The Lost Colony

In the late 1500's, England made another attempt to establish a permanent colony in the New World. This time the organizers sent along women and children thinking that, with their families along, the men would be more willing to stay. On June 22, 1587, they landed on Roanoke Island on North Carolina's Outer Banks in what is today Dare County. 

Sir Walter Raleigh had been responsible for getting Queen Elizabeth's approval. The queen wouldn't allow Raleigh to accompany the settlers, however.The expedition was thus headed by John White, an artist, who was a friend of Raleigh's and had accompanied the other two unsuccessful trips.

When they arrived, it wasn't long before provisions were running dangerously low with winter coming on. White decided to take the crew and return to England for help. In the fall of 1587, he left around 115 colonists behind, including his wife, daughter, and new granddaughter, Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the new world. 

At first the ship's captain refused to leave England during the winter. Then, with Spain threatening to wage war, Queen Elizabeth wouldn't allow the men to leave, because she needed every available ship and sailor. Finally, after the smaller English ships defeated the Spanish Armada on July 29, 1588, White managed to load two small ships with provisions and sail for Roanoke. Along the way, however, the captain engaged Spanish ships hoping to gain some lute but lost the sea battle and was stripped of all cargo, so they had little choice but to turn back to England for more.

Because of the continuing war with Spain, it ended up being three years before White could return. He landed on the island on August 18, 1590 on what would have been Virginia's third birthday, but the place was deserted. There were no signs of what might have happened. The only clue was the word "Croatoan" carved in the fence for the settlement and "Cro" carved in a nearby tree. White had told them to carve a cross if they faced danger, but no cross was found. He assumed they had gone to Croatoan Island, which is Hatteras today. However, with a storm coming in, the men refused to search further. Nothing else ever turned up.

Exactly what happened to this colony has remained a mystery. There's been many theories and attempts to solve it. One of the latest came in 2012, when experts noticed that a 425 year old map by White in the British Museum marked an inland spot. Media reported that the mystery had been solved. However, most don't consider this as conclusive evidence that the colonists went inland, and there's still other theories that remain just as feasible. In reality, the mystery continues.

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