What happened to the original colony at Roanoke Virginia?

The Settlement of Roanake Island (before Jamestown and Plymouth Plantation)

In 1587, a colony of 114 men, women, and children became one of the earliest attempts to colonize the new world - America. Traveling from Britain to Roanake Island, on North Carolina's coast, they were the first true attempt at colonization of the New World. They also became on the Nation's first great mysteries.

The colony, led by John White, settled on Roanake Island, near Virginia. John's granddaughter, Virginia Dare, became the first American born in this new land. But times were tough in the new world and supplies became scarce. 10 days after Virginia's birth, Simon Fernandes, a Portuguese sailor, was forced to return to England for more supplies. After much protest, John White was chosen to return with him.

John's Arrival in England

Upon his arrival to England, John found that his mother country was engaged in a grave war with the Spaniards. Force to assist in this wartime effort, John was unable to return to Roanake Island until 3 years later.

The Mystery

When he arrived back in the Americas on August 18, 1590, he could not find a single trace of the colony. No people, living or dead, could be found anywhere. All personal belonging were left in place as if the people simply disappeared into thin air. His only clue was a carving on a tree - 'CRO' was all he could decipher. Thinking that the 3 letters may have been a unsuccessful attempt to spell out the word CROATOAN, a nearby island, John sailed to Croatoan to search for his family and fellow Englishmen. No trace could be found.

Several solutions to the mystery have been proposed, one of which is that the colonists were simply assimilated into local Indian tribes. In 1709, an English explorer named John Lawson, visited Roanoke Island and spent time with the local Hatteras Indian tribe. He wrote "that several of their ancestors were white people and could talk in a book as we do, the truth of which is confirmed by gray eyes being found infrequently among these Indians and no others."

In the 1880's it was noted that an Indian tribe in southeastern North Carolina, the Pembroke Indians, claimed that their ancestors were from "Roanoke in Virginia". Some of the tribe members bore the same last names as some of the missing colonists. In addition, many members of the tribe had Anglo features - fair eyes, light hair, and Anglo bone structure.

info originally found at:
www.spartechsoftware.com...

I am half Cherokee/Lumbee.......you may find hte links below of interest to you....

www.native-languages.org...

www.lumbee.org...

www.lumbeetribe.com...

The first Europeans settlers in America became native Americans.

How confusing

Originally posted by merka
The first Europeans settlers in America became native Americans.

How confusing

Totally confusing...what are you talking about!?

I have two or three great and trusted native american friends from two completely different tribes and lineages, it my guess that the local natives would have taken these newcomers under their wing and made them a part of their own tribe. I say this because I have first han knolwedge of the kindness, civility and humility of my native american friends and stories concerning their ancestors. I wish i was as "in-tune" with the world around me as my native american friends, maybe these ealry settlers found peace this way and never needed to return to the site they once inhabited?

Either that, or they wiped them out and threw the bodies into the ocean.

Definitely one of the oddest historical mysteries of America.

In a book called "The Frontiersmen" it mentions a tribe of white Indians living in the Tennessee-Kentucky-Ohio River area who were called the "Azgen." The book in the end notes that this tribe could have possibly been the colonists from Roanoke. Just passing that along.

However, my own research leads me to believe that the Azgen were unrelated to the Roanokers, and you'll find a topic on this somewhere in this forum that I brought up last week.

If I remember correctly they found "cro" or something similar carved into one of the trees when a rescue mission was sent. It was in line with what they were supposed to do if they left and meant that they had been taken in by the Croatan tribe that was a local tribe near them. There is also a history in this tribe if I remember correctly of some people with European features and English last names.

Interesting history. If these people were the first europeans to settle in the new world, would they be the ones giving the natives around them the name 'Croatan'? and if so, would John White have known that the natives were named so?

Either Croatan was the name the Indians used or what the colony called them. Either way they were instructed that if they left, they were supposed to carve where they were going on that particular tree. Cro was carved, there was at least some understanding that Cro reffered to those Indians in question, and there is some evidence that some Europeans were assimilated into their population early on. Its as good a theory as any other I've heard.

interesting info provided by Lady V:

People: Descendants of the native tribe who took in the lost colony of Roanoke, the Lumbee (or Croatan) Indians have been denied federal status as an Indian nation because of their high degree of mixed blood. They are recognized by the state of North Carolina, however, and are 40,000 people strong, making them one of the largest Native American tribes remaining in the eastern US.

