Roanoke: The Mystery of the Lost Colony

How could 115 people just disappear? The origins to one of Americas greatest unsolved mysteries go back to 1585 when a group of 115 English Settlers arrive at Roanoke Island, which is now North Carolina. These colonists intended to make the first English colony in the New World.

Roanoke Island

Roanoke Island

The island of Roanoke is an island off of what is now North Carolina. It is a small island, only approximately 17 square miles being its area. This is the island that was explored by the English and chosen to be the home for the first English colony in the New World.

Present Day Roanoke Island

Roanoke Island is now an island that borders the outer banks of North Carolina. It does not inhabit many people and as of 2000 the population for this island was 6000 people.

(Click to learn more about the new Roanoke Island) https://www.outerbanks.com/roanoke-island.html

The Colony

This is what many people believe that the colony of Roanoke looked like. The big wall around was to help keep people and animals out of their colony, and to ensure that animals do not eat their crops. This is how the first colony in the New World was until it mysteriously vanished creating Americas greatest unsolved mystery.

Key Moments

Establishing the Colony

Under the governance of John White, and the funding of Sir Walter Raliegh, a group of English settlers adventured to Roanoke Island as an attempt to make the first English colony in the New World. Walter Raleigh was the man who founded the Roanoke colony. He was an English explorer and statesman who played a big role in the colonization of the English in the New World. After years of planning and examining, the group of 115 people landed in Roanoke Island ready to make a new life for themselves. The colony was officially established in 1585.

Colony Life

Life on the new colony was tough to say the least. The first couple months seemed to be going great, they started to build houses and even grew their own crops. Things made a turn for the worse when harsh weather conditions started to come. Many of the people lost their crops and there was a large food shortage. Along with the lack of food, another problem was the Native American tribes. They were very peaceful at first but as more time went on the tribes, mainly the Secotan, seemed to dislike the presence of the English colonists on their island. Thankfully it never escalated to a full war, but there was always a tension between them. Even through these tough conditions, the English settlers remained confident that their colony would succeed.

(Click here to learn more about the Secotan and other Native American tribes that dwelled near the Roanoke colonists) https://ancientnc.web.unc.edu/explore/driving-trails/john-white-trail-historical-map/secotan/

The Disappearance

Things took a drastic turn when Governor John White decided to sail back to England in 1587. Because of the troubles for the colony, John White wanted to sail to England to bring back supplies for the colony. So, White left the colony and sailed back to England. Unfortunately, White’s return home got delayed. Because of troubles with the Spanish, White did not return back to the colony until 1590. When White finally returned, all 115 people in the Roanoke colony had completely vanished. The people were completely gone with no trace of where they went. The only thing that was left was a cryptic message carved in a tree that said “Croatoan.” White stayed on the island for a little while searching for the lost colonists, but harsh weather conditions sent him back to England. When White informed the English what happened they sent explorations to try to find the lost colony, but nothing was found. The fate of this lost colony still remains unknown to this day and will forever be when of America’s most intriguing unsolved mysteries.

Key People

Sir Walter Raleigh was an English explorer, statesman and soldier. He played a big part in the founding the Roanoke colony. Not only did he lead the Roanoke colony, but he was a big part of all English colonization to the New World. Raleigh was an explorer. He loved to discover new lands and everything that came along with them. One big reason he liked to explore was for the riches. Wherever he went he would always be searching for gold. That was even one reason that he funded the colony at Roanoke, because he believed that there would be gold there. When Walter was tasked with finding a suitable place to start the first English colony, he chose the island of Roanoke. Raleigh accompanied the settlers to Roanoke for the first time, but once the colony was officially established, he went back home to England. Three years later, he got the news that the colony he had spent so much time and money on had disappeared. Raleigh was devastated. After he had got this news, Raleigh joined the army. He was a soldier for many years and lead the English in wins against Spain and Ireland. Unfortunately, Walter was eventually put in jail for treason against Queen Elizabeth’s successor, James I. Although Raleigh believed these charges to be false, he was imprisoned for 16 years then eventually executed. Walter Raleigh was never forgotten by the English as a man who played a huge part in the colonization of the New World.

(Click to learn more about Sir Walter Raleigh) https://www.biography.com/history-culture/walter-raleigh

John White was the governor of the Roanoke colony, and also the one who discovered their disappearance. John White was a talented artist. When sailing to Roanoke he was tasked with being the artist and mapmaker of the expedition. He was always working on art, and while he was governing Roanoke, he made many watercolor paintings as a hobby. White was governor of the colony for one year until he made the choice to return back to England to get some supplies. His trip back to Roanoke was delayed for various reasons, but when he finally made it, his colony was long deserted. After he had accepted that the colony was officially gone, White retired into one of Walter Raleigh’s estates in Ireland. White was heartbroken over the loss of not only his colony, but also his daughter and granddaughter that had been there at the colony when it disappeared. White spent the rest of his life living in Raleigh’s estate. He never gave up his art and often still made maps for some people. Although it had been so long, White had never given up hope that his daughter and granddaughter were still alive somewhere. Eventually, John White died, having never heard news of his colony, but also never giving up hope that they were still out there.

Croatoan

When governor John White had come back from his trip to England, the colony was completely deserted. The people had completely disappeared, the buildings had collapsed, and the houses were taken down. There was only one piece of evidence of where the lost colony could be, the word “CROATOAN” that was carved into a tree. No one truly knows what this could mean, but what is interesting is that ‘Croatoan’ was the name of a Native American tribe that lived right next to the Roanoke colony. The Croatoan were a small tribe that lived in the northern parts of North Carolina. The Croatoan, along with many other tribes in that time, got infected with many diseases. The Croatoan got infected with smallpox and was extinct by the early 17th century. Because of the message in the tree, many believe that the Croatoan tribe had direct cause for the Roanoke colonies disappearance. Many believe that the Croatoan tribe had raided the colony and had kidnapped or killed the colonists, leaving the colony to be deserted. Although this is a widely accepted theory, the Croatoan were usually a peaceful tribe, so it would be odd for them to randomly attack a colony of English settlers. Also, there was an island called Croatoan near to where the Roanoke colony was. Another widely accepted theory is that they decided to pack up and move to the Croatoan island, but they got lost at sea, or their boat sunk because of harsh weather conditions. These are all just speculations and no one truly knows what happened to the lost colony. (Click here to learn more on what CROATOAN could have meant along with a picture of the tree that was carved.) https://www.ncpedia.org/croatoan

Conclusion

Research on Lost Colony

Many people have tried to figure out what has happened to the lost colony. Although many of them have different theories about what could have happened, no one has come up with a satisfactory answer to the mystery. Explorations near and on Roanoke Island have been going on for decades. Archeologists, historians, and explorers have all come together to help each other find some answer to what might have happened to lost Roanoke colony. Ongoing investigations continue to shed new light on the subject with new explorations. The two main theories for the lost colony are that they were killed or kidnapped by Native Americans, or that they were lost at sea. There are many other theories but those are the leading theories. There is still no one satisfactory answer for the Roanoke colony, and the mystery of the lost colony of Roanoke continues to be Americas greatest unsolved mysteries. Who knows if the answer will ever be found. (Click here to find new clues on the lost colony) https://www.history.com/news/archaeologists-find-new-clues-to-lost-colony-mystery