In 1587 a small colony was established on an island off the east coast of North America. This settlement would have been the first permanent English colony in the New World. If the settlers not disappeared due to unknown circumstances ! The Lost Colony of Roanoke is one of the most notorious mysteries in American history. The mysterious clues left at the abandoned settlement and the lack of any concrete evidence make it the center of wild speculation and theories.
English settlers arrived on Roanoke Island
The origins of one of America’s oldest mysteries can be traced to August 1587, when a group of about 115 English settlers arrived on Roanoke Island, now off the coast of North Carolina. After a failed attempt at settlement at Roanoke two years earlier, these colonists intended to create the first permanent English outpost in the New World.
Investigations into the fate of the “Lost Colony” of Roanoke have continued for centuries, but no one has produced satisfactory answers. “Croatia” was the name of an island south of Roanoke that was home to the Native American tribe of the same name. Perhaps, then, the colonists were killed or kidnapped by Native Americans.
Other hypotheses
Other hypotheses hold that they tried to return to England on their own and were lost at sea. That they met a bloody end at the hands of the Spaniards who advanced from Florida. They were driven inland and absorbed by a friendly tribe.
In 2007, an effort began to collect and analyze DNA from local families to determine whether they were related to Roanoke residents, local Native American tribes, or both. Despite the lingering mystery, it seems there is one thing to be grateful for the lessons learned at Roanoke may have helped the next group of English settlers who, 17 years later, established their colony at Jamestown, a short distance to the north.
There has been much speculation over the centuries about the fate of the settlers. Death from disease, massacre by native people, or assimilation into a nearby native tribe as friends or slaves.
Findings of Dawson
The many theories and lack of conclusive evidence generated the mysterious nickname “The Lost Colony”. But a new book by Scott Dawson says the English colonists who founded the so-called Lost Colony were never actually lost before disappearing from history. They simply went to live with their original friends – the Croatians of Hatteras.
Dawson says evidence shows that the colony left Roanoke Island with the Croatians to settle on Hatteras Island. They prospered, ate well, their families were mixed, and survived for generations.
Colony left Roanoke Island with the Croatians to settle on Hatteras Island
In addition to the artifacts, the team also found round post holes where Native people had built their homes. This were just 25 to 60 feet away from square post holes built by the English during the same period.
“They were in an Indian village surrounded by long houses,” Dawson said. “It’s unlikely that a group would have gone as far as the Chesapeake, the Albemarle,” says Horton. “But I’m confident that at least a group, probably a fairly large portion, came to Hatteras Island.”
And for Dawson, this is the most important discovery. Dawson said, “By calling Croatia a mystery on a tree, you are robbing people of an entire country of their history.” “These were people who meant a lot.”