Roanoke has been a massive mystery that for many years has had people stumped.
there are a lot of tales that have turned into legends as people have pondered what
could have happened to the lost settlers.
theories range from starvation to alien abduction and even supernatural forces being responsible
for the disappearence of the group of settlers who wanted to claim a small part of the new
world for themselves.
I want to take a look at these legends and ask if recent findings mean that
‘The mystery is over’?
do we now know What happened to ‘The Lost Colony'?
welcome to if .......................................................... Lets begin with a little recap as to who,
and why there was colony at Roanoke and what they were doing there.
In the year 1587, a group of 114 settlers consisting of men, women, and children made
one of the first attempts to colonize the new world.
Sailing from British isles to the small island of Roanoke located on the North Carolina's
coast, they planned the colonization of the area and lay claim to their own part this
New World, In doing so they became one of the Nation's first great mysteries.
The colony was headed by a man named John White, John White's granddaughter, Virginia
Dare, became the first American born in this 'new land' and would later play an important
part in the ideas as to what had happened to the lost colony, this after rocks were
found with details etched into their surface , more on that later.
Moving to this new land was hard, supplies became scarce.
Ten days after Virginia's birth, Simon Fernandes, a Portuguese sailor, was forced to make the
arduous journey back to England to gather more supplies for the settlement.
He was accompanied by John White who was chosen to return with him and did so reluctantly.
Three years would pass until John White was able to return to Roanoke Island.
When he did return on August 18, 1590, the colony had completed vanished without a trace.
Not a single person, living or dead, could be found.
All personal belonging were left were there had last been used the only clue left for
the vanishing was a carving on a tree branch used as a fence post, It read 'CRO' or that
was all he could decipher of the scratch marks in the wood.
White made the assumption that these 3 letters were an unsuccessful try by someone attempting
to scribe the word CROATOAN, the name of a nearby island and tribal people living on
the island.
John White then took a boat over to Croatoan in search of the settlers and his own family,
again finding no trace of the colonists or his kin.
Jumping forward int time, in 2015 two teams of archaeologists went in search of traces
of the lost Roanoke Island colonists, they found some late 16th century European artifacts
which could have very possibly been possessions of the settlers.
No indication as to what led to the vanishing could be garnered from these relics.
It has been suggested that the Roanoke colonists may have mixed with the local indigenous tribes,
this intermarriage between the Croatans and English settlers is the most popular explanation
for the origins of the Lumbee people, but it is not answer that is accepted by all.
Other evidence has supported this idea like 'The Mysterious Dare Stone', as mentioned
earlier could they be the Last Message of his Lost Daughter?
The Dare Stone was uncovered in the 20th century, it records that the number of settlers dwindled
to 24 as a result of illness and war with hostilities with the natives.
This culminating in only seven settlers surviving and struggling sustain themselves.
One of the surviving group was the daughter of Captain John White, Eleanor White Dare,
it is claimed that she made these stones as message to her father should he return.
Many say that the Dare Stone is a hoax.
Moreover, archaeological evidence has yet to confirm that the settlers slowly perished,
no graves have been uncovered at or near the site.
Other theories that have been suggested for the disappearance include cannibalism, with
those that support this theory saying it explains the lack human remains, others think the settlers
died at sea in a failed attempt to escape the island and return to Britain.
some more fantastical suggestions have been put forward, the word “Croatoan” being
a clue.
The word “Croatoan” which only three letters were deciphered by White was found carved
into an old fence post and its presence has become central to the mystery of Roanoke.
The word “Croatoan” is also connected with other mysterious happenings over the
centuries, each one more puzzling than the last.
Some claim it to be the name of a demon that tormented the desperate settlers and in a
strange twist of history a man associated with all things spooky was also to be linked
to it and the legend.
Just before he passed away, Edgar Allen Poe vanished for a period of time.
On his return, he was delirious.
Reaching a stage of delirium before he died, he allegedly uttered “Croatoan.”
this being his final word!
Poe’s cause of death is remained unknown, with his medical records and death certificate
being lost to history.
"Croatoan" has also appeared at other famous vanishing.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, one story tells of stagecoach robber Black
Bart who it is claimed carved the word into the wall of his cell before he was released
from prison.
