As you are coming to the end of your long journey, you’re overwhelmed with the idea that you’ll be home soon, accompanied by warm, familiar faces. However, when you return home, you’re not welcomed by friends and family, but by silence and only the howl of the wind. You look around and not a single soul is in sight. Not one person in your home or in your whole village. A frightening scenario, isn’t it? This was the startling reality that John White and his fellow colonists were faced with when they returned home from their long voyage. His home was none other than the infamous Roanoke Colony.
In 1587, John White led 113 men, women, and children to Roanoke island on behalf of Queen Elizabeth I, in order to establish a New World colony, and claim riches for the queen and people of England.1 The land was somewhat familiar as it had been a previous military outpost.2 However, its first attempt at establishing a colony there had failed. John White and his men were determined not to fail their Queen on this attempt. They especially did not want to fail their investor, Sir Walter Raleigh, like others had in the past. So they went to all extents to make sure their colony’s needs were met.3 The colony seemed to settle well; however, they quickly outgrew supplies, which were essential for the long-term establishment of the colony; so now governor of Roanoke, John White, sailed back to England in order to restock. Upon his arrival in London, he was met with war with Spain and the Spanish Armada, England’s enemy at the time. Storms and many other factors made the return back to Roanoke a long one, one of years, leaving the colonists to wonder when their leader would return.4
Once John White and his men returned, Roanoke was bereft of all its colonists. They recalled that on their way to Roanoke, once already on land, they found a few footprints from Indians.5 However, they made nothing of it at the time. When they reached the village, White came across the letters “CRO” carved on a tree and the word “CROATOAN” carved on a post. Upon further inspection, it seemed that all the houses that the Roanoke Colonist were living in had been dismantled. After seeing this, White was more at ease because he believed that they had relocated to Croatoan, where the Croatoan tribe lived. This was due to the fact that White told the colonists that if they ever relocated, they were to carve the name of their new location somewhere visible. If the move or escape was out of distress, they were also to carve a Maltese cross, but none were in sight. One small thing bothered White though. He had told the colonists to hide his valuables underground, but he found that some were scattered and others were lost. In the end, for a reason unknown, White only looked for the colony one time, but didn’t find them. After this failed attempt, he made no others.6
One question still lingered in the mind of many others: what happened to the Roanoke colonists? It’s said that they were never seen again by Europeans, but there were also many speculated accounts of their whereabouts and fate. In 1608, John Smith wrote in his book that the Indians reported to him of people that looked like him. George Percy, another colonist, reported seeing a white boy with blonde hair among the Indians. Smith later sent two missions towards the south in order to find evidence of the remaining colonists, eventually learning that they were killed.7
Later, a twenty-one-quartz stone was discovered that is believed to have been a “grave marker” for the Roanoke deceased. On the smooth side of the stone was a cross and on the other were passages, speaking of deaths within the colony along with the years.8 As a last matter, in 1612, writer William Strachey reported that the Roanoke Colony did indeed live in harmony with the Chesapeake Indians for twenty-five years. Both the Indians and colonists shared knowledge and lived together until Powhatan, a leader of another Indian tribe called the Powhatan, slaughtered the colonists and the Indians sheltering them in fear that a rival to him would appear from within their tribe. A few of the colonists escaped and were later spared when they were found due to the fact that they worked well with copper, making them valuable. Still many wondered if these were facts or just stories that people wanted to hear.9 In the end, all the evidence points to the fact that the Roanoke colonists are not lost to history, but were rather killed off by brutal Indians. There is no mystery left, it’s just a matter of connecting the dots.
