The Lost Colony of Roanoke

What if a single word could hold the key to one of America's oldest mysteries? Join me, Carole Townsend, as we journey through the haunting story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Set against the dramatic and often perilous landscape of North Carolina's Outer Banks, we'll unravel the complex tapestry of hope, ambition, and possibly tragedy that defined the fateful expedition led by Sir Walter Raleigh in the late 16th century. With only the enigmatic word "Croatoan" as a clue, the disappearance of 117 settlers remains an unsolved puzzle that continues to captivate historians and curious minds alike.

We'll explore the myriad theories about what could have happened to these early settlers—from peaceful integration with the Croatoan people to more sinister suggestions such as disease or conflict. This episode also delves into the curious historical echoes of "Croatoan," a word that has appeared in other unexplained contexts, including the mysterious final days of Edgar Allan Poe. As we navigate these intriguing narratives, you'll be invited to ponder the deeper connections within Southern history and lore. So, sit back on my virtual front porch, grab your favorite drink, and let's explore the stories that prove truth is often stranger than fiction.

Chapters

• 0:09 The Lost Colony of Roanoke
• 13:40 Unsolved Mystery of Roanoke Island
• 31:15 Exploring the Lost Colony Mystery

Transcript

Carole: 0:09

Music. Centuries ago, north America was an unspoiled utopia, rich in timber, game fish, clear waters and breathtaking vistas. Bison, deer, elk and other species of animals roamed freely. Oceans to the east and west protected the continent, a great advantage to the first country to claim and settle this realm. World powers at the time had set their sights on this land, eager to plunder its riches, its strategic military value and its many prospects. Almost 450 years ago, an entire settlement in this promising land vanished vanished 117 men, women and children disappeared without a trace from an island off the coast of North Carolina. What happened to them?

Carole: 1:20

Here in the south, we love our stories. We begin in huddled around campfires, whispering of things best spoken in the dark, confiding in our small trusting circles. Why is that, do you suppose? I have researched and investigated Southern history for more than 20 years and I believe it has to do with this region itself. There's a lot that hangs in the ether here and much that is buried deep in the soil. There's beauty here in the South and shame and courage and, make no mistake, there is evil. There's always been the element of the unexplained, the just out of reach that we can all feel but can never quite describe, and the best place for telling tales about such things is the comfort and safety of an old front porch. So I invite you tonight to come up here with me, settle back into a chair and get comfortable, pour yourself a drink if you like, and I'll share with you some of the tales best told in the company of friends, tales that prove that truth really is stranger than fiction. And I'll turn on the light. You're gonna want that. I'm Carole Townsend. Welcome to my front porch.

Carole: 2:53

The following podcast contains material that may be disturbing. Listener discretion is advised.

Carole: 3:16

The outer banks of North Carolina are beautiful, rugged and can be dangerous to navigate and inhabit. In a hurricane, the barrier islands are extremely unsafe. They shift, disappear and are recreated during these storms. The area on the outside of the islands and to the east for a distance of 100 miles or so is called the graveyard of the Atlantic, for good reason. Constant shifts in topography, inlets and erosion characterize this chain of barrier islands that stretches like a rare jeweled necklace off the coast of North Carolina. Between these islands and mainland North Carolina sits Roanoke Island, a 10-mile long, 2.5-mile wide stretch of land, a half mile wide stretch of land In 1587, a group of 117 men, women and children left England on a ship about the size of a school bus to try to settle their nation's first permanent village in North America.

Carole: 4:21

It was to be named the City of Raleigh in honor of Sir Walter Raleigh. Incidentally, other accounts record 115 souls upon that ship, but two of the women were pregnant. These settlers didn't agree to sail to the New World strictly out of a desire for adventure. No, each family was promised 500 acres of land venture. No, each family was promised 500 acres of land. Land acquisition in England had become nearly impossible unless one was in line for inheritance. There were other enticements as well, but the land was a delicious carrot to dangle before the colonists. This voyage was actually the third to sail to Roanoke Island under the oversight of Sir Walter Raleigh and ultimately, of course, on the orders of Queen Elizabeth I.