He was never seen again.
It was also found in Amelia Earhart’s journal after she vanished without trace back in 1937.
horror writer Ambrose Bierce disappeared in Mexico in 1913and had the word “Croatoan”
was found carved into one of the bed posts.
again In 1921, the word was penned on the final page of logbook for the ship Carroll
A. The vessel crashed on Cape Hatteras, near Croatoan Island.
The ship was found but its entire crew were missing.
Some say this is all down to the supernatural with Witchcraft claimed as the cause of the
vanishings.
Two particular theories involve witchcraft, the first is that the Croatoans either executed
the colonists as witches, or the colonists were the victims of witches who called the
North Carolina woods home.
The Croatoans firmly believed in witches and witchcraft.
They defined witches as people who used black magic to commit evil and create bad luck for
people in everyday life.
The Croatoans and other local Native American tribes had many legends of witches in the
North Carolina woods they used black magic to hurt other people.
Did the people of Roanoke fall victim to these witches and were never heard from again?
Native American spirits have also been accused of effecting the behavior of the colonists
before they disappeared, and also in some stories being directly to blame for the colonist’s
disappearance.
The wendigo a shape shifting flesh eating beast is said to have taken the settlers.
This also plays into the theory of cannibalization.
Native Americans believe when people resort to eating human flesh, as in the case of cannibalism,
their bodies are taken over by a wendigo.
The Croatoan belief system also includes a spirit on the island that had the power to
absorb humans into the landscape.
If the spirit was offended or angered, it would turn people into trees, animals, stones,
or any other part of the land.
another strange beast that the Croatoan also believe in is the Reptilian Devil of the Woods,
an evil spirit that can possess people making them violent, greedy, and paranoid.
This then saw the settlers turning on one another as murder and mayhem spread.
another more modern belief is that the Roanoke Island Colony were victims of a mass alien
abduction.
Even though they left clues that they were on their way to Croatoan Island, no sign of
the colony was ever found there, or anywhere else.
Perhaps the entire settlement exists on some far away planet seeing out their days on an
alien wildlife preserve with extraterrestrials watching and studying human civilization.
Today we may have found the answer to all of these ideas.
According to a new book.
“They were never lost,” said Scott Dawson, who has extensively researched records of
the event and uncovered a number of artifacts from where the colonists lived alongside native
Americans during the 16th century.
“It was made up.
The mystery is over.”
Dawson is the author of a book, that was published in June, which outlines his research into
the disappearance.
Titled “The Lost Colony and Hatteras Island,” and covers many of the ideas he has voiced
for years.
A range of experts have conducted digs on small plots in Buxton and Frisco over the
past 11 years.
The group known as the Croatoan Archaeological Society have found thousands of artifacts
4-6 feet below the surface that show a mix of the English Settlers and native Indian
lives.
They have unearthed Parts of swords and guns as well as Indian pottery and arrowheads.
The excavated earth looks like layer cake as the centuries pass.
“In a spot the size of two parking spaces, we could find 10,000 pieces,” Dawson said.
The evidence he has found shows that the colony left Roanoke Island with the friendly Croatoans
to settle on Hatteras Island.
They seem to have lived peacefully and thrived, ate well, had mixed families and endured for
generations.
More than a century later, explorer John Lawson found natives with blue eyes who recounted
they had ancestors who could “speak out of a book,”
These two cultures adapted English earrings into fishhooks and gun barrels into sharp-ended
tubes to tap tar from trees.
Dawson says when White found "Croaton" on the post it was meant as a message to tell
him that the settlers had left with their friends.
One artifact could depict a recorded of this event.
A lead tablet and lead pencil found at the dig could have belonged to White himself,
Dawson said.
White also was part of the 1585 group, working as an artist who drew natives and wildlife.
The British Museum has the originals.
He likely used the newly discovered tablet or a similar one to draw the miniature pictures.
The uncovered tablet has an impression of an Englishman shooting a native in the back.
The paper drawing has never been found.
so do you think this puts and end to the mystery or do you believe its a way to explain away
an event which fall into the realm of the paranormal, was the disappearance something
similar to today missing 411? let me know what you think in the comment
below.