News Release

Search for 400-Year-Old Encampment at Point Reyes National Seashore

Date: April 20, 1995
Contact: John Dell'Osso, 415-663-8522

Point Reyes National Seashore announced today that the Anthropology Department at Sonoma State University, in partnership with the Drake Navigators Guild, is planning to survey areas along Drakes Bay for the encampment of Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeño from a 1595 expedition along the California coast.

During the next two months, technical crews will use state-of-the-art remote sensing equipment to survey the area over a period of several, one-day field investigations. Because the sites to be investigated are remote, all equipment will be hand-carried to the site or by using a hand-pulled wagon. The goal of the work is solely to identify the possible encampment site. No prehistoric materials will be removed from the permitted area. Any subsequent or future surveying will be conducted under a separate permit from the National Park Service.

Superintendent Don Neubacher has stated, "This project will afford the National Park Service an exciting opportunity to work cooperatively with non-profit and academic institutions to gather important data concerning the park's historical resources."

Known as the windiest point on the Pacific Coast and foggiest place on the North American continent, Point Reyes has a rich history of shipwrecks that have occurred off of the coast. Even after the historic Lighthouse was built in 1870, numerous shipwrecks took place along this treacherous coast.

The voyage of Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeño is an integral part of the history of Spanish exploration, even though he followed the Cabrillo and Ferrelo expedition to this area by some 50 years. By Cermeño's time, trade to the Far East was well established with several ships a year making the round trip journey from Mexico and Manila.

The San Agustin piloted by Cermeño sailed from Manila on July 5, 1595, with 80 men and 130 tons of cargo aboard. The cargo consisted mainly of silk, wax, and some porcelain. Weathering a storm in August in the Pacific, nearly half of the deck load was thrown overboard. On November 4, the ship landed on the California coast between Point St. George and Trinidad Head, then proceeded south rounding the tip of Point Reyes and entering Drakes Bay on November 6, where the ship anchored about a half-mile offshore.

The same day, a Coast Miwok Indian paddled out to the San Agustin in a tule canoe and was presented with gifts such as silk and cotton. The very next day, four more Coast Miwoks made the trip to visit Cermeño and crew, who followed the natives back to shore in a longboat with 22 men to reconnoiter the shore. Several days later, a camp was established and named Santa Fe.

During the last week of November, disaster struck. A storm blew up and the southwest wind dragged the San Agustin from her anchorage in the bay to the shore, drowning several men, breaking up the ship, and strewing debris along the coast. The stranded Spaniards, numbering nearly 70 men, salvaged some of the silks and wax and cached them in their camp, collected what food they could form the Coast Miwoks, and reinforced their longboat.

On December 8, the survivors sailed from Drakes Bay, tacking well out to sea before following the coastline. After an arduous seven-week voyage, the bedraggled survivors landed at Navidad, Mexico. Astonished officials noted,

We visited the vessel, finding no kind of any merchandise on board, and the men were almost naked. The vessel being so small it seems miraculous that she should have reached this country with so many people on board.

The wreck was not revisited until 1603, when Sebastian Vizcaino surveyed the coast in the aftermath of Cermeño's unfortunate failure. Vizcaino's ship was piloted by Francisco de Bolanos, a survivor of the San Agustin. Bolanos entered Drakes Bay seeking to recover the cached silks and wax left behind eight years ago. Anchoring well off the Point, which Vizcaino christened, "Punta de los Tres Reyes," thus giving the prominent landmark a name that has persisted for centuries, he sailed in haste to search for the missing cargo but found nothing.

Point Reyes National Seashore, encompassing 85,000 acres in west Marin County, contains nearly 200 historic structures including the nationally significant Point Reyes Lighthouse, the National Historic Landmark Point Reyes Lifeboat Station as well as over 100 archeological sites of the Coast Miwok Indians. To preserve these cultural resources, Point Reyes National Seashore has a comprehensive program of research, monitoring and restoration. This project will potentially reveal new information about the early exploration of the California coast and the Manilla galleon trade.

For additional information regarding this project, please contact John Dell'Osso at 415-663-8522.

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