Francis Drake and the California Indians, 1579

The study examines competing theories for an early English anchorage on the northern California coast by analyzing contemporary voyage narratives, depositions, and ethnographic detail. It evaluates reported vocabulary, a ceremonial song, and behavioral observations against recorded Coast Miwok and Pomo material, finding several linguistic and ritual parallels closest to Coast Miwok forms. The author considers corroborating eyewitness depositions and discusses how ethnology can narrow geographic hypotheses while stressing limits of the evidence; ultimately the analysis supports a Coast Miwok identification for the native contacts but acknowledges that precise anchorage location remains uncertain.