One of the longest running mysteries in American history that is still debated today due to its mysterious clues and disappearance of 117 people.
America is seen as a land of plenty where anyone can live the American Dream and back in 1500's it was no different, Queen Elizabeth I had given permission to Sir Walter Raleigh to gather a small group to settle in the Chesapeake Bay as part of a larger plan to explore and eventually settle North America. It was August 1587 when a group of 117 English settlers touched down on Roanoke Island, which is off the coast of what is now North Carolina, ready to set up a settlement and start a new life. It would have been the first permanent English colony in the New World.
Sir Walter Raleigh, Queen Elizabeth I and Fort Raleigh map as it is today as a historical site
The settlers set up their new colony in a repaired old fort (Fort Raleigh) previously built on the island. The group ran into difficulties as they had arrived too late to begin planting so the settlers had a poor harvest and lacked other materials. They also faced another problem after a Native American man killed one of the colonists to which, John White, the governor of this new settlement, ordered an attack on a group of Native Americans in a tribe nearby in retaliation which only increased the already high tension between the Native Americans and the colonists.
In the colonists group was a man named Manteo, he belonged to the Croatoan tribe and had been valuable to the colonists in talks and in teaching the settlers the ways and culture of his people. Manteo acted as an in-between for the two groups after the killing of the man after several nighttime attacks in 1587 and the retaliation attack, the colonists had killed several Croatoan people by mistake as it turned out the murder of the colonist had not been at the hands of the Croatoan but another tribe who had been seeking revenge for the murders of some of their people, it is not clear who this tribe was and what group of settlers were responsible for the murders of their people. Manteo was caught in the middle and had mixed feelings about the attacks as he could see both sides point of view.
Later in the year, John White would sail back to England for fresh supplies as they had faced a difficult first year and they were now running low on supplies and manpower but unfortunately for the settlers John White's arrival back in England on November 5 1587 also coincided with a major naval war between England and Spain during the Anglo-Spanish War which saw Queen Elizabeth I call upon every available ship to stand against the fearsome Spanish Armada. John ended up being away until August 1590, not returning until his granddaughters third birthday.
John White's watercolour sketch of the Roanoke area
The ships Hopewell and Moonlight would land on Croatoan Island, located south of Roanoke and is currently Hatteras Island, on August 12, there is no record of John seeking out the Croatoan tribe at this point, although we saw an article state that they had tried to make noise so the Croatians would come over but they didn't. On the evening of August 15, the group were anchored at the north end of the island when they saw plumes of smoke on Roanoke Island and the following morning the group also investigated another plume of smoke coming from the southern end of Croatoan Island but there was oddly nothing there.
After a difficult journey back to the colony the group saw on August 17 another fire on the north end of Roanoke and rowed towards it nearing the island at nightfall but decided not to risk coming ashore until morning. The men spent the night singing in their boats hoping the colonists would hear them and come out but no one did.
When John finally got back to Roanoke he expected to see his wife and daughter (Eleanor) along with his infant granddaughter, Virginia Dare (the first English child born in the Americas) but they weren't there, in fact, he didn't see anyone. The settlement was deserted. He searched the area, desperate for some clue as to what had happened in his three year absence. Due to clashes with the local Native American tribes, John and the settlers agreed upon messages to be left behind so if the settlers had to flee then searchers would know what had happened to them and where to find them. If danger or an attack had befallen the settlers they would leave a cross.
Wood engraving, The Baptism of Virginia Dare, 1880
Strangely, the only sign of the settlers was a message carved into a tree which was the word "CRO". While walking up to the site of the colony, John noted that the area had been fortified with a palisade (a defensive wall or fence usually made of wood or iron) and on one of these posts was another carved message this time saying "CROATOAN". John White took this to mean the settlers had gone to live with the local Native American tribe called the Croatoan or had gone to Croatoan Island and that this had been a peaceful decision as there were no crosses. There was also Manteo, who of course was a member of the Croatoan tribe, it would seem a natural choice for the colonists.
Two women stand beside the reconstruction of the "CRO" tree as the original tree no longer exists
Inside the colony they found that some houses had been partly dismantled and anything that could be carried had been removed. Several large trunks, three of which belonged to John White, had been dug up and looted and none of the colony's boats could be found along the shore. After returning to the Hopewell the group decided to take up the search tomorrow but after the ship was damaged during an hurricane the plan had to be scrapped and with the storm coming in they had to leave Roanoke and the missing settlers behind much to the crews delight as they were not happy about the search. John White never found out what had happened to his family but he was said to never have given up hope that his family was alive and safe.
Many searches would take place to find out what had happened to the Roanoke colonists but bad weather, political and greed based motives and run ins with Native American tribes saw searches end in disaster. Many theories floated around in the absence of the truth, by May 1609, word had reached England's Royal Council that the colonists had been massacred by the Native American tribe, Powhatan, on the orders of their leader Chief Wahunsenacawh, it is not known the source of this information.