Carole: 5:13

Raleigh was a favorite of the Queen's, with his gallantry, bravery and his dashing good looks. The Queen knighted him and in 1584 he became a Member of Parliament receiving extensive estates in Ireland. His meteoric rise under the Queen's favor ignited jealousy and indignance with other Members of Parliament, and that meant that he had enemies. Ultimately, Queen Elizabeth appointed Sir Walter Raleigh to organize an expedition to North America, it seems that she had become quite enamored with the handsome Raleigh, and rumors of a relationship that went beyond English government circulated among the ruling class. Raleigh lived at the Queen's palace, you see, and this was quite an unusual circumstance. With Queen Elizabeth's support he became very influential at court and he was the first to begin promoting the idea of creating permanent English colonies in North America to challenge Spanish colonial policy. But the queen wanted to keep her favored Sir Walter Raleigh near to her, so he was forbidden to travel overseas. She did, however, happily fund his expeditions, and in 1584, 1585, and again in 1587, Raleigh organized voyages to North America that led to his sponsorship of an English colony on Roanoke Island. The first two forays were to get the lay of the land, to meet the locals and to establish a fort, and while it's not often reported, about 15 men were lost on Roanoke Island from those first two expeditions. In fact, most of those men were left behind with the knowledge of the ship's captains, as weather and hostile natives hastened their departure, while the lost men were scouting the area for a suitable place to establish a colony. This third voyage, however, was the first that carried women and children to the New World in order to settle this beautiful land rich in natural resources.

Carole: 7:30

In those days, it was Spain, not England, who ruled the high seas. Spain was a powerful European aggressor, and they had the Pope's full support. The conquistadors had devastated South American Indian empires in their lustful quest for gold, but they had left North America untouched, except for a lone settlement at St Augustine, florida. The French too, had set their sights on the New World, trying but failing to establish colonies in Canada and in South Carolina. However, queen Elizabeth refused to bow to Spanish might and ambition, and she scoffed at the Pope's attempts to keep her in check. She too had become intrigued by this mystical land, rumored to be rich in natural resources as well as being a useful strategic military position that could thwart Spanish control of the seas and the unplundered North American utopia. Queen Elizabeth's goal was to establish a permanent settlement with the purpose of harassing Spanish shipping, of mining for gold and silver, of discovering a passage to the Pacific Ocean and, of course, to Christianize the natives. Discovering a passage to the Pacific Ocean and, of course, to Christianize the natives the reports Elizabeth received from the first two voyages news of plentiful game, clear waters and accommodating natives pleased the Queen, she allowed the entire territory to be named Virginia, a reference to her status as the Virgin Queen.

Carole: 9:05

The third voyage to Roanoke Island included an artist named John White, who was also the intended governor of the new colony to be founded in the area. His daughter, eleanor Dare, was one of the two pregnant women on the ship, and her husband, ananias, had also accompanied his wife and father-in-law. Against overwhelming odds, all 117 people survived the 10-week voyage, landing on Roanoke Island in July 1587. They immediately set about making a home in this new world, where they chose to settle at an abandoned fort, probably one left behind by one of the earlier English voyages. They began to build homes and attempted to familiarize themselves with their new surroundings and with local natives.

Carole: 10:00

Two years before the colonists landed in North Carolina, a terrible drought struck the islands and the mainland. Corn and any other crops that would otherwise thrive in the area were scarce. Some of the Native Americans were welcoming and accommodating to the newcomers, but their food supply was dwindling fast, so they didn't have much to share. By August the situation was already desperate. The colonists first begged, then demanded that John White return to England for more supplies and for more men, as not all of the locals were friendly to the new settlers. White disagreed with their wishes, wanting instead to move the settlers to Chesapeake Bay. It's interesting to note that he had also written in a personal journal that he feared the colonists would steal his quote stuff and goods. But Winner would no doubt bear down hard on this ragtag group of inexperienced explorers who faced another disadvantage, that of being inexperienced fighters. Giving in to the pressure of the settlers and not wanting to fail in his mission, john White reluctantly left them behind and set sail for England.

Carole: 11:18

A little-known fact about White's return trip to England is that a political enemy of Sir Walter Raleigh named Simon Fernandez made sure White was on the slowest boat in the return expedition and that that boat returned White to Ireland, not to England. Many historians believe that Fernandez wanted the Roanoke colony to fail because he was jealous of Raleigh and the favor he had curried with the queen. He knew that White's delayed return trip would almost certainly doom the settlers to starvation. In August, the same month that White left the settlers behind, eleanor Dare's daughter and John White's granddaughter, virginia Dare, was born, and she became the first English child born in the New World. Two days later, a baby boy named Harvey was born. But second place rarely gets mentioned in history.

