Redwood History Basic Data

C. THE MANILA GALLEONS off the HUMBOLDT COAST

It is possible that the crews of the Manila Galleons, after the discovery of the Japanese Current in 1565, on their return from the Philippines may have sighted the headlands of the Humboldt Coast before Drake and his seadogs. But as the captains turned south, as soon as the lookouts found seaweed or other indications that land was near, it is doubtful they secured more than an occasional glimpse of the fog-bound coast. [5] A captain of the Manila Galleon, Francisco Gali, in 1584 was the first European to refer to a geographic feature of the Alta California coast by other than its native name. On returning from the Philippines Captain Gali reported that he cruised the coast to Cape San Lucus, which "is the beginning of the lands of California...being fiue [five] hundred leagues distant from Cape Mendocino." [6] There is no proof that Gali was responsible for the name beyond giving us its first recorded use. There are two theories as to its origin: one is that the name was given by an earlier navigator of whom we have no record; and the other is that it may have been applied in New Spain to a headland discovered but not named by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo or Ferrelo in 1542-43. [7]