There is yet not much known about the area before the first known arrival of Europeans during the summer of 1579. The area seems to have been inhabitated by local Indian tribes living from agriculture, fishing and hunting. The early history of Drake Borough shows that at least some of those tribes were hostile towards the Europeans.

The establishment of Drake Borough


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

Duckburg's known history starts 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 a land they called Nova Albion (later known as Calisota). There 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 Drake Borough, on top of Kill Mule Hill seems to have started immediately after the landing.


Illustration 1.2 - The discovery of sir Francis Drake's brass plague.


Illustration 1.3 - The unpublished sketch showing the early involvement of the McDucks in the history of Duckburg.

When Sir Francis Drake left the settlement he left a brass plaque to prove his claim on the area (it is the inscription of this plaque that tells the date of the landing) and left his first mate Malcolm McDuck in command on the fort. Malcolm McDuck 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.

Sir Francis Drake's involvement with the lost library


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

There is yet not much known about the area from Sir Francis Drake left his fort and until Cornelius Coot arrived 239 years later. Before Drake left Fort Drake Borough for the last time he placed a secret library in a secret room beneath the fort, and ordered his men to make a copy of it before giving it to the queen. Sir Francis Drake however died from a fever on a voyage in 1596 and never returned.

Drake Borough after Sir Francis Drake


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

The first settlement at Drake Borough was exterminated by hostile Indians. The last survivor Fenton Penworthy managed to seal the secret room with the library. The British however returned and kept control over the settlement and the fort, until 1818.

Drake Borough seems not to have been involved in the American-British war in the 1770s and 1780s and was thus kept on British hands for another 35 years, when the British lost their eastern colonies in Northern America in 1783.

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 to visit Drake Borough and pick up the library to deliver it to the queen. But during this voyage he catched a terrible fever and died in 1596 nearby Puerto Rico.