By Joshua Dover

One of the greatest unsolved cases in America is over four hundred twenty years old.  In 1590, the second colony planted on Roanoke Island in present day North Carolina was discovered to be abandoned under mysterious conditions.  In the ensuing time, the Lost Colony, as it has become known, has lapsed into and out of the common, public perception.  Today however, there is little general knowledge about the first, serious attempt of the British to establish a permanent bastion in the New World, to challenge the Spanish dominance of the Atlantic, and to begin pursuing their Empire in serious fashion.  During the past five centuries of enquiry of the disappearance of the second Roanoke Island colony, no solution has been determined to the puzzle.  Historians have presented five potentially valid theories on the disappearance and popular culture has presented a sixth endeavor of explanation.  Yet, in a nation as young as the United States, where the dominate culture has become comprised, through time, of a people which are mostly immigrants with no connection to the lands which they have come to inhabit and, in most cases, even less to the homelands which their ancestors left, in what often seems as a distant and forgotten past, the mysterious disappearance of the second colony on Roanoke Island, NC provides an unexpected opportunity.

In 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh[1] underwrote the second attempt to establish a colony on the outer banks island known as Roanoke, in what was perceived, and indeed chartered, as Virginia.[2]  This time a colony, “The Citie of Ralegh,” was to be placed in the New World, permanently.  The first such endeavor resulted in failure two years prior, due to a distinct lack of provisions, under preparedness, and being restricted to only men.[3]  The first colonist found, even in their handicapped situation, that the island was not well suited for long term cultivation and that the outer banks in general were likely not the most ideal locations for agrarian colonization.[4] 

Under the command of Captain John White, the second attempt was launched.  Originally planning to land at a new, hopefully more hospitable, less sandy location, the captain of the lead ship, which Sir Raleigh had procured for this jaunt, decided to save time by not scouting a new beachhead and dumped the colonists at the known, previously failed site on Roanoke Island.[5]  The ship captain then proceeded from the West Indies with a ship full of ludicrous luxury items – spices, sugar, and rum – to return with his wares to England to sell them.  Because of the rush, the settlers were left under provisioned and disarrayed once again, as the ship, carrying most of the supplies, was not unloaded adequately.[6]  Captain White had always intended to sail back to England with the ships and return within the next eighteen months with enough supplies to help substitute the colony’s production for several years.[7]  However, due to rising tensions with the Spanish and the expectation of a massive seaborne conflagration, Queen Elizabeth I of England placed an embargo on all naval vessels flying the English colors, grounding all ships in their current English ports of call at that time.[8] 

The Queen planned to commandeer every seaworthy craft registered in England to fight the mighty Spanish armada, if the need were realized.  Therefore, Captain White’s plan to return to Roanoke Island the next summer was delayed by three years. When Sir Walter Raleigh and Captain John White finally mounted a return expedition in 1590, they arrived in North America to find the colony completely gone.  Every structure had been completely disassembled; there were no signs of any struggle or violence having occurred.  Previously, the colony had been instructed to leave a cross facing a certain direction on a specific tree, in case the colony had to leave under duress.[9] 

Yet, when Captain White’s return venture surveyed the colony’s last known location, they only discovered a single word carved into the tree, on which White had instructed the colony to leave a message.  The word was “Croatoan.” 

The Croatoan were, at the time, a known Native American nation which resided on an island south of Roanoke Island in the outer banks chain, which also bore their name.  The envoy of Captain White searched with fervor for the now missing colony, White especially, since the colony contained his granddaughter, Virginia Dare, the first individual of European legacy recorded to have been born in America and possibly North America. 

The search never returned any clear clue to where the colony had disappeared.  When the crew reached the island of Croatoan there was nothing there.  The entire island was completely barren. No colonists.  No native Nation.  No further directions for those who might come after.  To this day, the mystery of America’s Lost Colony and what exactly Croatoan carved into the tree meant has never been determined.  Captain White never mounted any further search after discovery of the abandoned sites in 1590, believing that colony had in fact moved fifty miles inland of the North Carolina coast, as they had initially discussed before his initial return to England.  Later searches, dispatched by the first successful English colony in North America, Jamestown, were likely too far removed both in space, 145 miles and the Chesapeake Bay, and in time, a decade between establishments, to return anything more than vague rumors and false hopes.[10]

Human nature abhors a void and a vacuum must be filled, therefore the lack of knowledge regarding the Lost Colony has driven scholars, on both sides of the Atlantic, to create plausible scenarios which fit within a framework of the scant evidence collected by the 1590 return party and reports gathered by the Jamestown settlers.  Daunting as such a task might seem, we are today presented with five theories which, in some manner, meet the afore mentioned guidelines.  None of which have reached an actual solution or even a general consensus, though some have been declared more meritorious than others.  However, the theory of the colonists assimilating, for whatever inciting reasons (attacks, better territory, lack of provisions), with natives, most likely the Croatoan, has been positioned as the best possible solution so far, and current studies are using DNA as a means of attempting to prove it.[11]  But any lack of DNA would not be the antithesis of the theory and study.  Any conclusive results are unlikely and any inconclusive results do not disprove it.

