Ep 171: The Lost Colony of Roanoke Part 1

Even such is Time, that takes in trust
Our youth, our joys, our all we have,
And pays us but with earth and dust;
Who in the dark and silent grave,
When we have wander’d all our ways,
Shuts up the story of our days;
But from this earth, this grave, this dust,
My God shall raise me up, I trust.

– Sir Walter Raleigh, patron of the colonies at Roanoke, from his poem, Even Such is Time

Background:

Few realize or remember that the very beginnings of English colonization in North America were fraught with tremendous hardship, peril, and connected to an enduring mystery. A charter was granted to Sir Walter Raleigh by Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1584 to explore and colonize lands unclaimed by Christian kingdoms, south of Newfoundland, and north of Spanish Florida. With hopes of finding vast riches as the Spanish Empire had done in Central and South America and a possible Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, Raleigh had initiated two attempts at establishing an English settlement along the coast of present-day North Carolina. The first colony was set up by Governor Ralph Lane in 1585 on Roanoke Island, located in the Outer Banks. This enterprise would end in failure and evacuation from scarce resources and hostile relations with the local Native American tribes. A second attempt at a colony came in 1587 with Governor John White and around 115 men, women, and children who had agreed to settle in this wondrous but challenging new country. Unfortunately, a curious order left these hapless planters on Roanoke Island, which had now become dangerous from the actions of the former colony. The colonists persuaded White to return to England to plead for help, but due to a variety of unforeseen circumstances, he was not able to return to Roanoke until 1590. When White and the relief mission finally made their way to their last known location, the settlers had vanished, including White's daughter and his infant granddaughter. White's granddaughter Virginia Dare would be known as the first English child born in a New World English possession, but what happened to her remains unknown. The only clue as to their whereabouts were the letters "CRO" carved into a tree and the word "CROATOAN" carved into the fort's palisade. These enigmatic carvings and the strange disappearance of the Lost Colony at Roanoke would ensure that their fate would become one of the first and lasting mysteries of the English occupation in the New World.

The Lost Colony, design by William Ludwell Sheppard, engraving by William James Linton.  From A popular history of the United States: from the first discovery of the western hemisphere by the Northmen, to the end of the first century of the union of the states

La Virginea Pars map, by John White.

“The arrival of the Englishmen in Virginia (1590). Engraving by Theodor De Bry, from a drawing by John White: Map showing the coast of Virginia with many islands just off the mainland, two Native territories, Secotan and Weapemeoc, and the Native community of Roanoak on an island at the mouth of a river.”

Watercolor of a Secotan village, by John White

Sir Walter Raleigh, from 1588

Sir Richard Grenville, circa 1571

“Thomas Harriot, who translated and learned the Carolina Algonquian language from Wanchese and Manteo.”

“Warrior of the Secotan Indians in North Carolina. Watercolour painted by John White in 1585.” Thought to be a portrait of Manteo

“‘A chiefe Herowan,’ or watercolor by John White depicting the weroance ("chief") of a Native American community. The identity of the man and his tribe are unknown, but he is generally presumed to be the Secotan leader Wingina.”

“Ceremony of Secotan warriors in North Carolina. Watercolour painted by John White in 1585. British Museum, London.”

“'The Flyer', a Secotan Indian holy man or "conjuror" (as the British often called them) painted by John White in 1585. British Museum, London.”

“Dancing Secotan (Roanoke) Indians in North Carolina. Watercolour painted by John White in 1585.”

Assault on Aquascogoc; Uncredited, from John L. Denison (ed.) (1868) An Illustrated History of the New World

“A 1962 illustration depicting the artist's reconstruction of the fort built by Ralph Lane for the 1585 Roanoke Colony. In modern times the fort has come to be known as "Fort Raleigh," particularly since efforts to restore the earthwork at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. From Search for the Cittie of Ralegh by J. C. Harrington (1962)”

Baptism of Virginia Dare, 1880, wood engraving by William Ludwell Sheppard - William A. Crafts (1876) Pioneers in the settlement of America: from Florida in 1510 to California in 1849, Boston:

“Death of George Howe” by Henry Davenport Northrop, 1836-1909

“John White at the ruins of the Roanoke Colony in 1590, Engraving by John Parker Davis - Columbus and Columbia: A Pictorial History of the Man and the Nation (1893)”

Richard Hakluyt pictured in a stained glass window in the West Window of the South Transept of Bristol Cathedral, photo by Charles Eamer Kempe.

“Contemporary Flemish interpretation of the launching of English fire-ships against the Spanish Armada, 7 August 1588”

“Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 8 August 1588 by Philip James de Loutherbourg (1796)”

 

Location:

Roanoke Island in the Outer Banks of the state of North Carolina, USA, where John White’s colony of English settlers disappeared sometime after 1587

Reference Links:

• The Roanoke Colony entry on Wikipedia

• Roanoke Island

• Croatoan Island historically, now Hatteras Island

• Sir Walter Raleigh

• Queen Elizabeth I of England

• Sir Humphrey Gilbert

• Sir Ralph Lane

• Sir Richard Grenville

• John White, artist and governor of the Roanoke Colony

• “Images of a New World: The Watercolors of John White” from Res Obscura

• Portuguese navigator, Simon Fernandes

• Native American Croatan Chief Manteo

• Wanchese, the last known chief of the Roanoke Native American tribe

• The Secotan Native American group

• The Roanoke Native American tribe

• The Aquascogoc tribe of Secotan peoples

• The Dasamongueponke tribe of Secotan peoples

• The Pamlico who spoke the Carolina Algonquian language

• “American Indian Pronunciation Guides” website

• British colonization of the Americas

• English overseas possessions

• Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

• St. Augustine, Florida

• Philip II of Spain

• Virginia Dare

• John White Returns to Roanoke; an excerpt from "The fift voyage of Master John White into the West Indies and parts of America called Virginia, in the yeere 1590" (1600) from encyclopediavirginia.org

• “From 'goodliest and most pleasing territorie' to abandoned settlement: what went wrong?” The Settlement at Roanoke from community.dur.ac.uk

• “Charter to Sir Walter Raleigh : 1584” from the Yale Law School website

• Great Dismal Swamp maroons

• The Jamestown Colony on History.com

• Cross pattée

• Maltese cross

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CREDITS:

Episode 171: The Lost Colony of Roanoke Part 1.  Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel. Sound Design by Ryan McCullough; Tess Pfeifle, Producer, and Lead Researcher; Research Support from the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a.k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2020 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.