- The Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained, 2003, s.v. “The Desertion of Roanoke,” by Brad Steiger and Sherry Hanson Steiger; Karenne Wood, “The Roanoke Colony,” South Atlantic Review 77, no. 1/2 (2012): 178-79. ↵
- Lee Miller, Roanoke Solving the Mystery of England’s Lost Colony (London: Pimlico, 2001), 7-9. ↵
- Karenne Wood, “The Roanoke Colony,” South Atlantic Review 77, no. 1/2 (2012): 178-79. ↵
- Lee Miller, Roanoke Solving the Mystery of England’s Lost Colony (London: Pimlico, 2001), 10-11. ↵
- Karen Odahl Kupperman, Roanoke The Abandoned Colony (New Jersey: Rowman & Allanheld, 1984), 133-135. ↵
- Karen Odahl Kupperman, Roanoke The Abandoned Colony (New Jersey: Rowman & Allanheld, 1984), 136-137. ↵
- Karen Odahl Kupperman, Roanoke The Abandoned Colony (New Jersey: Rowman & Allanheld, 1984), 137-139. ↵
- Haywood J. Pearce, “New Light on the Roanoke Colony: A Preliminary Examination of a Stone Found in Chowan County, North Carolina,” The Journal of Southern History 4, no. 2 (1938): 148-150. ↵
- Karen Odahl Kupperman, Roanoke The Abandoned Colony (New Jersey: Rowman & Allanheld, 1984), 139. ↵
114 comments
Erin Vento
I remember watching the Roanoke season of American Horror Story and briefly hearing about it in high school, but everyone always wanted to keep it as a mystery. I love the way this article was written though, because you introduced the history and the facts and then gave reasons as to why it could only lead to the settlers getting sacked and taken. I also liked how you debunked some of the mystery behind the carving on the tree.
Jason Garcia
I remember learning of the Roanoke colony in elementary school, I also remember not getting any answers to where they went or even if they were alive. I loved reading this article and finding out the truth. While it was a bad outcome at least the world now knows what happened. a very good article, Detailing why White left and what he came back to, to what others thought happened, to present day and an answer, More or Less.
Luis Morales
The story of The Roanoke Colony has always been an interesting subject. What make this story so unique are all the theories about the missing colonists and where they went. I never heard of the story William Strachey reported. It is interesting that Strachey reported that the Colony did indeed live in harmony with the Chesapeake Indians for twenty-five years. But that they were slaughtered by Powhatan who fear that a rival to him would appear from within their tribe.
Kayla Lopez
This was a very interesting article with facts I had never heard of before. This is a story that most people have heard and yet I did not know about the little boy with blond hair who was spotted with an Indian tribe. I also did not know about the stone marker that was found with death dates. This was a short and sweet article that I really enjoyed reading.
Iris Henderson
I loved the way the author wrote the intro to this story! I had not previously been aware that there were so many different theories as to what happened to the lost colony in Roanoke. I can be a bit of an optimist so, for their sake, I hope that they lived happily along side the Chesapeke Indians. However, it is probably the way the author suggested, they probably were killed. I was also disappointed to learn that White only made one attempt but the energy and resources to do anything more was probably unimaginable.
Jose Figueroa
With so many possibilities of what could have happened, it really makes you consider all the options. I really enjoyed how you explored the various options of why the colonist disappeared rather than sticking to one sole point. It really created a sense of mystery and emphasized that it is a part of history that we will never really sure what happened. Also, by revolving the story John White, the leader who was wondering just where his crew went, gave us a character to connect to and sympathize with. Great job!
Anais Del Rio
After reading this article, it gave me some sort of closure as to what happened to the colony. It was interesting to read that John White told the colonists to write their location and a sign of distress if they were to ever move, but it was puzzling that he only looked for the colonists one time and gave up. Usually if someone found a hint they would go to great lengths to find more evidence or even the colonists themselves.
Edgar Ramon
Definitely one of the U.S.’s great mysteries, this post left me wondering where I could find more info on the Roanoke colonists. Although, if I was asked to deduct into the fate of these colonists, I would say that it is most probable that many were killed. Some colonists may have escaped the massacre, and some children or women were taken into either slavery or added to the tribes as members. After some time the survivors would have been assimilated into native culture. I also wonder why the maltese cross was chosen to alert the governor that there was trouble.
Hector Garcia
The disappearance of the Roanoke colonists has been one of the biggest mysteries in American history. And I am glad to see that we might have an answer to an event that occurred several hundred years ago. It is a very interesting article because it’s mysteries and draws the readers attention. It is horrible to read of how the colonists were slaughtered by another tribe but it was a good article nonetheless.
Cheyanne Redman
The title really lured me to this article due to the TV show American Horror Story, they portrayed this event in their show while doing a very good job presenting the facts of it. It is shocking that what happened to these colonists remains unknown, and still a speculation. This article hits on all of the different things hat may have happened to the colonist, and I feel that gives the reader a bit of a self-mystery. Interesting read.