Memorable World History/Authors

Lost Colony of Roanoke (Part I)

The Roanoke Colony(/ˈroʊəˌnoʊk/) refers to two attempts by Sir Walter Raleigh tofound the first permanent English settlement in North America. Thefirst colony was established by governor Ralph Lane in 1585 onRoanoke Island in what is now Dare County, North Carolina, UnitedStates. Following the failure of the 1585 settlement, a secondcolony led by John White landed on the same island in 1587, andbecame known as the Lost Colony due to the unexplained disappearanceof its population.

Lane's colony was troubled by a lack ofsupplies and poor relations with the local Native Americans. Whileawaiting a delayed resupply mission by Richard Grenville, Lanedecided to abandon the colony and return to England with FrancisDrake in 1586. Grenville arrived two weeks later and left a smalldetachment to protect Raleigh's claim. In 1587 Raleigh sent White onan expedition to establish the Cittie of Raleigh in Chesapeake Bay.However, during a stop to check in on Grenville's men, the flagship'spilot Simon Fernandes insisted that White's colonists remain onRoanoke.

White returned to England withFernandes, intending to bring more supplies back to his colony in1588. Instead, the Anglo-Spanish War delayed his return to Roanokeuntil 1590. Upon his arrival, he found the settlement fortified butabandoned. The word "CROATOAN" was found carved intothe palisade, which White interpreted to mean the colonists hadrelocated to Croatoan Island. Before he could follow this lead, roughseas and a lost anchor forced the rescue mission to return toEngland.

The fate of the approximately 112–121colonists remains unknown. Speculation that they may have assimilatedwith nearby Native American communities appears as early as 1605. Investigations by the Jamestown colonists produced reports that theRoanoke settlers were massacred, as well as stories of people withEuropean features in Native American villages, but no hard evidencewas produced. Interest in the matter fell into decline until 1834,when George Bancroft published his account of the events in A Historyof the United States. Bancroft's description of the colonists,particularly White's infant granddaughter Virginia Dare, cast them asfoundational figures in American culture and captured the publicimagination. Despite this renewed interest, modern research stillhas not produced the archaeological evidence necessary to solve themystery.

Background

The Outer Banks were explored in 1524by Giovanni da Verrazzano, who mistook Pamlico Sound for the PacificOcean, and concluded that the barrier islands were an isthmus.Recognizing this as a potential shortcut to Ming China, he presentedhis findings to King Francis I of France and King Henry VIII ofEngland, neither of whom pursued the matter.

In 1578, Queen Elizabeth I granted acharter to Sir Humphrey Gilbert to explore and colonize territoriesunclaimed by Christian kingdoms. The terms of the charter were vague,though Gilbert understood it to give him rights to all territory inthe New World north of Spanish Florida. Following Gilbert's death in1583, the queen divided the charter between his brother AdrianGilbert and his half-brother Walter Raleigh. Adrian's charter gavehim the patent on Newfoundland and all points north, wheregeographers expected to eventually find a long-sought NorthwestPassage to Asia. Raleigh was awarded the lands to the south, thoughmuch of it was already claimed by Spain. However, Richard Hakluythad by this time taken notice of Verazzano's "isthmus",located within Raleigh's claim, and was campaigning for England tocapitalize on the opportunity.

Raleigh's charter, issued on March 25,1584, specified that he needed to establish a colony by 1591, or losehis right to colonization. He was to "discover, search, findout, and view such remote heathen and barbarous Lands, Countries, andterritories ... to have, hold, occupy, and enjoy". It wasexpected that Raleigh would establish a base from which to sendprivateers on raids against the treasure fleets of Spain.