Thunder Go North: The Hunt for Sir Francis Drake's Fair and Good Bay

Anthropology of Pacific North America

by Melissa C. Darby

In the summer of 1579 Francis Drake and all those aboard the Golden Hind were in peril. The ship was leaking and they were in search of a protected beach to careen the ship to make repairs. They searched the coast and made landfall in what they called a ‘Fair and Good Bay’, generally thought to be in California. They stacked the treasure they had recently captured from the Spanish onto on this sandy shore, repaired the ship, explored the country, and after a number of weeks they set sail for home. When they returned to England, they became the second expedition to circumnavigate the earth, after Magellan’s voyage in 1522, and the first to return with its commander.
 
Thunder Go North unravels the mysteries surrounding Drake’s famous voyage and summer sojourn in this bay. Comparing Drake’s observations of the Natives’ houses, dress, foods, language, and lifeways with ethnographic material collected by early anthropologists, Melissa Darby makes a compelling case that Drake and his crew landed not in California but on the Oregon coast. She also uncovers the details of how an early twentieth-century hoax succeeded in maintaining the California landing theory and silencing contrary evidence. Presented here in an engaging narrative, Darby’s research beckons for history to be rewritten.
 

Genres: History, Nonfiction

336 pages, Hardcover

Published October 14, 2019

Reviews

[Cheryl Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The early chapters were necessary and well done, but the book didn't really become compelling until Darby got into the fascinating story of historians behaving badly, which, as a historian, I found both appalling and a lot of fun. While not all the evidence would have met a "clear and convincing" standard, she amassed substantial evidence of fraud. She also demonstrated the sexism and racism at work in 20th-century academic and social networks. The ethnographic and linguistic chapters toward the end had some good revelations. Very accessible to the general reader while still interesting and worthwhile for someone with more specialized knowledge.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story about Drake as well as a story about the influence of politics and identity on history.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a multi layered book that can appeal to several different audiences.

Firstly, as a technical study. For a professor or professional scholar, or for a beginning student, this book would make an excellent research project reference.

Secondly, for the general reader. While I found the technical aspect of this book rough going, the historical information was fascinating. During those sections I couldn’t put it down. Also, if you love unraveling a cover up, this is something you will enjoy.

Structurally, for the general reader such as myself, it would have been helpful to have had a marked map or two in the beginning rather than having to search out a small one somewhere in the text. Another thing that would’ve been very helpful was to have a character listing briefly outlining who some of these people were. The author states that this book was for the general reader who knew nothing about this controversy, as well as for a researcher. As the former, I found myself confused and frustrated trying to figure out who all these people were. They were defined somewhere in the text later on in the book, but that did not help me wade through all of the set up information in the beginning.

That being said, I loved Ms. Darby‘s writing style, and her research and reasoning are impeccable. On the whole, if you as a general reader are willing to navigate, pun intended, through the technical material, this book is incredibly interesting. Overall a very worthwhile read.

[Mike Blackledge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given this book to read. I read it. I ended up loving it. Why?

When I was a boy there was a TV show about Drake (c. 1962). Romantic, chivalrous, adventurous, loyal, smart, clever - everything a simple country boy would admire. But, now, almost 70, I read about a much more believable political backdrop behind his explorations. So, of course, that’s intriguing!

But, the book goes on...

Now, if a doctor is guilty of malpractice, someone dies or suffers or some such thing. But, what happens when a historian lies? No, I don’t mean when he’s wrong, I mean when he lies. This book answers that question in a specific instance.

I think it’s rare to find hard, factual evidence of a historian purposely misleading generations. But, here it is. [Much more common seems to be exposure of historians’ prejudices by long, slow, agonizing deduction. After all, how silly is it to expect social justice while looking at what’s sitting atop all these pedestals in our public right-of-ways? Sometimes, it seems that the light is all but out. Sadly, I fear if we look behind the historians’ curtains, we will find a lot of culpability.]

Yet, of course, we must look behind those arcane curtains!

Thank you, Melissa Darby, for such an excellent book and shedding a little light.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look not only at the Elizabethan explorer, but also at the quagmire of politics and personalities that have plagued his famous journey around the world from the moment he returned home up until the present day. Why do contemporary reports contradict each other? How conclusive is the evidence found in the 1930s? Why was it so important to establish Drake's landing place on the West Coast of America? Darby introduces the reader to some absolutely fascinating characters from the early 20th century, not the least of which is American anthropologist and archaeologist, Zelia Nuttall.

Darby reexamines the anthropological, ethnographic, linguistic and archaeological arguments for landing places in both California and Oregon, and this can sometimes get technical, but it's still fascinating.

I will definitely be rereading this one!

[Eric Timar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this -- I think of it as addressing four things: 1. Background about Drake; well done. 2. Was Drake's bay actually north of present-day California; I find her argument convincing that yes, it was. 3. Did historians, one in particular, fake a supposed relic that places the "Fair and Good Bay" in present-day California; again, she makes a convincing argument that yes they did, and she discusses a similar relic, related to Virginia Dare, as well. 4. Was a statement which Drake's party recorded as coming from local Native Americans actually a phrase in English which those Native Americans had quickly learned; that conjecture seems much more of a reach than her other ideas, but it's an entertaining theory at the least.

[Ginny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just read Thunder Go North by Oregon author, Melissa Darby, and found it fascinating. Put it on your Christmas list. Did Sir Francis Drake make it all the way up the Oregon coast? I think he did.