the peninsula. During this period (until 1750), some 16 missions were established on the peninsula—mostly on the east coast of the peninsula, with a handful on the Pacific coast, in the northwestern part of the peninsula. English interest Although it wasn't until 1579 that the west coast of North America was visited by an English explorer, the privateer Sir Francis Drake who landed at Drake's Bay and claimed the area for England, calling it Nova Albion or New England. Despite the facts that no settlements were ever established by Drake, and that the next official visit by the English would be some two hundred years later, Drake's action and Cabot's original claim in 1497 were the foundations of British claims to portions of the west coast of North America in the late 18th century. These claims would later be ceded to the United States after the Oregon boundary dispute. Settlements and conflicts (1750–1846) While the Spanish had dominated development on the west coast of North America for over 200 years since the early 16th century, beginning in the mid-18th century, this period saw the advent of British and Russian fur traders, and the establishment of the California missions, followed by the independence of Mexico and the Central American countries. Much later in this period, the United States started on its path to become the dominant power on the west coast of North America. Spanish settlements in coastal New Spain In the 1760s, a decision was made to create a harbor at San Blas (in today's Mexican state of Nayarit), for the purpose of building ships, supplying them, and being the expeditionary base for voyages north along the west coast of North America, from Baja California to Alaska. Today it remains unclear exactly why the Viceroy of New Spain decided to create an entirely new shipbuilding port along the west coast of Mexico, when the port at Acapulco already existed. It has been speculated that the reasons San Blas was chosen included that it was a week's sailing closer than Acapulco to the intended destination sites in California, that it was not far from the capital of New Spain, and perhaps more importantly, it had ready access to tropical hardwoods that would be needed to build the ships for the strenuous voyages as far north as today's Alaska. San Blas built the ships and was the home port for these exploration