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
Alexander Avina
This story is very interesting. I remember hearing about this story in middle school and being fascinated. It was such an odd situation. These stories are always great to speculate about. I thought that the article was done well and showed how puzzling the situation was/is. I enjoyed learning a little bit more about this story. This will always be a great mystery.
Sebastian Azcui
I really liked this article! The colony was always a mystery as no one actually knows what happened to it and there is no concrete evidence. The author did a great job describing John White and how he arrived to the abandoned place. The cravings in the tree are a mystery and are the only things left behind. I find it amazing and coincidence of how John White left instructions carved in a tree and now no one knows what actually happened to them…
Zoey Pronovost
i kinda love it but I’m only in 6th grade so i have to use this for a project!
Paul Garza
This article is very mysterious, it ends leaving the reader hanging and wanting to know more about what actually happened to the colony. The author of this article did a really great job at describing the eerie feeling that John White must’ve had upon arriving to an empty settlement. I found it interesting that John white left specific instructions on how to let John white know where they went and what to do with his stuff. It kind of amazes me that even over a year of their governor being gone and the people really did make the carvings in the tree, I would definitely not have thought about that. overall a very interesting topic that gives some familiarity with relation to John smith that many recognize from the account of Pocahontas.
Jesus Parker
Crazy how a whole settlement worth of people can just vanish without leaving much of a trace. This article shows the reader how dangerous and risky it was coming to America during the colonial period. I believe the Native Americans played a part in all this due to the settlers coming on their turf and claiming it as their own. After all, how would you like it if someone claimed your own land as their own?
Stephanie Cerda
The mystery of the Roanoke colonists is one I still think about. There’s been many theories around it, and really in the end, they’re all very interesting and sad. From what I know, John White had family that vanished as well, and that must have been difficult. It’s hard to believe he only looked once and didn’t try again after that though. From this article, it seems to all be very, well bland. Just history. Personally, enjoy thinking about other possibilities apart from the ones stated. For example, if they were attacked, their remains weren’t found, just the possible markers. Really, more evidence is needed, but I doubt that we will be able to truly know what happened to the colony.
Diego Terrazas
I feel as if there were many theories as to what happened to this colony, yet none of them provide enough convincing evidence. Thus, I feel as if its downfall due to a Native American tribe is probable but yet still one of those theories. I believe that a more probable theory is that they simply relocated. Perhaps we may never know the truth but that is what makes such mysteries intriguing.
Engelbert Madrid
I remember learning about the Roanoke colony in my 8th grade history class, and this article helped to give me a better understanding of what happened to the lost colony. Some historians do believe that the colony was attacked by a Native American tribe; unfortunately, there is not enough evidence to say that this is absolutely true. I enjoyed reading this article, and I love the fact that there is an article about the mystery of the Roanoke colony.
Yazmin Garza
Although the author of this article seems to think that the story of the Roanoke Colony clean cut and (literally) set in stone, I like to believe that there is still a little bit of mystery behind their disappearance. To me, the evidence is not convincing enough to say what exactly what happened, and the clues left behind by the colonist are somewhat contradictory. But even if the colonist did fall victim to a Native American tribe, it seems to me that their demise was just karma taking its course.
Noah Wesolowski
Roanoke Colony before reading this I knew little to nothing about this colony only that it’s people and settlement disappeared without a trace. But after reading this article it seems someone just needed to piece together all of the evidence. It doesn’t surprise me that the colony fell victim to a brutal indian attack and its inhabitants got scattered, similar to other colonies that got attacked.