News Release

Local Author Presents “Thunder Go North: The Hunt for Sir Francis Drake’s Fair and Good Bay”

Date: December 11, 2019
Contact: Mary Rose, Executive Director, Friends of Fort Vancouver, [phone]

Do you enjoy a good mystery with plenty of controversy mixed in? Local author and historian Melissa Darby's new book Thunder Go North: The Hunt for Sir Francis Drake's Fair and Good Bay, embarks on a fresh investigation into a centuries-old "vexed question": where was Sir Francis Drake's 1579 landing place on North America's Pacific Coast?

Archaeologist and anthropologist Melissa Darby presents compelling evidence that Drake most likely came ashore on the central coast of Oregon. One reviewer, Todd Braje of San Diego State University stated, "Darby's work uncovers a potential scientific conspiracy by one of California's most renowned historians. She masterfully weaves a tale of political intrigue, fraud, and ego into an academic treatise that reads more like a historical mystery novel."

"Enjoy this opportunity to hear Ms. Darby's case for Drake's landing on the Oregon Coast in 1579," suggested Mary Rose, Executive Director of the Friends of Fort Vancouver. "This is a controversy that has raged for years between archaeologists and historians. Hear the information firsthand and decide for yourself!"

The Smithsonian's Andrew Lawler writes, "Few sea voyages are as famous as that of the Golden Hind, privateer Francis Drake's around-the-world voyage that ended with his arrival into England's Plymouth harbor in 1580. Along with being a remarkable feat of seamanship, the world's second circumnavigation, among other achievements, was the first to map large portions of North America's western coast. Filling the Hind's hold as it berthed in Plymouth were a half-ton of gold, more than two-dozen tons of silver, and thousands of coins and pieces of jewelry looted from Spanish ports and ships along the western shore of South and Central America. Drake's lucrative journey helped spark England's ambitions for global empire."

What: Author Melissa Darby presents Thunder Go North: The Hunt for Sir Francis Drake's Fair and Good Bay

Where: Fort Vancouver Visitor Center, 1501 E Evergreen Blvd., Vancouver, WA 98661

When: Saturday, December 21, 2019, 1:30 pm

Cost: Free