The first English colony in America was abandoned without a word or a trace. When a ship arrived with supplies, they found it deserted with no signs of a struggle. Only one clue was left behind—the word "Croatoan" etched in a tree.
The story of the lost Roanoke Colony has lived on as one of the greatest American mysteries, but the disappearance is far from where the story begins. That story is full of some absolutely horrible atrocities; it's also one that just might hold some strong clues about the colonists' fate.
10. The Colonists Burned Down a Native Village Because Someone Stole A Cup
The Roanoke settlers weren't good people. They viewed the natives as savages, and they treated them like savages, too.
From the moment the colony was established, they built bad blood with the people around them. Shortly before their fort was built, a colonist discovered that one of their silver cups had gone missing. They quickly became convinced that a native man had taken it—and they weren't going to let him get away with it.
By English law, the penalty for theft was usually whipping, but English law didn't apply for the natives. Instead, the Roanoke settlers burned every inch of the native man's hometown to the ground, all because they'd lost a single cup.
9. The Natives Tried To Involve The Colonists In Their Wars
The colony was not a success; they were almost immediately hit by famine and started to starve. The only food they could grow was corn. They had to rely on the help of natives to stay alive.
A tribe called the Secotans gave them food—but they didn't do it for free. They'd seen the Europeans' weapons and technology and knew that whoever managed to team up with them would have a major advantage when the next tribal war broke out. The Secotan chief, Wingina, vied for the colonists' sympathy. An enemy tribe, he told them, had invited some of his people to a peace talk and then massacred them during the feast. He wanted revenge.
The English didn't want to get involved, so Wingina's attitude changed. He stopped sharing food with the settlers and told them that he didn't have enough to spare. Wingina told the colonists that it wasn't his fault the colonists were starving to death. There was simple reason why: "Your Lorde God is not God."
8. The Colonists Kidnapped And Ransomed Natives
With their crops dying, the colony resorted to some desperate measures to get food from the natives. The governor, a man named Ralph Lane, was famously cruel. He would regularly kidnap natives and hold them hostage—not because they'd done anything wrong, but because they were useful bartering chips.
The natives weren't too happy with his approach. One of Lane's hostages, a boy named Skiko, tried to make a break for it. He ran for freedom, but Lane caught him. He locked Skiko up, beat him horribly, and threatened to cut off his head.
After torture at Lane's hands, Skiko let slip that the tribes were planning to rise up and attack Roanoke, and Wingina was organizing them. Lane would be the first to die.
7. The Colonists Murdered The Secotan Chief
Lane decided to strike first. He gathered together an armed group and raided Wingina's camp in the night, slaughtering every person they could find. The Secoans were caught off guard, and the Roanoke settlers ripped through them easily.
Lane spotted Wingina and becokoned him to face him on the shore, man-to-man. Wingina obliged. He rushed at Lane—but was shot in the back by another man. For a moment, he laid still on the ground. The settlers thought he was dead. Then, realizing all was lost, Wingina got up and fled into the forest.
