What Happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke

What Happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke:

An Unsolved Historical Mystery

The beginnings of European settlement in the Americas are often traced to the Puritans and the founding of the colony at Plymouth. Yet there was a much earlier settlement primarily composed of civilians in the form of the colony of Roanoke, Virginia. Roanoke was founded in 1587 by John White.[footnoteRef:1] White left the colony to obtain more resources and colonists from England and was delayed for three years due to Britain’s war with Spain. When he arrived back on Virginian soil, the entire colony of more than a hundred inhabitants was entirely vacated. The name of a native tribe, “Croatoan” was carved on a post.”[footnoteRef:2] The colony had been plagued by hunger and poor relations with the native population and had apparently fallen victim to some natural or manmade disaster—but what? [1: Andrew Lawler, “The Mystery of Roanoke Endures Yet Another Cruel Twist,” The Smithsonian Magazine, April 7, 2017, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/mystery-roanoke-endures-yet-another-cruel-twist-180962837/] [2: Ibid.]

It was unclear where the colonists had gone, based upon White’s scan of the environment. The settlement did not appear to have been attacked, as the colonists’ structures had been taken down in an apparently orderly fashion. The message would seem to indicate that the tribe had relocated to the Croatoan Island 50 miles to the original colony’s south.[footnoteRef:3] There were also tribes sympathetic to the British in that area and it was assumed that the colonists had perhaps relocated to find assistance from one of those tribes or to flee from a tribe hostile to the British. But although White attempted to do so, it proved to be impossible to retrace their steps. There was no evidence that the colonists had reached the Croatoan Islands or resettled anywhere along the way. [3: Tanya Batsu, “Have We Found the Lost Colony of Roanoke?” National Geographic, December 8, 2013 https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131208-roanoke-lost-colony-discovery-history-raleigh]

According to the instructions left with them by White, the colonists were supposed to carve the name of where they had gone but if they had been forced to flee and were in danger, they should carve a Maltese cross. No cross was seen carved in any location. They were also told to leave all valuables underground; once again, none were to be found. It is possible the colonists did relocate and had been assimilated within a native tribe which then vacated the area.[footnoteRef:4] The evidence of this can be found in records of the period: “In 1608, John Smith wrote in his book that the Indians reported to him of people that looked like him. George Percy, another colonist, reported seeing a white boy with blonde hair among the Indians.”[footnoteRef:5] This theory concurs with evidence found in John Horn’s 2011 overview of the colony, Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. There is some tenuous evidence for this theory in the greater technological sophistication of some of the tools used by natives after the period of the colony’s dispersal, which may indicate that they were in contact with European cultures and assimilated European use of metals and other tools.[footnoteRef:6] [4: Edward La Fuente, “What Really Happened to the Infamous Roanoke Colony,” St. MU History Media, March 8, 2018, http://www.stmuhistorymedia.org/what-really-happened-to-the-infamous-roanoke-colony/] [5: Ibid.] [6: Ibid.]

Other reports indicate that the colonists were eventually all killed by Indians. “…in 1612, writer William Strachey reported that the Roanoke Colony did indeed live in harmony with the Chesapeake Indians for twenty-five years,” but “Powhatan, a leader of another Indian tribe called the Powhatan, slaughtered the colonists and the Indians sheltering them in fear that a rival to him would appear from within their tribe.”[footnoteRef:7] Still, the sheer size of the colony would have made it challenging to be entirely supported by a single tribe. “Most researchers think the colonists likely encountered disease—caused by New World microbes their bodies had never encountered before—or violence,” or both, since different members of the colony may have met with different fates.[footnoteRef:8] [7: Ibid.] [8: Batsu]

The Roanoke colony was the second attempt to establish a permanent settlement in the New World. The first attempt occurred in 1585 by Sir Walter Ralegh, who gave Virginia its name, in honor of the Virgin Queen, his patron Elizabeth I. “Ralegh had taken care to provide expert reporting of the venture, which he used to attract investment – and hopefully royal support – for later settlement,” although the waters were too shallow to support warships, as had been hoped.[footnoteRef:9] John White had accompanied Ralegh because of his reputation as an artist at court. “White made for him watercolour drawings of the flora, fauna and native peoples of North America that remain our best images from the Age of Exploration.”[footnoteRef:10] White’s drawings effectively became a public relations campaign for the Queen to encourage her to fund settlements in the New World. [9: Eric Klingelhofer, “What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke Island?” History Extra. https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/what-happened-to-the-lost-colony-of-roanoke-island] [10: Ibid.]

As well as testimony to the commitment of the Crown to establish settlements in the Americas, the fact that White was sent to make drawings indicate the level of interest in creating settlements and their relative importance in the balance of power of Europe. Britain saw itself in a race for exploration and settlement with other major European powers, including Spain. Constructing successful New World settlements were part of the race for conquest in the Age of Exploration. Britain also drew up navigational charts and conducted research on native languages before settling over men and women to begin a settlement in the area.[footnoteRef:11] [11: Ibid.]

Thus preparations were undertaken to ensure the success of the colony. White also had a personal stake in the future of Roanoke, which must have made the colony’s loss particularly devastating; his own daughter was a member of the colony and remained behind with his young granddaughter, the first native-born inhabitant of the area.[footnoteRef:12] However, despite the precautions which were taken, in hindsight, the expedition faced a number of serious challenges. First of all, most of the inhabitants were civilians that had undergone few privations. “Most of the group that sailed with him seems to have come from London, of artisan and middle-class backgrounds.”[footnoteRef:13] Few had any agricultural background or background in hard labor, which would have been useful in tilling the soil. Additionally, most had immigrated because they sought economic opportunities, versus the religious liberty sought by later New England colonists. There was not the preexisting sense of community amongst the inhabitants that would have fostered cooperation among the inhabitants. [12: Ibid.] [13: Ibid.]

Today, the reasons for discovering the fate of Roanoke have more to do with a desire to answer questions pertaining to a historical mystery, versus the urgent search conducted by White. There are many plausible reasons for the colony’s failure that were manifested in other failed settlements of the era, including Indian attacks, starvation, and a lack of knowledge amongst the inhabitants. There were clearly reports of European-appearing Indians and the use of European metals and technologies within some tribes that suggest this. Some colonists may have survived, but assimilated quickly enough among wandering native tribes and thus were lost to history. If nothing else, the fragility of the Roanoke settlement makes the ultimate survival of later settlements in the Americas all the more remarkable.


Bibliography

Batsu, Tanya. “Have We Found the Lost Colony of Roanoke?” National Geographic. December 8, 2013 https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131208-roanoke-lost-colony- discovery-history-raleigh

Horn, James. Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. New York: Basic Books, 2011.

Klingelhofer, Eric. “What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke Island?” History Extra. https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/what-happened-to-the-lost-colony-of- roanoke-island/

La Fuente, Edward. “What Really Happened to the Infamous Roanoke Colony?” St. MU History Media. March 8, 2018, http://www.stmuhistorymedia.org/what-really-happened-to-the- infamous-roanoke-colony/

Lawler, Andrew. “The Mystery of Roanoke Endures Yet Another Cruel Twist.” The Smithsonian Magazine. April 7, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/mystery-roanoke- endures-yet-another-cruel-twist-180962837/