Little is known about the history of Calisota before the first Europeans started their explorations of the area in the 1500's. The area seems to have been inhabited by local Indian tribes living from agriculture, fishing and hunting. The early history of Drake Borough strongly indicates that at least some of those tribes were hostile towards the European colonists.

The first Europeans to visit the Coast of Calisota seems to have been a Spanish expedition led by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo who explored the area in 1542. However the expedition doesn't seem to have landed in the area.

In Some Heir Over the Rainbow / Scrooge tests for Heir Barks shows that the crew on a Spanish ship which was fleeing from Drake, buried a chest full of gold in a bank in a bay later known as Duckburg Bay.

The establishment of Fort drakeborough


Illustration 1.1 - Sir Francis Drake and his crew are landing in Calisota.

The first known European landing in the area took place on June 17th 1579 when Sir Francis Drake and his crew arrived on the western coast of America on board his flagship "The Golden Hind", and went ashore in the land they named Nova Albion. Sir Francis Drake took possession of the land in the name of Queen Elisabeth I. The construction of the very first known building in the area, Fort drakeborough, on top of Killmule Hill seems to have started shortly after the landing. The fort was apparently named after Francis Drake himself.


Illustration 1.2 - Sir Francis Drake's brass plague.

When Sir Francis Drake later left the settlement he left a brass plaque, to prove his claim on the area, with the following inscription:
Be it knowne to all by these presents June 17, 1579:
In the name of Queen Elisabeth of England, I take posession of this lande, Nova Albion, and do establish on this hill Drake Borough, now stated bye me.
Francis Drake


Illustration 1.3 - Unpublished sketches for Lo$ - chapter 1 reveal early involvement of the McDucks in the history of Duckburg.

In the sketches for the rejected pages of "The Last of The Clan McDuck" Don Rosa reveals that a Malcolm McDuck was the first mate of "The Golden Hind" when Drake sailed the west coast of America, and that the same Malcolm McDuck was later put in charge of the first garrison in Fort drakeborough. He thus became the first commander of the fort and also the very first McDuck in Duckburg, 323 years before $crooge first arrived there in 1902. When asked about the relation between this Malcolm McDuck and the "Matey" McDuck who appears in Barks' Back to Long Ago, Don Rosa says: "They are the same single person. There is no proof that Malcolm "Matey" McDuck died when the Irish Rover sank in 1564. It was stated that Spanish naval records *report* this event -- it may or may not be true. Maybe they didn't spot the survivors? Maybe Malcolm wasn't on board? Maybe the Spanish captain lied?"

Even though England and Scotland were still separate nations back in 1579 there is no problem in including a Scotsman like Malcolm McDuck in Drakes crew. Sailing for foreign nations was normal, a good example is Henry Hudson who sailed with the Dutch when he explored the Hudson Bay in 1610.

The end of the first garrison at Fort Drakeborough


Illustration 1.4 - Sir Francis Drake's involvement with the lost library.

Before Drake left Fort drakeborough for the last time he stored a secret library, recently conquered from the Spanish ship "Nuestra Señora", in a secret room beneath the fort. He then instructed his men in the garrison to make a copy of it before handing it over to the queen. Sir Francis Drake however died (nearby Puerto Bello, Panama) from a fever in 1596, before he was able to return.



Illustration 1.5 - The copying of the lost library and the extermination of the first settlement in Drake Borough.

In "The Guardians of the Lost Library" Don Rosa describes the miserable fate of the first garrison at Fort Duckburg. It was attacked by hostile Indians in the mid 1580s (approximately half a dozen years after the 1579-landing - according to Don Rosa) and seemingly totally exterminated. The last survivor, Fenton Penworthy, managed to hide himself in, and seal the secret room with the library. Before he died he made some notes about the garrison's dealings and its eventual fate:
"I, Fenton Penworthy, am the last survivor of Drakeborough. Capt. Drake left us here to make a copy of the great library before he gives it to Queen Bess. The paths to treasure it contains are truly countless. We searched out the most valuable facts of ancient history and science... only those facts contained in no other books... and wrote them down in the single volume contained herein. But Capt. Drake has not yet returned, and savages have surrounded Drakeborough. My final act was to seal myself in this vault to guard the great library."

After the fall of the first garrison
Only little is known about the history of Drake Borough between the mid 1580's and 1818.

Fort Duckburg and the land connected to it remained English until May 1st 1707 when it, as a consequence of the English-Scottish Act of Union became British.

Even though Fort Drakeborough remained British, the surrounding area (Calisota) came under Spanish control in 1700's. A Spanish missionary station, of which there were many on the American west coast in those days, is thus very likely the origin of the "legends older than history" which, in The Phanton of Notre Duck, is said to be connected to the Cathedral of Notre Duck.

There has so far been no indication that James Cooks expedition which in 1778 (during Cook's 3rd voyage) explored the State of Washington and Oregon came as far south as Calisota, but another expedition that is believed to reached and possibly landed in the area is George Vancouver's expedition who explored those parts in 1793.

In 1783 the British lost their eastern colonies in Northern America, but Drake Borough on the west coast remained on British hands for another 35 years. Even though the US war of independence ended in 1783 the relationship between the English and the Americans remained tense and from 1812-1815 there was a new war, the so-called War of 1812 between the two. Apparently as a consequence of this new war British troops reappeared in Fort Drakeborough ca. 1812 (approximately half a dozen years before Cornelius Coots arrival in 1818 - according to Don Rosa).

Biography:

British admiral, adventurer, explorer and "pirate" in the service of Queen Elisabeth I.

In 1577 he was the leader of an English expedition with the goal of being the second expedition ever to sail around the globe. The expedition left from Plymouth and set west. During this expedition Drake stayed on board his flagship the "Pelican" which later became renamed the "Golden Hind". During the spring of 1579 the expedition sailed north along the American western coast until they on June 17th landed in a land they called Nova Albion (later known as Calisota). There Sir Francis Drake founded a settlement called Drake Borough (named after himself). In July the same year the part of the expedition not left behind in Drake Borough, continued the voyage west across the Pacific Ocean.

During a raid against the Spanish, Sir Francis Drake once succeeded in stealing the lost library. Afterwards he left it in a secret room beneath Fort Drake Borough. Before leaving the settlement he ordered his men to make a copy of the library, before turning it over to the Queen.

In 1588 Sir Francis Drake fought the Spanish Armada and defeated the Spanish at Grave Lines.

In 1595 he set out for a new voyage towards the west, probably heading for Nova Albion in order to return to Drake Borough and pick up the library he had planed to hand over it to the queen. But during this voyage he catched a terrible fever and died at sea on January 28th 1596 nearby Puerto Bello, Panama. After his death, his dead body was sealed in a lead coffin and lowered into the sea.

Illustrations: