Unsolved Mysteries : The Lost Colony

In 1587 a group of men, women, and children led by Sir John White set sail for America and landed on a North Carolina island called Roanoke (Shirley

Queen Elizabeth I desired to establish a permanent English settlement in America, known then as "the New World." In the summer of 1587 a group of nearly 120 men and women from England arrived on Roanoke Island, one of a chain of barrier islands now known as the Outer Banks, off the coast of what is now known as North Carolina. This group of settlers set sail from England with the mission of making the Queen's wishes a reality.

The story of the Lost Colony has fascinated people across four centuries and remains one of the enduring mysteries of early America. There are several theories put forth to explain the disappearance, but despite efforts by historians, archeologists, and other investigators, the fate of these early colonists seems destined to remain a mystery.

The Roanoke was an important part in Virginia history, it was the first attempt for a permanent English settlement in the new world. It was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh in the 1585 and he brought 100 colonists with him to Virginia and left them behind. Walter also had brought his daughter which soon gave birth to the first English child born in America. Her name was Virginia Dare. He had to go back to England because he had to fight in the Spanish war. He sent a fleet of ships in between the 3 years he was fighting but they did not make it to the settlement, instead they landed on a different island and the captain of the ship refused to go any farther than that island. When Raleigh returned 3 years later the only clues that him and the colonists that came with him found were the words CROA and CROATON carved into 2 trees. Before Raliegh had left them 3 years earlier he told them if there was was any trouble then to carve a cross in a tree. They searched all the trees around but did not find any crosses carved. But recently they have done a tree test on the wood that the word CROATON was carved into and they figured out that when he was gone there was extreme drought conditions that were going on while Raleigh was gone. Nobody really knows what happened to the settlement but there has been very educated guesses from historians. One guess came from a historian studying this subject ”That the croaton indian tribe 50 miles away might have something to do with it.” But the

Since both groups needed land for similar reasons, conflict wasn’t inevitable. The English needed land to

The Roanoke colony was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh. The colony disappeared as the Anglo Spanish War was going on in 1590, three years after the last shipment of supplies from England to Roanoke. When Roanoke disappeared this gave it the nickname "The Lost Colony." There has been no exact evidence as to what happened to the colonists who disappeared. The only hint to what happened was a carving on a tree trunk that said “Croatoan”. Croatoan was small group of native americans that lived by Roanoke.

What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke? It all began in 1587 when a group of Englishman settled in Roanoke. Food was scarce so Governor John White headed back to England to get them some supplies. It took him three long years to return and when he did much to his surprise no one was there to be found. Not even his wife and children. This has left a trail of theories throughout the years of what really happened but no one will ever really know.

The Wow Signal, The Mary Celeste, and the Marfa lights, all historical mysteries that have attracted the attention of not only historians, but of the average person as well. To attempt to solve these mysteries one must look at all available evidence, and Roanoke, being one of these mysteries is no different. Roanoke had very crude perceptions of its surrounding due to the naïve, and ignorant natures of their colonists; it became more and more difficult to survive there, and after relationships with natives went sour, the place became inhospitable. However, what truly happened there is a mystery, and what happened to the colonists, but it is a mystery that will never be solved.

John White left in 1587, to head for England. He did not return until August 1590, the trip took him so long because a war broke out between England and Spain. When John White returned in 1590 (3 years later), the colony was gone. He was totally lost, until he found a tree trunk that had the word “CROATOAN” carved in it. John did not know what this meant. He thought that the word Croatoan meant that “the colony went to Croatoan Island, just about 50 miles away from Roanoke Island”. Stated The History Channel. With that John White set of for Croatoan Island. When he got to Croatoan Island there was no trace of the colony being there. We still don’t know today what happened to the lost

Roanoke Island is an island in North Carolina. It was, at one time, a colony that was founded by England. It was very small, accommodating only around a hundred colonists total. However, this colony mysteriously disappeared with no real clue as to what happened. There are many theories on what could have happened to the colony, though no one currently knows for sure. More theories keep being created based on findings that modern day scientists have been able to gather. This mystery is one that people even today are still attempting to solve.

Roanoke was a small island that was one of the first attempts to be inhabited by settlers. The most evidence to show and explain how Colonists of Roanoke disappeared after three years also supports the most logical answer: That the English simply forgot to restock the supplies needed to keep a thriving Colony going. The weather would have been difficult if they had gone to create their own Colony, as the fact of illness could also support. The word carved into the log; Croatoan could have been what the settlers called themselves. They could have written the name on the log when the first arrived to stake out their territory just as Spain did when they arrived to America. Although it is thought that the Roanoke colony was adopted by neighboring

Ever since I learned about the disappearance of Roanoke I’ve been curious what actually happened to it, because no one knows. If I had the chances to go to anytime during the colonization of America, Roanoke would be my choice, first of all to see how the first settlement looked like, and second of all to see what happened to it.

The mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke is a puzzling mystery about what happened to the first English settlers in America. The question is, what actually happened to them, because even with evidence and research no one knows for absolute certain what actually did happen. The disappearance of an entire colony, who left behind a dismantled settlement and the word "Croatoan" etched into a tree has stumped many archaeologists. Countless theories have arisen, some more outrageous than the rest. Were they killed by Indians? Taken by aliens? Abducted? Sabotaged? The mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke has an abundance of theories, but the most plausible is that the colonist were assimilated into the Lumbee tribe.

Jamestown is thought by most of to be the first colony in the New World but this is not the complete truth. Jamestown is considered our first successful colony; however it was not the first attempt at a colony. There were a few attempts to colonize the New World before Jamestown and one in particular that was the most mysterious is the Roanoke colony, also known as the Lost Colony. The colony got this name because the colonists that were there vanished mysteriously with no trace of what happened.

In this writing assignment I am using primary sources to support the hypotheses that the lost colony of Roanoke disappeared due to a massacre by a nearby Native American tribe that had issues with the colonists. I will also find evidence that discredits this hypotheses.