The Roanoke Colony was the location of two attempts by Sir Walter Raleigh to create the first permanent English settlement in North America. The first group arrived at Roanoke Island in 1585 as a military outpost but left in 1586. The second group, called the Lost Colony, arrived in 1587 under John White. When a ship returned in 1590, the colony was gone, and no one knew what happened to the 112 to 121 people who lived there.
The first colony was started in 1585 by Governor Ralph Lane on Roanoke Island, which is now in Dare County, North Carolina. Problems with local Native American tribes and a lack of supplies made life difficult. A mission to bring more supplies was delayed, so Lane left the colony and returned to England in 1586. Sir Richard Grenville arrived later but also left, leaving a small group to protect the land. In 1587, John White led a new group to establish a settlement called "Cittie of Raleigh" on the Chesapeake Bay.
During a visit to check on Grenville’s men, a ship pilot named Simon Fernandes forced White to stay on Roanoke. White returned to England to get supplies but could not go back until 1590 because of a war. When he arrived, he found the settlement had walls but was empty. The word "CROATOAN" was carved into the wooden fence, which White believed meant the colonists had moved to Croatoan Island. However, rough seas and a lost anchor made it impossible to follow this clue. This event became known as the "Lost Colony."
Some people thought the colonists joined nearby Native American tribes as early as 1605. Later, colonists from Jamestown reported that the Roanoke settlers might have been killed, and some claimed to see people with European features in Native American villages. However, no proof was found. Interest in the mystery decreased until 1834, when George Bancroft wrote about the colony in his book A History of the United States. Bancroft described the colonists, especially White’s granddaughter Virginia Dare, as important figures in American history, which sparked public interest in the story.
Background
In 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano explored the Outer Banks. He thought Pamlico Sound was the Pacific Ocean and believed the barrier islands formed an isthmus. He shared his findings with King Francis I of France and King Henry VIII of England, but neither king acted on his ideas.
In 1578, Queen Elizabeth I gave a charter to Sir Humphrey Gilbert. The charter allowed him to explore and claim lands not controlled by Christian kingdoms. Gilbert had helped stop a rebellion in Ireland earlier in the 1570s. The charter’s terms were not clear, but Gilbert believed it gave him the right to claim all lands in the New World north of Spanish Florida. In 1583, Gilbert claimed St. John’s, Newfoundland, as the first English territory in North America by the order of Queen Elizabeth I. However, he died at sea during his return journey to England.
After Gilbert’s death in 1583, Queen Elizabeth divided his charter between his brother Adrian Gilbert and his half-brother Sir Walter Raleigh. Adrian’s charter allowed him to claim Newfoundland and lands north of it, where people hoped to find a route to Asia. Raleigh was given lands farther south, though many of these areas were already claimed by Spain. At the same time, Richard Hakluyt noticed Verrazzano’s description of an "isthmus" within Raleigh’s area and encouraged England to use this opportunity.
Raleigh’s charter, given on March 25, 1584, required him to establish a colony by 1591 or lose his right to settle. The charter ordered him to "discover, search, find out, and view such remote heathen and barbarous Lands, Countries, and territories … to have, hold, occupy, and enjoy." It was expected that Raleigh would create a base to send privateers on attacks against Spanish treasure ships.
Although Raleigh had broad powers, he was not allowed to leave Queen Elizabeth’s side. Instead of leading voyages himself, he sent others to carry out missions and managed operations from London.
Amadas–Barlowe expedition
Raleigh quickly organized an expedition to explore his claim. The journey began on April 27, 1584. The fleet included two ships. Philip Amadas was the captain of the larger ship, with Simon Fernandes as the pilot, while Arthur Barlowe led the other ship. Some evidence suggests Thomas Harriot and John White may have joined the voyage, but no records directly confirm their participation.
The expedition followed a common route for voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. The ships sailed south to follow the trade winds, which carried them westward to the West Indies, where they gathered fresh water. The two ships then traveled north until July 4, when they spotted land now known as Cape Fear. On July 13, they landed at an inlet north of Hatorask Island, which was named "Port Ferdinando" after Fernandes, who discovered it.
The Native Americans in the area may have seen Europeans from earlier expeditions. The Secotan, who controlled Roanoke Island and the mainland between Albemarle Sound and the Pamlico River, soon met the English and formed friendly relations. The Secotan leader, Wingina, had recently been hurt in a war with the Pamlico, so his brother, Granganimeo, represented the tribe instead.
