Albion, and had monument erected
with his proclamation etched on a brass plate (now lost, but more on that
in minute). When the repairs were complete, the Golden Hind set sail for
England on 23 July: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Albion .

Curious facts:

A map of the Point Reyes area is on the above web site, and can be seen
slightly larger at
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Wpdms_usgs_photo_drakes_bay_large.jpg
. That long estuary to the northeast of the land mass is Tomales Bay, and
is actually the dreaded San Andreas Fault, one of North America's most
active and dangerous earthquake faults. In the 1960s Pacific Gas & Electric
Co. planned to put a nuclear power station here. Duh!

Around 1933 what was long thought to be "Drake's Plate of Brass" was
discovered and eventually ended up in the hands of Herbert E. Bolton, a
distinguished history professor at the University of California, who
promoted the plate as genuine. For years controversy raged over the plate.
In reality it was a hoax perpetrated by members of an amateur historical
and drinking society which is noted for such stunts, E Clampus Vitus:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_Clampus_Vitus . There were even obvious
clues to the club on the plate, which Bolton (who himself was an ECV
member) completely overlooked. A duplicate plate was made in the 1950s by
the Marin County government and was proudly displayed at the California
State Fair. Your author saw this copy there when he was lad. The Clamper
plate was finally exposed as a fraud after extensive scientific testing in
the 1970s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake%27s_Plate_of_Brass . So
raise your tankard in a toast to E Clampus Vitus and one of the most
successful hoaxes in American history.

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