America's Lost Colony The Roanoke colony
• The Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island in Dare County, present -day North Carolina, United States was a late 16 th-century attempt by Queen Elizabeth Ito establish a permanent English settlement. The enterprise was financed and organized originally by Sir Humphrey Gilbert
• Sir Humphrey Gilbert's half brother Sir Walter Raleigh would gain his brother's charter from Queen Elizabeth I and subsequently would execute the details of the charter through his delegates Ralph Lane and Richard Grenville, Raleigh's distant cousin
• The final group of colonists disappeared during the Anglo. Spanish War, three years after the last shipment of supplies from England. Their disappearance gave rise to the nickname "The Lost Colony. "
• On April, 1584, Raleigh dispatched an expedition led by Phillip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe to explore the Eastern coast of North America. They arrived on Roanoke Island on July 4, and soon established relations with the local natives, the Secotans and Croatans.
• Barlowe returned to England with two Croatans named Manteo and Wanchese, who were able to describe the politics and geography of the area to Raleigh. Based on this information, Raleigh organized a second expedition, to be led by Sir Richard Grenville.
• After the exploration of the mainland coast and the native settlements there, the natives of the village of Aquascogoc were blamed for stealing a silver cup. In retaliation, the village was sacked and burned. The relation with native Americans were awful. That’s why White decided to came back to England for food, etc.
• Because of the continuing war with Spain, White was not able to mount another resupply attempt for three more years. White landed on August 1590, but found the settlement deserted. Men could not find any trace of the 90 men, 17 women, and 11 children, nor was there any sign of a struggle or battle.
• The only clue was the word "Croatoan" carved into a post of the fort and "Cro" carved into a nearby tree. All the houses and fortifications had been dismantled, which meant their departure had not been hurried. White thought that colonists should carve a Maltese cross on a tree nearby, indicating that their disappearance had been forced. As there was no cross, White took this to mean they had moved to "Croatoan Island". A massive storm was brewing and his men refused to go any further. The next day, they left.
Theories • Historian David Beers Quinn hypothesized that the colony moved wholesale and was later destroyed.
• One possibility is that the colonists simply gave up waiting, tried to return to England on their own, and perished in the attempt. When Governor White left in 1587, he left the colonists with several small ships for exploration of the coast or removal of the colony to the mainland
• Another theory is that the Spanish destroyed the colony. Earlier in the century, the Spanish did destroy evidence of the French colony of Fort Charles in coastal South Carolina.
• From 1937 to 1941 a series of stones were discovered that claimed to have been written by Eleanor Dare, mother of Virginia Dare. They told of the travelings of the colonists and their ultimate deaths. Most historians believe that they are a fraud, but there are some today that still believe the stones are genuine
• Some researchers concluded that the settlers of the Lost Colony landed at Roanoke Island in the summer of the worst growing-season drought in 800 years. They suggested that the Croatan who were shot and killed by the colonists may have been scavenging the abandoned village for food as a result of the drought.
• The final fate of the Roanoke Colony remains a mystery.