Monday, November 28, 2011

The Lost Colony of Roanoke Island

We sailed into Roanoke Island and visited the colony site.  Since we were here, the photos are from our stay on Roanoke.

This is what I learned about the lost colony:

Sir Richard Grenville, the cousin of Sir Walter Raleigh, tried and failed to reach America in 1578.  In 1583, he tried again and made it as far as Newfoundland, but one of his ships sank and his supplies were ruined, so he was forced to go home, but on the way back to England his ship capsized and he was drowned.

Blacksmith shop

After the death of his cousin, Sir Walter Raleigh became interested in colonizing America in 1583.  When his two ships reached America, Sir Walter thought he had landed on the mainland, but in fact it was on a tiny island.  There they met friendly Native Americans and after a time returned to England with two Native Americans, Manteo and Wanchese.  Later, they were returned home.

Dressed for battle.

When the Englishmen return, they sail to Roanoke and start a colony made up of 116 colonists, in 1585.  There they meet friendly Native Americans, but there were stories about the English burning the village of Aquascogoc, and soon the they were enemies.  Since the colonists could no longer trade with the Native Americans, John White, a famous artist and also the Governor of Roanoke, decided to sail back to England to gather supplies for the hungry colonists.

Elizabeth II - the ship that brought the colonists.

When John White finally returned to the colony almost 3 years later, he found the colony abandoned and all the colonists had disappeared.  He never knew what became of them, but he found the word "Croatan" carved in a fence post.  White thought that meant the colonists had moved to the island of Croatan, but on the way there, a storm whipped up and he was forced to return to England.  Today, the most probable explanation is that they were killed by the Native Americans, and the survivors joined different tribes.  Although this is likely, we will probably never know what became of the lost colony of Roanoke Island.    

Dory of the Elizabeth II

No comments:

Post a Comment