Drake's Plate of Brass: A 70-Year Old ECV Hoax

Above, modern day Clampers Glenn Thornhill, Abe
Hoffman and yours truly in Amboy, California in 2007.

Almost ten and a half years ago, the mystery of Drake's Plate of Brass was finally solved.

The Los Angeles Times reported at the time:

BERKELEY — After 11 years of research, a group of California historians announced Tuesday they have unraveled one of the most bedeviling hoaxes in recent American history, answering the question, "Who Made Drake's Plate of Brass?" 

Four researchers released a 17-page journal article pointing the finger at an obscure society of drinking men known as E. Clampus Vitus. Seventy years ago, the group forged and inscribed "Drake's Plate" as a bit of whimsy on the historical record and on the story of Sir Francis Drake.

It just so happens I've been a member of E Clampus Vitus since 1984.  Since I came into the order about forty years later, long after the Drake's Plate hoax was perpetuated, I can claim no involvement.

Over the years, many scholars have argued whether the plate was authentic or not.  American Heritage.com posted this 1959 article, which reads in part:

The discovery of Drake’s “plate of brass,” if this indeed was it, was announced at a meeting of the California Historical Society in April, 1937, and a fund was collected by several society members to purchase the plate and present it to the university. Metallurgical examination subsequently confirmed the age of the plate, and one further objection to its authenticity—the fact that it turned up where it did, inland from the sea—was removed when William Caldeira, a chauffeur, came forward to announce that he himself had found it three years earlier and thrown it away near San Quentin when his employer showed no interest. The spot where he claimed originally to have come upon the plate was not far from the bend in the coast that is known—apparently with good reason—as Drake’s Bay.

Here's a photo of the plate:

Here's another interesting article on the plate.

In February 2003, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article revealing that the brass plate was a hoax by E Clampus Vitus members:

It involves the mysterious "Plate of Brasse" supposedly left by Sir Francis Drake in Marin County 424 years ago when he claimed what he called New Albion for England. The plate was discovered near San Quentin prison in 1936 and hailed by Professor Herbert Bolton as "one of the world's long-lost treasures. " He called it authentic "beyond all reasonable doubt." 

Bolton died in 1953, full of years and honors. The plate was accepted as genuine until 1977 when new tests showed it to be a forgery -- for one thing, the brass had been rolled in the 20th century, not the 16th. It was a huge embarrassment for the university and the historical community. 

There was one last mystery: No one knew who was behind the hoax or why. 

Now, four historians writing in the official magazine of the California Historical Society say they have figured it out -- the brass plate was a practical joke played on Bolton by several of his colleagues who were members of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus, an organization that mixed history with strong drink and jokes. 

Bolton himself was a Clamper, with the title of Grand Royal Historian of the group's Yerba Buena chapter. 

 To read the full Chronicle article, go here.

Today, members of E Clampus Vitus erect plaques in various western state counties (where there's an ECV chapter).  The Los Angeles County chapter is Platrix Chapter No. 2.