N. de Morena

July 30, 2019 History

Marooned and left to die near present-day Point Reyes – N. de Morena is a “California Curiosity“.

N. de Morena was a ship pilot on the 1577-1580 around-the-world sailing expedition of Francis Drake. Too ill to sail, he was left behind in New Albion (1) in 1579 as the expedition continued across the Pacific Ocean without him. When he recovered his health he supposedly walked to Mexico.

Though not much is known about him (even his name – it was possibly N. de Morera), N. de Morena accomplished a few “firsts” and impressive feats in California.

First to the bay

In all likelihood N. de Morena was the first European to see San Francisco Bay, on his way from the Point Reyes area to Mexico. Earlier explorers had presumably sailed past the foggy entrance without seeing it.

OK, so just seeing it first (again, among white people) is not such a big deal – what would it matter if someone else saw it first? What I wonder is “how did the bay look at that time?” – the physical geography; the kinds and numbers of animals, plants and people he would have encountered. (2)

First California road trip

N. de Morena’s walking journey from north of San Francisco to present day Mexico is, to me, astounding. Though it was over the course of four years it still would have been around 600 miles. At the time there was no charted land route – at least none known to Europeans (the El Camino Real would not come along for another 100+ years). I guess Morena would have followed paths made by Native Californians or wildlife. To survive I assume he received assistance from native peoples – was it hard to get that help with no language in common? Did he have any run-ins with the mighty California Grizzly bear?

Once in Mexico, N. de Morena went inland another 1000+ miles to a mining town called Sombrerete (in the state of Zacatecas) to tell his story to the governor.

But is it actually true?

It is certainly possible, even probable, that N. de Morena fabricated some or all of his story. All that we have is his word, as recorded and passed down by priests. But what were his motives in telling his story to the Spanish government?

Consider that he was a foreign pilot hired by England (Spain’s rival for control of North America). Foreign pilots were often hired to sail specific areas. For N. de Morena that was presumably the southern tip of South America (the Straight of Magellan) and the coast before and after. He would not be so useful to the Drake expedition going across the Pacific Ocean or returning to Europe via “the Indies“. He was taking up precious space on Drake’s last remaining ship so perhaps that is why he was dropped off.

The English landing in Northern California and making a land claim would be secret information at this time. Perhaps N. de Morena’s mission in telling the Spanish governor was one of counterintelligence. He claimed to have been dropped off by Drake at the Straight of Anián – a near-mythical geographic marker between Asia and North America that was yet undiscovered (3) – and he even offered to take the governor to see the straight. Was that a bluff? Did N. de Morena think he’d actually been at the straight (perhaps he referred to the Sacramento/San Joaquin River delta in San Francisco Bay)? I guess we’ll never know.

Notes:

“New Albion” was Drake’s name for Northern California which he claimed for Queen Elizabeth I of England.
Malcolm Margolin in “The Ohlone Way” says that the bay area before the Europeans came was an area of unimaginable bounty – with huge numbers and variety of birds, land animals and nourishing plants. I’d gladly pay for the VR experience to see the area as it was hundreds years ago.
The actual marker was found in 1782 and called the Bering Straight

Matt Corpos

N. de Morena

First to the bay

First California road trip

But is it actually true?

Harry Love

The Dardanelles