Name street for foe of Spanish colonizers

The Feb. 17 San Anselmo Community Forum concerning renaming Sir Francis Drake Boulevard started with remarks on colonialism from Vice Mayor Alexis Fineman. This is appropriate because what is now San Anselmo, and much of California, was colonized by Europeans from Spain.

Fineman then presented an Indigenous land acknowledgment that the town is on unceded land of the Coast Miwok.

This is especially appropriate because San Anselmo is located on what was Miwok land for millennia. But in 1840, Alta California Gov. Jaun Bautista Alvarado, acting under authority of the colonial government, “granted” to Juan Cooper an 8,887-acre rancho that comprised much of present-day San Anselmo.

The name of the land grant was “Punta de Quintin, Corte de Madera, la Laguna y Canada de San Anselmo.” In the 1880s, the colonial name San Anselmo was taken.

But is there something the town can do to counter that harsh reminder of its Spanish colonial past? Perhaps name the main street in town after someone who fought against colonialism? Since California was colonized by Spain, perhaps it should be named after someone who fought the Spanish colonial empire.

Based on my readings, I believe there is someone well known as the most successful foe of the Spanish conquistadors. He was so feared that the king of Spain allegedly put a bounty on his head worth millions. Colonizers probably hated him for interrupting the flow of wealth stolen from South American mines using forced labor. Slave owners likely hated him for liberating part of their labor force. From my readings, I believe he was admired by the Indigenous people (on whose behalf he fought against the colonizers) and loved by the enslaved Black and Indigenous population for freeing slaves and providing hope of liberation to many.

That man’s name was Sir Francis Drake.

— Michael Holt, San Anselmo