The Roanoke Colony
Sir Walter Raleigh, an English adventurer, writer, and explorer, was a prominent member of English society and, for a while, the favorite of Queen Elizabeth I. In 1584, Raleigh obtained approval from the queen to colonize America. He wasted no time sending out a reconnaissance voyage led by Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe, who returned full of enthusiasm, citing abundant resources and friendly natives.
Bolstered with confidence, Raleigh then financed another sailing where he sent out 100 colonists in seven ships to establish a colony on Roanoke Island, off of what is known today as North Carolina. Sir Richard Grenville and Sir Ralph Lane led this expedition.
They built a fort, constructed houses, planted crops, and searched for gold. But within a year, nature and the natives forced them back to England. The English settlers weren't used to hurricanes, and the Native Americans proved to be hostile neighbors. Even though they abandoned the area, this was the first Roanoke settlement, and the first English colony in America.
There are Native Americans now living in North Carolina who call themselves Croatan, and they often have English names. Some believe this is proof that the lost colonists were their ancestors. But English ancestry cannot be substantiated. The Fort Raleigh National Historic Site was established on Roanoke Island in 1941.
Undaunted, a British man named John White arrived in Roanoke in 1587 with more colonists, including his daughter Eleanor Dare, who was about to give birth. When she delivered a baby girl, she named the child (quite appropriately) Virginia Dare, the first English baby born in the New World. After a few weeks, White sailed back to England to gather more provisions. Fighting between England and Spain delayed his return, but when he did sail back in 1591, he found a deserted colony with the word “Croatoan” carved on a tree post. There was no visible sign that a struggle had taken place, the settlers had simply disappeared. The fate of the colony, which became known as “the Lost Colony of Roanoke,” is still a mystery, with some suggesting the settlers were attacked and killed by the natives or by the Spanish troops. Others believe that the colonists went to live with the natives, or perhaps on nearby Croatoan Island.
