California Bay To Be Officially Named as Explorer’s First Landing
March 23, 2012
Byline: Associated Press
PT. REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE (AP) — The U.S. government plans to settle the long-running historical dispute over where on the West Coast the British explorer Sir Francis Drake stopped to repair and restock his ship during his 16th century journey around the world.
The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa reported that the National Park Service has approved naming Drakes Bay, north of San Francisco, as a historic landmark and the site of the notorious admiral’s 1579 landfall.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar still must approve the designation, which was already reviewed by scientists and archaeologists.
Historians have spent decades debating the location of the place where Drake sought refuge and claimed for Queen Elizabeth I. Some said it was on the Oregon coast, while others pointed to another bay slightly south of the spot under consideration.
