The Mysteries of the Lost Colony of Roanoke
By Tania Dooley
Most people love a good mystery. Maybe it's the way they capture our imagination, leave us wondering, and most importantly, have us sensing that we can get to the truth in a way others have not done. The mystery of Roanoke island has never truly been solved. For hundreds of years scientists, archaeologists, historians, and historical detectives have been hypothesizing about the disappearance of the colonists who seemed to have vanished without a trace from Roanoke island. The incident is known as Lost Colony of Roanoke.
The details about this colony are imperfect at best. Some historians say a group of 120 English settlers left for Roanoke island on 1590, and others say it was 115 settlers in the year 1587. Whatever the details are exactly, one thing is for sure, they are about as sketchy as what happened on the island itself.
Roanoke is an island off the coast of North Carolina. The colony was originally settled by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585. The story of the lost colony begins with the governor of Roanoke, John White needing to sail off to England to retrieve more supplies for the colony. He takes three years to come back to the colony due to a war breaking out between England and Spain, and the Queen of England needing every single ship available. When he finally returned, there was no trace of anyone he left behind, instead he found cryptic clues, the word "Croatoan" carved into a wooden post and the letters "CRO" carved into a tree.
According to historians there were no signs of violence, but according to History.com, "Croatoan" was the name of a Native American tribe from that same area. Could it be the settlers followed them to someplace else given there were no signs of violence? Other theories suggest that a drought in the area decimated the colonists, while another suggests the possibility that they may have attempted to go back to England to renew their supplies and got lost at sea. Whatever it is that happened, the one thing all can agree on is that it is an ongoing mystery.
References
History.com (August 22, 2018). What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke? Retrieved September 16, 2020 from https://www.history.com/news/what-happened-to-the-lost-colony-of-roanoke
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| Image Credit: Forest Via Pixabay |
Most people love a good mystery. Maybe it's the way they capture our imagination, leave us wondering, and most importantly, have us sensing that we can get to the truth in a way others have not done. The mystery of Roanoke island has never truly been solved. For hundreds of years scientists, archaeologists, historians, and historical detectives have been hypothesizing about the disappearance of the colonists who seemed to have vanished without a trace from Roanoke island. The incident is known as Lost Colony of Roanoke.
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| Image Credit: Mystery and mortality by Reimund Bertrams Via Pixabay |
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| Image Credit: LUM3N via Pixabay |
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| Image Credit: Forest by SlipShire Via Pixabay |
References
History.com (August 22, 2018). What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke? Retrieved September 16, 2020 from https://www.history.com/news/what-happened-to-the-lost-colony-of-roanoke
