Sir Francis Drake Spanish Treasure — Southeast Alaska

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Sir Francis Drake Spanish Treasure — Southeast Alaska

Lost Treasure AK • Petersburg Borough County
Description
Obscure Southeast Alaska legend that Sir Francis Drake left Spanish plunder with a small boat crew while searching for the Northwest Passage — pieces of eight and raid loot possibly cached on an island north of Wrangell and Ketchikan.
Historical Notes
Historian Samuel Bawlf argued in The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake that Drake's 1577–1580 circumnavigation included a concealed Alaska landfall and detached boats probing for the Northwest Passage. Juneau Empire columnist Tara Neilson summarized the tantalizing possibility: Drake may have incentivized men left behind with Spanish treasure they could only realize by finding the passage home. Mainstream historians dispute Drake's Alaska visit, but the story remains a staple of Inside Passage island treasure lore alongside lost mines and geode caches.
Status / Verification legend — Legendary or approximate

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