Another popular belief has arisen, which is well regarded in the United Kingdom.  Scholar and historian David Durant writes that “[t]he Spanish must have the final word on this subject.”  He offers that the Spanish sailed up from St. Augustine and attacked the colony, resulting in either wholesale slaughter, capture and razing of the colony, or forcing the colonists to abandon the area and likely head inland, off the outer banks.[12]  The evidence for this exists primarily on paper, in Spanish records of a raid, not the physical evidence of the manner of dissolution of the Roanoke Island colony. 

Like the preceding theory, a belief in the colonists bringing the fury of the natives upon themselves bears little witness in the disassembly of the structures, instead of being burned.  Early in the colonization, a brief scuffle occurred as a result of mistaken identity with a Native tribe, but seemed to be cleared up quickly and relatively easily, even before Captain White’s departure for England.[13]

One theory, little discussed and relatively downplayed, is that the colonists, lacking adequate provisions, set a precedence for the Donner Party to, nearly 300 years later, cannibalized people, when stranded without foodstuff.  Yet, the likelihood of an event such as this occurring and having no documentation is highly suspect. Such stories would have to have survived and spread to Jamestown. Combined with the final academic theory, the level of support reaches pure speculation.  Some have postulated that the colonists drowned in makeshift boats used in an attempt to return to England when Captain White did not return, as he had stated he would. Of course, neither of these would reach any explanation of the tree carved with “Croatoan.” 

The most fanciful idea about the disappearance of the colony has a much newer and popular culture basis.  Over the last half century, a new theme has arisen as a means to solve puzzles which are missing significant pieces: extraterrestrial involvement.  Generally, these types of “explanations” are rejected outright by the scientific and academic communities in most, if not all, cases.  Aliens present an extreme for the context of the theories.  Though all thoughts, except for those of migration and assimilation, lack the ability to explain “Croatoan” carved into the tree, seemingly as directions, from Captain White’s interpretation.  Also, as to why the entire colony was disassembled in an apparently stress free manner, rather than being discovered ransacked or burned to the ground, is not answered.  The fact is that even cutting edge research in genetics can neither satisfactorily prove nor categorically disprove any theory for the abandonment of Roanoke Island.  Common sense highly suggests that some theories are more likely than others, but they delve into the speculative realm, once again.  Despite best efforts, no theory will ever be verified, or equally disproven, to be claimed as fact for a definitive conclusion to the story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island.

America existed, perhaps longer than can accurately be measured.  Current studies show that all peoples in the Americas are immigrants from some time or another.  Whether they crossed a land bridge in the Bering Straits, sailed dugout canoes across an ocean, or searched for another route to the Asia, no one, even Native Americans, are original continentals.  Because of this fact, the modern nation of America has no stories truly older than the founding of the country on which its populace draws for a cultural identity.  England has the Arthurian Legends of a great, unifying king bringing peace and prosperity.  China has a creation story involving dragons.  The Scandinavian territories, though several individual nations, are drawn into a grand myth of storm gods, ice giants and trees spanning all of space.  Africa has a continent’s worth of fascinating and varied tales of creation and surrounding environment. And so the myriad of legends and stories and myths and tales continue across Europe, Asia and Africa.  Even the Mayans, Incans and Aztec have epic fables which fill the span South America. Yet, because of the way in which North America, and specifically the United States, was settled, the native peoples and the stories which had accumulated have been mostly lost to us.  For better or worse, the America of today rarely evokes images, which present an opportunity for incorporating Native American mythology into daily life. 

The mysterious disappearance of the Lost Colony presents an opportunity, for a nation devoid of mythology, to canonize a tale for future generations to explore, as Norse mythology has been, in popular culture.  By presenting Roanoke Island as myth, rather than definitive, America can create, for itself, what other places have accumulated through historic epochs, lost and undocumented.  Nearly half a century removed from the events, accurate recounting of the story of the “The Citie of Ralegh” may not be the most useful means to disseminate the knowledge of things such as Virginia Dare, the first American born of European parents.  While the facts of the history of Roanoke Island are still incredibly important, there will never be a clear finale.  This presents a unique and unexpected opportunity which allows America to develop its own mythology.