Carole: 12:17

Though the return voyage to England and the trip back to North America should have taken three to four months at most, it took John White three years to return to Roanoke Island. As the war with Spain and the powerful Spanish Armada prevented his departure. The Queen had seized all available English ships for war. When White finally arrived to rescue the settlers in August of 1590, he did so on his granddaughter Virginia Dare's third birthday. Instead of finding a thriving settlement or finding clear indications that the group had moved farther inland, what White found was a deserted encampment. In fact, the settlers' homes appeared to have been long ago dismantled and removed, with no trace left behind except some iron bars and scattered debris overgrown with grasses and weeds. While one skeleton was found at the settlement site, it was clear that the colonists had left in an organized, unhurried fashion. Also missing were the small boats that white had left behind. The governor of the now lost settlement had also buried three of his own chests laden with books, maps and journals, most of those he found torn and scattered and ruined by the elements.

Carole: 13:40

White found only two clues or or one really as to the fate of the settlers upon his return to Roanoke Island in 1590. On a gatepost of the fort near which the colony was built was carved one word Croatoan. On a nearby tree in the deserted encampment were carved three letters, c-r-o, as if the carving of the word Croatoan had somehow been interrupted. Croatoan, what did it mean? The Croatoan people were Native Americans who lived on Roanoke Island and in the surrounding area. They had been friendly and helpful to the English explorers and settlers, with two of them actually sailing back to England with the first expedition to explain how to live and thrive there. Had the word been carved to signal that the settlers had left the village to live among the Croatoan people? White couldn't be sure.

Carole: 14:45

When he left the settlers in 1587 to sail back to England, white had instructed the colonists to carve a Maltese cross in a tree if they were compelled to leave the encampment against their will. The Maltese Cross is a symbol made from four arrowhead shapes pointing toward the center, like four triangles pointing inward at right angles. It's a powerfully important image in the Catholic faith that dates back to the Knights of Malta. White had also told the group that the ultimate plan was to move 50 miles inland and that if they did so, before his return they were to carve the name of their destination into a tree. No Maltese Cross was found anywhere near the deserted settlement. No signs of battle or forced or hurried departure were evident. With the scant clues left behind, white wanted to sail with his crew to Croatoan Island to look for the colonists, but inclement weather prevented that. His men refused to stay and help him search for the missing group. So white and the crew of the rescue ship set sail for England the very next day. John white never returned to the island and he never saw his daughter or granddaughter again.

Carole: 16:11

Determined to find out what had happened to the lost colony, in 1602 Sir Walter Raleigh decided to search for the colonists himself. He hired his own ship and paid his sailors wages with his own money so that they would focus their efforts and skills on his mission. Only the sailors reached Virginia, but a severe storm forced them to go back to England before they were able to reach Roanoke Island. When he arrived back in England, raleigh was arrested for treason and he was never again able to organize an investigative and rescue mission. You see, queen Elizabeth I, while she was quite generous, demanded absolute loyalty. She was furious to learn that in 1592, Sir Walter Raleigh had secretly married one of her ladies-in-waiting, and to make matters worse, the couple had a newborn son. Upon his arrest, walter and his wife were imprisoned in the Tower of London along with their baby. Sadly, the baby died after an outbreak of plague and the Queen, feeling sympathy for the grieving mother, soon released her. Walter was himself released after a few months, but he was banished from court for five years.

Carole: 17:39

In spite of all that transpired between the Queen and Raleigh, hope remained alive with respect to solving the mystery of the lost colony. In 1603, bartholomew Gilbert led another fact-finding mission that also ended in disaster. A storm blew the expedition off course and the team that went ashore was attacked and killed by Native Americans. The remaining crew returned to England having found no trace of the vanished settlers. It seemed that there would never be answers as to what happened to the families who had settled on Roanoke Island, and the questions remain unanswered today, making this riddle the oldest unsolved mystery in recorded North American history. What could have possibly happened to the settlers? What reasons did they have to dismantle their homes and erase all traces of their settlement? Why didn't they carve a Maltese cross into a village tree if they had left under distress or coercion.

