Regional History Forum Presents: Thunder Go North: The Hunt for Sir Francis Drake's Fair Bay
Archeologist Melissa Darby’s 2019 book, “Thunder Go North,” investigates Francis Drake and the Golden Hind’s 1579 landing on the North American West Coast. She presents a compelling case that Drake most likely came ashore in Oregon, far to the north of Drake’s Bay near San Francisco. Darby will offer a Zoom presentation Saturday, Feb. 13, in the Original Wasco County Courthouse’s Regional History Forum series.
“Thunder Go North: The Hunt for Sir Francis Drake’s Fair Bay” is the topic of the second program of the Original Wasco County Courthouse 2021 Regional History Forum. The program begins at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13. Due to COVID-19 restrictions programs are taking place on Zoom and not at the historic 1859 Courthouse.
Access is free at this link: http://OWCCZoomLink.info and those needing help getting Zoom on a computer or cell phone may leave a message at 541 296-4798. There is a limit of 100 participants. Zoom will be available at 1 p.m. and the presentation starts promptly at 1:30.
Local archeologist Eric Gleason suggested his friend Melissa Darby as a speaker in this year’s series. Her book, published by University of Utah Press in 2019, embarks on a fresh investigation of a long-standing question: Where was Francis Drake’s landing place that he called “a fair and good bay?”
Californians have claimed Drake’s landing in the summer of 1579 took place near San Francisco.
Darby builds upon the work of anthropologist Zelia Nuttall in the early 20th century that indicated Drake was further north than California. Artifacts used to disprove Nuttall were found to be hoaxes, and further investigation of Drake’s cultural observations of native people make a compelling case that Drake and his crew landed on the Oregon coast.
Darby is a visiting research scholar in the Department of Anthropology at Portland State University. She works as a private archeologist and historian doing business as Lower Columbia Research and Archaeology.
The online presentation, just like in-person programs over the past 40 plus years, are free. But donations to the Original Courthouse are gladly accepted.
