Francis Drake and the California Indians, 1579   By: Robert F. Heizer

FRANCIS DRAKE AND THE CALIFORNIA INDIANS, 1579

BY

ROBERT F. HEIZER

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES 1947

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS IN AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY EDITORS (LOS ANGELES): RALPH L. BEALS, FRANKLIN FEARING, HARRY HOIJER

Volume 42, No. 3, pp. 251 302, plates 18 21, 1 figure in text, 2 illus. Submitted by editors February 27, 1946 Issued March 20, 1947 Price, cloth, $2.00; paper, $1.25

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON, ENGLAND

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CONTENTS

PAGE

General Background 251

The Trinidad Bay Landfall Theory 255

The Arguments for the Bodega Bay or Drake's Bay Landfall 258

Analysis of the World Encompassed Account 259

Additional Ethnographic Items in the Richard Madox and John Drake Accounts 273

Supposed Indian Traditions of Drake's Visit 276

Recapitulation and Conclusion 277

APPENDIX

I. The Sources 280

II. Excerpt from The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake 283

Plates 293

FRANCIS DRAKE AND THE CALIFORNIA INDIANS, 1579

BY

ROBERT F. HEIZER

GENERAL BACKGROUND

For nearly a century, historians, geographers, and anthropologists have attempted to solve the problem of locating Francis Drake's anchorage in California, but the opinion of no one investigator has been universally accepted. Indeed, it seems likely that the problem will forever remain insoluble in detail, although it may well be reduced to the possibility that one of two bays, either Drake's or Bodega, was the scene of Drake's stay in California.

Historically and ethnographically, Drake's California visit is exceedingly important. He was the first Englishman to see and describe the Indians of Upper California, and the third Caucasian to mention them. The account of the voyage given in The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake (London, 1628) (of uncertain authorship but usually attributed to Francis Fletcher) gives the earliest detailed description of California Indian life, including such particulars of native culture as ceremonial behavior and linguistic terms. This account is reproduced in Appendix II, below.