Hello and welcome back to Life’s Biggest Questions, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
In 1587, a group of English settlers led by John White, arrived in the new world, and
built a settlement.
But when White went on a three year supply trip, he returned to find the settlement completely
deserted, and the colonists nowhere to be found.
What happened to them?
Where did they go?
Let's explore.
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Now get ready, it’s time to ask the question: What Happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke?
As stated earlier, a group of English settlers landed on Roanoke Island in 1587, and built
a settlement, on the East Coast of North Carolina.
In their time there, Virginia Dare was born, the first child of English parents to be born
in the new world.
After some time, John White returned to England, in order to procure more supplies and gather
more colonists to bring back.
However, White’s return was delayed when war began in Spain, so he wasn't able to get
back to Roanoke Island until three years later.
And much to his surprise and dismay, the settlement was completely deserted, and looted, with
no signs of struggle.
Nobody remained, and very few clues were found as to what had happened.
(Hat-er-ous) The only evidence found at the time was a carving of the word "Croatoan".
This was referring to a nearby island, now called Hatteras Island, which was the home
of a tribe allied to the English.
There was also a second carving of CRO found on a tree, seemingly a second person’s attempt
at passing on a message.
The fact that it was cut off would seem to imply that they were taken against their will.
However, the colonists had been instructed to carve a Maltese cross if they had been
forced to leave, and since no cross was found, it was believed to have been of their own
volition.
Sadly, the members of the colony were never found by their fellow Europeans.
But evidence has continued to be presented that might help us to determine why they left,
and where they went.
There are a number of reasons given for the unexplained departure from the settlement.
Disease and famine would have been significant issues that would have put the safety of the
colony at risk.
It could be that the settlers overestimated their ability to obtain food, and were unable
to sustain themselves.
This led to yet another problem, because this lack of resources is believed to have caused
them to begin stealing from nearby Natives in order to survive.
It’s believed that relations between the settlers and the local natives were not good,
with a good deal of violence between them.
It is not, however, believed that the natives directly caused the settlers to leave by force,
but rather that the looming threat of retribution caused them to flee.
So, they seem to have left because they ran out of options; but where the heck did they
do?
The most widely accepted theory is that they left for Croatoan, to join the Natives of
the area.
The tribe there was allied with the English, and that, combined with the markings left
behind, seems to imply that this was the plan.
Given the tension between them and the local Natives, this might seem unlikely, but there
are numerous reports of Europeans joining such tribes, and falling in love with the
laid back lifestyle.
Some believe that the colonists split up and went in different directions.
This is because some artifacts were found both on Hatteras Island, which used to be
Croatoan, but also in an area of the mainland 50 miles to the northwest.
Objects such as a rapier handle, broken English bowls, and a piece of a writing tablet turned
up, which are believed to date back to roughly the same time.
This led some experts to believe that the colonists had split up, with only a portion
going to Croatoan.
This idea of the colonists joining the natives is further supported by the surprisingly large
number of natives found with blue eyes, a trait that would have come from interbreeding
with the Europeans.
This is particularly common in tribes in the area, like the Lumbee, where blue eyes are
relatively common, their names sound distinctly English, and even their accent sounds somewhat
different from others in North Carolina.
One very exciting piece of evidence supporting the voyage to Croatoan has been the subject
of some controversy recently.
In 1998, excavators on the aforementioned Hatteras Island found a seemingly ancient
ring that they believed to be made of gold buried in the ground.
It was believed that this ring could have been dropped by a colonist on their way.
However, recent analysis of the ring found that it seems to be made of brass from the
early modern era.
This, along with the fact that it was found with other artifacts from a century after
the Colonists would have been there, led researchers to believe that it was not, in fact, dropped
by a Colonist.
Rather, it’s believed to be a mass-produced trinket traded to the Native Americans.
This doesn’t discount the theory that they travelled to Croatoan, but it does largely
eliminate the ring as a piece of evidence.
At the end of the day, as with so many of these mysteries, we just don’t know for
sure what happened to these people.
We’re fairly sure that they had to leave the settlement to survive, likely realizing
too late that they were ill equipped to live there on their own.
It’s believed that they migrated, either in one group, or several smaller ones, and
found a home with the Natives, likely on the island that would become Hatteras Island.
There remain a number of other theories as well, but unfortunately, it happened so long
ago that it’s hard to find conclusive evidence one way or another.
Should this interest you, there is a good deal of literature on the subject that can
be perused online.
Maybe you’ll be the one to solve this mystery once and for all.
Thank you for watching Life’s Biggest Questions, I hope this was interesting and informative,
and maybe even inspired you to look into it further on your own.
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While you’re down there, let me know what YOU think happened to Roanoke.
Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Life’s Biggest Questions, wishing you
the best of luck, on your quest for answers.