Nehalem Event Explores Theories About Francis Drake on Oregon Coast

Published 10/12/2026 at 10:55 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Manzanita, Oregon) – Just where did Sir Francis Drake land on the Pacific Coast? Was it Oregon? California? And where is Nova Albion – really?

A long-running historical debate is getting fresh attention on the north Oregon coast, where new research suggests Sir Francis Drake may have sailed into Nehalem Bay - or at least somewhere along the Oregon shoreline - during his 16th-century search for a “Fair and Good Bay.”

Disagreement on where he landed always waxes and wanes over the decades, and now it's becoming a hot button issue once again. While most scholars tend to call it as northern California, a growing number now argue the Golden Hind reached Oregon.

That question will take center stage on Saturday, October 24, 2026, when the Nehalem Valley Historical Society hosts a presentation at the North County Recreation District in Nehalem. The event begins at 3:30 p.m. at 36155 9th Street, with admission set at $10. Proceeds support NVHS education programs.

Did you know Drake was technically a pirate? Certainly a notorious privateer

The talk, “Thunder Go North: The Hunt for Sir Francis Drake’s Fair & Good Bay,” explores how Drake’s own descriptions of Native houses, clothing, foods, language, and daily life align more closely with early anthropological records from the Pacific Northwest than with those from California. The program also examines the well-known plot by a University of California historian to fabricate Drake’s supposed “plate of brass,” a hoax that helped cement the California landing theory for decades.

According to the research, Drake’s crew spent five to ten weeks on the Oregon coast, interacting peacefully and routinely with local tribes - a stark contrast to accounts from farther south.

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The presentation will be led by Melissa Darby, MA, Senior Archaeologist and Historian with Lower Columbia Research & Archaeology LLC and author of Thunder Go North: The Hunt for Sir Francis Drake’s Fair & Good Bay. Darby will outline the evidence she says points strongly toward an Oregon landfall by the famed English navigator.

Wherever it was he landed, at one point he called it Nova Albion (or New Britain – thus supposedly meaning New England). The United States' National Park Service recognizes the Point Reyes area (which was also where they filmed the original The Fog movie back in the '80s).

However, the idea of Drake making pit stops here has been around a long time. There was one major proponent on the central Oregon coast who for many years claimed Drake had wandered into Whale's Cove near Depoe Bay. An extensive book about the Drake theory for Manzanita was released in the early 2000s, and cited strange markings on rocks in the area as evidence. “Francis Drake In Nehalem Bay” by local Garry Gitzen pointed to fairly large rocks with a form of W on them and other markings that were found on top of Neahkahnie Mountain. To many historians, these seemed likely to be navigational markings from a ship's crew, which were always different from ship to ship.

Where will you stand on the issue? There's even a continuing exhibit at the Nehalem Valley Historical Society in Manzanita on the subject.

Saturday, October 24, 2026 3:30 pm North County Recreation District 36155 9th Street, Nehalem. $10 at the door Proceeds benefit NVHS education programs.

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