America's Oldest Unsolved Mystery: Lost Colony of Roanoke, Virginia The Continuing Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, Virginia martie lownsberry, Yahoo Contributor Network Aug 15, 2009 "Share your voice on Yahoo websites. Start Here." ● ● ● MORE: Virginia Roanoke FlagPost a comment It has all the makings of a good mystery story. A group of brave pioneers traveling to a new continent to forge a new life in the wilderness, a young mother giving birth to a baby that brings new hope, then suddenly the entire colony disappears without a trace. No this is not the latest Story by some suspense novelist. This is the true story of a group of pioneers whose disappearance have baffled school children, history buffs, and scholars for four centuries. It is the story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke, Virginia. For those unfamiliar with the story let me take you back to the 16th century. In 1587, England was determined to establish a colony in the new world. A man by the name of John White, set sail with his pregnant daughter, son in law and 114 other passengers to establish a colony in what is now the state of Virginia. They landed on Roanoke Island, and began building homes, and forming what was meant to be a permanent community. White's daughter Eleanor Dare gave birth to a daughter, she named Virginia after the virgin queen of England. Establishing a colony was difficult work and the colonists soon discovered that they were badly in need of supplies to see them through that first winter. White, agreed to sail back to England and bring back the much needed to supplies. The estimated length of the trip was to be three months. However, when White reached England he found the country at war and his ship was pressed into service leaving him no means to return to Roanoke until 1590. After three long years, John White must have been unsure about what he would find when he eventually arrived back at the colony he had left so long ago but, nothing could have prepared him for what he did discover. Not one person, not one building, of the colony remained. The only traces he and his men could find of the once fledgling colony were a few small cannons, an open trunk, and a few fence post around on the perimeter of what had once been the settlement of Roanoke. On one of the fence posts was written the word "CROATOAN" on a tree close by were the letters "CRO" There was an island south of Roanoke called Croatoan inhabited by a friendly Native American tribe bearing the same name and White assumed the colony had moved there. He intended to travel to the Island to find his missing colony but a hurricane forced him to immediately return to England leaving the fate of the colonist a mystery. Theories Regarding the disappearance In the four hundred years since the colony at Roanoke disappeared there have been countless theories as to what happened presented by scholars and those not so scholarly. These theories have run the gauntlet from everyone dying of some disease such as small pocks, to the colony being captured or killed by Indians, to them being abducted by Aliens from another planet. While some theories are more likely than others the colonists themselves left few clues as to what actually happened. In the 400 hundred years since more clues have emerged but they have been few and far between. Clues and Rumors Except for the word Croatoan carved into the fence post there were little clues to give White and his men any notion of what happened to the 100 colonists. Rumors at the time must have been rampant. Some believe that sickness took the entire colony. That theory never bore fruit as White found no bodies of the dead nor any graves that would indicate disease struck the colony. No one could explain the missing buildings though some theories suggest that after the colonists disappeared Native American's may have dissembled the wood to use in fires. Though no proof of this theory exists. In 1607 When John Smith arrived at the Jamestown settlement chief Powhatan spoke to him about some white setters who had lived for a time nearby. Powhatan claimed to have killed these settlers. In 1616 there were rumors of Roanoke colonist living nearby, but though there were several search parties sent out in an effort to find them no trace was ever found. In 1709 John Lawson an English explore met some Hatteras Indians, who were descendants of the Croatoan tribe. He noted that some of these Indians had gray eyes, and lighter hair that was normally found in Native Americans. In the 1880s a Man named Hamilton McMillian lived in North Carolina near a settlement of Pembroke Indians, who claimed to be descendants from "Roanoke in Virginia" the exact term Raleigh had used to describe the Roanoke settlement. He also noted that some of these Native Americans had light hair and eyes and European features. He also discovered that some of these Native Americans bore surnames identical to some of the missing Roanoke colonists Continuing Search for the truth Historians and Archaeologists have visited the site at Roanoke hoping to find some clue as to what happened to Virginia Dare and other colonists and have come away empty handed. Now scientists are devising a plan to DNA test Native Americans who bear surnames of the colonists and others who may be descendants in the hope of finally putting the mystery to rest. Until then, the lost colony of Roanoke will remain American's oldest Unsolved mystery.
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