Quite interesting indeed. More info at:
www.native-languages.org...

More from that site provided by Lady V:

History: The Lumbee don't entirely understand why people persist in calling the Roanoke colony the "Lost Colony," since they left an explicit note telling where they were going (Croatan, an island belonging to some friendly Indians) and since the descendents of the Croatoan Cheraw were found some 50 years later speaking English, practicing Christianity, and sporting about 75% of the last names the colonists had brought with them. By all accounts, though, those descendents--who called themselves "Lumbee" Indians, after the river running through their traditional lands--were mixed-race, so mixed-race they were not sent to Oklahoma with the other Native Americans of North Carolina in the 1820's and 30's. North Carolina was not the most pleasant place to live in the 19th century if your skin was dark, though, and increasing violence against Lumbees and free mulattos set the stage for the Lumbee folk hero Henry Berry Lowrie in the 1860's. Called the "Indian Robin Hood" by some, Lowrie, enraged by the assault and murder of his family, spent the next decade wreaking vigilante justice on those who harassed Indians and stealing supplies to give to the disenfranchised. He was never caught, and his legend--brave, proud, dangerous when provoked, and above all else free--remains a powerful tribal metaphor.

I've been to the site several times and in my opinion I believe that some were killed but most probably moved across the sound to what is now present day Nags Head. They were most likely assimilated into the indian culture which is why some explorers claim to have spotted, many years later, odd "white" indians in the local area. This area is rich in history and folk lore so it's kind of hard to delineating between the two when researching. I highly reccomend visiting the settlement and fort as it is as beautiful as it is mysterious.

His only clue was a carving on a tree - 'CRO' was all he could decipher. Thinking that the 3 letters may have been a unsuccessful attempt to spell out the word CROATOAN

Hmm why does this sound familiar to me?

I think basically its one of those mysteries that really isn't a mystery to historians and those that care to do the research, but is great for the tourist industry so it stays around. They even have the outdoor production of the Lost Colony every summer, its quite a good play actually if you ever have the chance to go see it.

abducted by aliens... just playing. probably assimilated within the culture of the natives present nearby. If not most likely were murked and thrown to sea. Croat 56 i get it

Originally posted by Son of the lost maji
abducted by aliens... just playing. probably assimilated within the culture of the natives present nearby. If not most likely were murked and thrown to sea. Croat 56 i get it

Maybe some Croatians got drunk and sailed there

I recently did a report on the Roanoke mystery, I believe that they were either assimilated in to one of the local indian tribes, or killed by one of the indian tribes.

I've heard some, out there theories, they are as follows:

They went to Atlantis
They were abducted by Aliens
and the theorie that takes the cake: They went to live with the mole people after they found an opening to there sub-teranian society.

Croat,
I thought about the connection with your name and the Croatons, but thought it was just coincidence.

[edit on 2/22/2005 by iori_komei]

Originally posted by iori_komei
I thought about the connection with your name and the Croatons, but thought it was just coincidence.

[edit on 2/22/2005 by iori_komei]

Maybe one of the settlers was Croatian and wanted every1 to know. I would.

Originally posted by Zabilgy
More from that site provided by Lady V:

History: The Lumbee don't entirely understand why people persist in calling the Roanoke colony the "Lost Colony," since they left an explicit note telling where they were going (Croatan, an island belonging to some friendly Indians) and since the descendents of the Croatoan Cheraw were found some 50 years later speaking English, practicing Christianity, and sporting about 75% of the last names the colonists had brought with them. By all accounts, though, those descendents--who called themselves "Lumbee" Indians, after the river running through their traditional lands--were mixed-race, so mixed-race they were not sent to Oklahoma with the other Native Americans of North Carolina in the 1820's and 30's. North Carolina was not the most pleasant place to live in the 19th century if your skin was dark, though, and increasing violence against Lumbees and free mulattos set the stage for the Lumbee folk hero Henry Berry Lowrie in the 1860's. Called the "Indian Robin Hood" by some, Lowrie, enraged by the assault and murder of his family, spent the next decade wreaking vigilante justice on those who harassed Indians and stealing supplies to give to the disenfranchised. He was never caught, and his legend--brave, proud, dangerous when provoked, and above all else free--remains a powerful tribal metaphor.