Carole: 18:49

Theories regarding their fate are as plentiful as the questions, and they range from logical and evidence-based to wildly outlandish. Many people believe the colonists were absorbed into local Indian populations, or perhaps they were captured as slaves. In the early 1600s to the middle 1700s, european colonists encountered grey-eyed Indians who claimed to have been descended from white settlers. In the late 1600s, french Huguenots left records of meeting blonde-haired, blue-eyed Indians in the areas of Roanoke Island, proatoan Island and Virginia. This theory one of the settlers being absorbed into the friendly local population can be considered the happiest of possible endings for the settlers. The happiest of possible endings for the settlers. Disease and slaughter are two other possibilities, but historians are not so quick to buy into those scenarios. There are so many intriguing points in this mystery, aren't there? Let's start with the simple word Croatoan. And the fact that it was carved into a post and a tree is the only clue left by the settlers as to their fate. Yes, the Croatoan people were friendly and welcoming to the inexperienced English settlers. And yes, croatoan Island is possibly where the colonists sailed when they decided to leave. But consider these curious facts Right before he died in 1849, edgar Allan Poe disappeared for a short time.

Carole: 20:37

When he was again seen, he was delirious. Now it seems to be common knowledge that Poe was a man who drank a great deal. In fact, many believe that his altered state of consciousness and his enduring state of depression were the reasons for his brilliant weaving of the written word. So a state of delirium in Poe's case is maybe not all that surprising. But in this unexplained state of disorientation shortly before his death, allegedly one of the last words he spoke was Croatoan. Poe's official cause of death is unknown and his medical records and death certificate are lost. So no one knows for sure what happened to him the night that he died. But why did he speak that word to him the night that he died? But why did he speak that word?

Carole: 21:29

The word Croatoan has also played a part in several other famous disappearances in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1888, stagecoach Robert Black Bart carved the word Croatoan into the wall of his cell just before being released from prison. Upon his release, he was never seen or heard from again. Amelia Earhart had written the word Croatoan as the final word in her journal, which was discovered after she disappeared in 1937. Horror writer Ambrose Bierce, before disappearing in Mexico in 1913, had carved the word Croatoan into his bedpost, and in 1921, the word Croatoan was written on the last page of the logbook of the ship Carol A Deering. When it crashed on Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the ship's entire crew was lost, never to be found.

Carole: 22:29

While the unexpected and unexplained use of the word Croatoan intrigues us and poses many questions and theories about its ultimate meaning, we are still left to ponder the bigger question what happened to the colonists who landed and settled on Roanoke Island in 1587? What happened in the three years between John White's departure and his belated return? Well, there is one more clue, though scientists still cannot agree as to whether it's legitimate or simply an elaborate hoax the Dare Stones elaborate hoax, the Dare Stones. In 1937, a man named Lewis Hammond found a stone near the Chowan River in North Carolina. On this stone was an inscription which referred to another stone which supposedly marked a mass grave. Could this inscription be referring to the members of the famed lost colony?

Carole: 23:30

The discovery of this potentially important stone of course prompted an intense search, and the ultimate discovery of nearly 50 inscribed stones in total sparked a media circus. The stones were said to have been inscribed and placed by none other than Eleanor Dare, the woman who gave birth to Virginia Dare. Eleanor, the story goes, was trying to leave clues for her father, john White, when and if he ever returned from England with the settler's supplies if he ever returned from England with the settler's supplies. Forty-eight of the so-called Dare Stones are catalogued at Brunel University in Gainesville, georgia. All taken and read together, the messages tell the story of the fate of the missing colonists between 1591 and 1603, when they are said to have migrated from Roanoke Island to the Chattahoochee River Valley near present-day Atlanta, georgia. The first stone Hammond found is housed, with 47 more, at Brunel. I should note here that the other 47 stones were found not long after a $500 reward was offered for the discovery and authentication of a second stone. Surprisingly, a second stone was found in 1939 and delivered to Brunel University by a man named Bill Eberhardt, and on it were marked the names of 17 deceased English colonists. This second stone was dismissed because it was inscribed in a different style and with an often incorrect usage of the English language as it was spoken in the 16th century. But as luck would have it, eberhardt brought another stone and then another to Brunel University In total 13 stones he said he had found along the Bush River in Greenville County, south Carolina. These subsequent stones had markings on them that more closely resembled the original Dare stone.