Engraving of Manteo, from The White Doe: the fate of Virginia Dare, 1901
Another of these searches was done by a man called William Strachey, he suggested that the colonists had been living peacefully with a tribe in the Powhatan territory for twenty years but had then been killed in an unprovoked attack by Chief Wahunsenacawh on the advice of his priests shortly before the arrival of Jamestown colonists in 1607. Strachey never says which tribe took in the colonists but he did later describe an attack against the Chesepians that was prompted by Chief Wahunsenacawh by his priests who spoke of a nation that would arise in the Chesapeake Bay that would threaten his rule. Apparently, four men, two boys and one woman survived the attack fleeing up the Chowan River, who were then taken in and protected by a Chieftain named Eyanoco but they were made to beat copper for him. It is worth noting that Strachey believed the Powhatan religion was Satantic and that the priests were in contact with Satan and he wanted the Powhatan's to convert to Christianity with the priests to be punished for the deaths but there is no record if Chief Wahunsenacawh and his priests were held accountable for anything and Strachey's motivation seems to be more racial and religious more than wanting truth and justice.
There is no solid evidence to say what happened to the lost colonists but one hotly debated clue is a rock found in a swamp in North Carolina, it is thought to have been carved by Elenor Dare (daughter of John White), the rock states that Virginia (her daughter) and Ananias Dare (husband of Elenor), had been murdered. The message is addressed to her father and details the events that had unfolded since her fathers departure for England.
The first Dare Stone
She tells of two years of misery and woe that led to the deaths of nearly half the settlers, mostly by disease and war, that were then made even worse after a Shaman warned that the spirits were angry and then all the remaining colonists, apart from seven, were killed, it was during this attack her daughter and husband were killed. The dead were buried four miles east of what was described as "this river" upon a hill with their names carved into the rocks. The man who found the rock stated he had found the rock 50 miles inland from Roanoke Island which does match the passing mention of the settlers plan to move "fifty miles to the main". Soon after, more rocks were found that were also claiming to have been written by Eleanor. They continued the tale of the colonists that ended not far from what is now Atlanta, Georgia. It isn't known what happened to Eleanor past her coming to the colony and her fathers departure.
Here is a translation of the rock:
"Father, soon after you go for England, we came here. Only misery and war [for] two years. Above half dead these two years, more from sickness, being twenty-four. [A] Savage with [a] message of [a] ship came to us. [Within a] small space of time, they [became] frightened of revenge [and] ran all away. We believe it [was] not you. Soon after, the savages said spirits [were] angry. Suddenly
[they] murdered all save seven. My child [and] Ananias, too, [were] slain with much misery. Buried all near four miles east [of] this river, upon [a] small hill. Names [were] written all there on [a] rock. Put this there also. [If a] Savage
shows this to you, we promised you [would] give [them] great plenty presents.
EWD."
The first rock has been discredited and authenticated many times as the Californian tourist that found the rock could not be located. A reporter for the Saturday Evening Post exposed the Georgia stonecutter who found the other rocks as a fraud and the rocks which came to be known as the Dare Stones were hidden out of sight in a college basement after such an embarrassment.
Arguments still rage on whether the first stone is legitimate as tests show the rock may be authentic but the writing itself may be fake as linguistic tests showed the style didn't match that period as someone as well educated as Eleanor would have used Roman letters, most people with some but not significant eduction used Gothic script. The spelling was too consistent as in the 16th Century there was no standardised spelling of English words not to mention the signing of Eleanor's message was her initials, something not common at the time. Another problem was the use of Arabic numerals but some argue that she could very well have written it.
Sketch of the lost colony
The popular theory of the colonists being murdered by a nearby Native American tribe (specifically the Croatoan) after tensions continued to rise are largely thought to be based on racial issues with the Native American population as they were seen as violent and dangerous savages at the time of the colonies disappearance. There are also other theories of zombies being behind it but we won't get into that theory.
There is also the theory that it was the colonists themselves that could have incited violence with Native Americans. The colonists, in the absence of fresh supplies and John White's failure to return would have left them in a desperate place, could the colonists have attacked the local tribes in search of supplies? The colony showed no sign of the inhabitants leaving unexpectedly, the structures had been dismantled and anything of value taken and there is the absence of any remains and the lack of any discovery of them. The most likely cause was that the colonists were forced to migrate elsewhere after poor harvests and a 1998 study of tree rings showed that there was a draught in the time frame of when the colonists left Roanoke. The Spanish were also to be found in America at the time could the colonists have found themselves attacked by them?