Carole: 25:38

A media frenzy followed, as the stones Eberhardt was finding could solve the mystery of the lost colony once and for all. Now Eberhardt was finding could solve the mystery of the lost colony once and for all. Now, eberhardt was a backwoodsman with very little education and he was also a stone cutter. But scholars didn't believe he had the intelligence to pull off such an elaborate hoax and for a time the stones he found were deemed to be legitimate. And the stones kept coming, some from Eberhardt and some from others who lived in Hall County, georgia, and in Fulton County, georgia. Some of the stones scholars believe were headstones that marked individual graves of some of the settlers. Ultimately, a conference was held that included respected scholars from universities in the United States and England, and the stones found by Eberhardt and others, except the original stone found by Hammond, were declared to be fakes. Unbelievably, eberhardt then tried to extort money from the Pierce family of Brunel University by threatening to tell the media that Brunel would authenticate any stone as a darestone, simply for the prestige and publicity. By 1941, both scholars and the press had dismissed all of the darestones as being hoaxes, although the authenticity of Hammond's first stone has never been proven or disproven and it was never linked to Bill Eberhardt's convoluted deception.

Carole: 27:20

Dare stones aside, many believe that the settlers were slaughtered by hostile Native American tribes in the early 1600s. Yes, the Croatoans remained friendly with the English settlers, but other tribes had not. In fact, in response to English aggression and murder, other tribes had become openly hostile. In November 1607, eight months after arriving in Jamestown, virginia, captain John Smith went with others to trade for food with the natives. Two of his comrades were killed and he was captured. For several weeks he was taken from village to village until he met the great Native American leader Powhatan. Powhatan told John Smith that he had killed the settlers from Roanoke, but that some had escaped. He had killed them, he said, because of a dream he had in which tribal leaders told him that the newcomers from Europe would rise up and take the land from Powhatan's people and other tribes. Powhatan's claim of killing the English settlers has been largely ignored through the centuries, but evidence discovered relatively recently lends credence to what the tribal chief told John Smith. Others believe that disease killed the settlers, though it's more likely that influenza brought to the New World by the English actually killed many Native Americans.

Carole: 28:48

The general consensus among scholars is that the colonists were absorbed into one or more friendly Native American tribes, and the descendants of those early settlers still walk among us today. According to a book researched and written by Scott Dawson titled the Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, the colonists were never really lost at all. They simply moved to live with their native friends, the Croatoans of Hatteras. Dawson maintains that archaeological digs have uncovered evidence that the English lived alongside Native Americans on Hatteras Island in the early 1600s. Artifacts such as jewelry, swords and pottery found together at the same depth in the earth support this very theory. Even post holes that have been discovered on Hatteras Island, some square and some round, support this thinking. English colonists dug round postholes while Native Americans dug square ones. Both have been found in what appears to have been a settlement on Hatteras Island, where the friendly Croatoans live.

Carole: 30:00

Nearly 450 years, that's how long we've been asking the question. What happened to the 117 people who sailed here in 1587? The mystery of the lost colony remains just that, a puzzle that is part of the fabric and lore of not just the islands off the coast of North Carolina, but of the entire country. Should anyone ever solve this mystery, leaving no doubt as to the fate of the lost colonists, then the oldest chapter in the history of English settlement in North America can be closed forever. Books have been written and stories told about the fate of the colonists, but the definitive truth remains maddeningly elusive. In fact, the lost colony of Roanoke can be considered the oldest cold case in America, though the New World wouldn't be named America for another 200 or so years. The shroud of secrets and the conflicting clues and historical records make the solving of this case highly unlikely.

Carole: 31:15

I'm Carole Townsend, veteran newspaper journalist and six-time award-winning author. You can find me on social media and check out my website at https://www. caroletownsend. com. As always, thanks for listening, and if you're enjoying these tales of Southern history and lore, I hope you'll tell your friends. Subscribe to this podcast on Spotify, apple Play, iheart and anywhere you listen.

Carole: 31:49

My team and I used the following materials to bring you this account of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. T he book, The Lost Colony on Hatteras Island, written by Scott Dawson, https://www. encyclopediavirginia. org, Royal Museums, Greenwich.