There has been attempts to use DNA to see if anyone in the area could be related to these missing colonists but so far no link has been found to suggest there are any in the nearby area. But that does not necessarily mean that there are no living descendants, they could be anywhere in the US or if the colonists did die of course there would be no trace of them in anyones DNA. Some tribes have claimed throughout the years that they do in fact have white ancestors with some even claiming that they are in fact related to the missing colonists. There is also well as the admissions of guilt (that can't be verified) by a few tribes but they could just be false ones made to appear fearsome or for clout.
Stamp featuring Virginia Dare and her parents
There is a famous story about Virginia Dare. Nine days after her birth her grandfather went back to England but not long after, Wanchese, a Native American man who had previously visited England with John White, launched an attack against the colony. The Dare family were rescued by Manteo but Virginia's parents later died leaving Manteo to bring up the young girl, renaming her Winona, under his care she learned the ways of the forest.
Many men competed for Virginia's love as she grew into a beautiful woman but she chose the handsome Okisko, rejecting the sly old witch doctor Chico, he said if he could not have her love no one would. He used his magic to turn Virginia into a snow white doe. Many saw the beautiful creature in the years that followed and caught it gazing out across the sea almost as if waiting for her grandfathers return.
Meanwhile, the heartbroken Okisko wanted to save his love and traveled to the shores of Lake Mattamuskeet to consult with a medicine man named Wenaudon, a rival to Chico. The medicine man told Okisko that if a special arrow pierced the heart of the white doe then Virginia would return to him.
Hearing of the tale, the evil Wanchese started to also hunt the white doe. Finally, Okisko spotted her bounding from the forest to the waters edge but Wanchese had also spotted her. He fired his arrow into the does heart but unfortunately Wanchese had also fired at the same moment with a silver arrow, a gift from Queen Elizabeth I, which also hit the heart.
The doe collapsed into a grey mist and an overjoyed Okisko found his love returned to him but as he took her into his arms he was devastated to see the silver arrow had killed her. Heartbroken, he buried Virginia in the middle of the fort that her people had once settled in.
For years later hunters emerging from the forests of Roanoke Island told tales of a strange deer that seemed to disappear into thin air and residents of the island knew this phantom deer was no other than Virginia Dare.
John White watercolour of Roanoke Native Americans in their village
Sadly, we shall never know the true story of the lost colony as accounts at the time have discrepancies and the racial issues of colonists and the English leave a question about the truthfulness of accounts and if they have been tainted by hatred. By all accounts Native Americans were friendly and open with colonists but were forced to defend themselves after settlers became aggressive and determined to conquer, not to mention their justified wariness of these settlers after many had attacked them, destroying their villages, food and killing their people.
If a tribe was responsible, it was a strange attack. The colony was fortified, looted and partly dismantled which seems strange of an attack, surely if a tribe had attacked they wouldn't be concerned with such things and would have left the bodies behind, even if they had taken survivors as slaves there still would be some bodies. There is also the messages of "CRO" and "CROATOAN" if a settler did leave these messages to explain what had happened why would they not leave the distress message if they had indeed been attacked. It seems likely that the colonists went to live with the Croatoan, they were in the company of someone in the Croatoan tribe and it was nearby which would make sense if they wanted to survive.
The strange plumes of smoke are still unexplained as if the colonists had left some time ago, who was behind the smoke? Was it the Croatoans? Had they been signalling each other about the appearance of John White and his men? It is strange that the plumes of smoke were from Roanoke and Croatoan but when investigated there was nothing there.
If John White had reached Roanoke before the storm he probably would have managed to find his family, it is ironic that he came back to Croatoan Island on his return, he may have been quite near to his family had they indeed settled with the tribe and perhaps if he had spoken to them he may have found an answer but also the question of if the colonists were indeed with the tribe why did they not emerge when news of John White's return with his men reached them. If the Dare Stone is true it paints a very dark picture for what befell his family but there is no evidence from the time or since to support the theory of murder.
Map of the area
The legend of Croatoan has taken on a different meaning in recent years, with the mysterious carving sparking conspiracy theories and the words appearance in historical missing persons cases have captivated people, there was a rumour that during his mysterious death author Edgar Allen Poe said the phrase Croatoan and it appears once again in the missing person case of Amelia Earhart, these two examples have no proof of it actually being there. Fans of the TV Show Supernatural had an explaination that Croatoan was actually a demonic virus, not unlike zombie viruses, that leaves no trace of the people behind. American Horror Story fans were also treated to the shows explanation of the events during it's sixth season named Roanoke, the season followed the supernatural events that happen in a renovated farmhouse in North Carolina that is situated on the land where the colony moved after their disappearance, the family that move there are tormented by hauntings that include the colonists.
Whether some new evidence will be found in the future to explain the missing colony is something no one can say but it has endured as one of America's oldest mysteries that still captivates people and will likely continue to.