When Amadas and Barlowe returned to England in the fall of 1584, they praised the tribes’ kindness and the strategic location of Roanoke. They brought back two Native Americans: Wanchese, a Secotan, and Manteo, a Croatan whose mother was the leader of Croatoan Island. The expedition’s reports described the region as a pleasant and rich land, comparing it to the Golden Age and the Garden of Eden. However, these descriptions may have been exaggerated by Raleigh.
Queen Elizabeth was impressed by the results of Raleigh’s expedition. In 1585, during a ceremony where Raleigh was knighted, she named the land granted to him "Virginia" and declared him "Knight Lord and Governor of Virginia." Sir Walter Raleigh then worked to find investors to support a colony.
Lane colony
In 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh planned a mission to establish the first English colony in Virginia. The goal was to explore the area and assess its natural resources. Originally, 69 colonists were planned, but 600 men were sent on the voyage. About half of these men were expected to stay at the colony, with a second group arriving later. Ralph Lane was chosen as the governor, and Philip Amadas was the admiral. However, the overall mission was led by Sir Richard Grenville. The voyage included civilian experts such as Joachim Gans, a metallurgist; Thomas Harriot, a scientist; and John White, an artist. Manteo and Wanchese, who had traveled to England earlier, also joined the journey.
The fleet included seven ships: the galleass Tiger (Grenville’s flagship, with Fernandes as pilot), the flyboat Roebuck (captained by John Clarke), the Red Lion (under George Raymond), the Elizabeth (captained by Thomas Cavendish), the Dorothy (possibly captained by Arthur Barlowe), and two small pinnaces.
On April 9, 1585, the fleet left Plymouth, sailing south through the Bay of Biscay. A severe storm near Portugal separated the Tiger from the rest of the fleet and sank one of the pinnaces. Fernandes had planned for this, directing the ships to meet at Mosquetal, on Puerto Rico’s southern coast. The Tiger traveled alone to the Caribbean, arriving at Mosquetal on May 11 ahead of the other ships.
While waiting for the rest of the fleet, Grenville built a base camp for his crew. Lane’s men practiced constructing fortifications for the future colony. The crew also repaired the lost pinnace by making nails and cutting local wood. The Elizabeth arrived on May 19, just after the fort and new pinnace were completed.
The remaining ships did not reach Mosquetal. At least one ship faced problems near Jamaica and ran out of supplies, forcing its captain to leave 20 crew members ashore. Eventually, the Roebuck, Red Lion, and Dorothy reached the Outer Banks by mid-June. The Red Lion left 30 men on Croatoan Island and headed to Newfoundland for privateering. Grenville tried to obtain supplies from Spanish authorities but, when they failed to deliver, he feared an attack and abandoned the temporary fort.
Grenville captured two Spanish ships in the Mona Passage and added them to his fleet. Lane used one of these ships to seize salt mounds from the Spanish at Salinas Bay. He built fortifications to protect his men as they collected the salt. Grenville’s ships then traveled to La Isabela, where the Spanish temporarily stopped hostilities to trade with the English. On June 7, Grenville left Hispaniola for the Outer Banks.
On June 26, the fleet entered an inlet near Wococon Island (now Ocracoke Inlet). The Tiger struck a shoal, damaging most of the food supplies and nearly sinking the ship. This wreck made it impossible to winter at the colony as planned. The remaining supplies could not support the large number of settlers originally intended. The shallow waters of the Outer Banks also made the area unsuitable for large ships. The colony’s main task now became finding a better harbor.
After repairs, the Tiger joined the rest of the fleet at Port Ferdinando, where they reunited with the Roebuck and Dorothy. The men left behind by the Red Lion were likely found during this time. On August 5, John Arundell took command of a faster ship and returned to England to report the expedition’s success.
The loss of supplies from the Tiger meant the colony would have far fewer settlers than planned. Grenville decided only about 100 men would stay with Lane until a second fleet, scheduled to leave England in June 1585, could arrive with more colonists and supplies. However, this second fleet was redirected to Newfoundland to warn fishing fleets about Spanish attacks on English ships. Until resupply could occur, the colony would rely on local Native American support.
While the Tiger was repaired, Grenville led an expedition to explore Pamlico Sound and the villages of Aquascogoc, Pamlico, and Secotan. Harriot and White studied Native American society during this time. Although much of their research was lost during the 1586 evacuation, Harriot’s survey of Virginia’s people and resources was published in 1588, with White’s illustrations included in the 1590 edition.
After this, a silver cup was reported missing. Grenville sent Amadas to Aquascogoc to demand its return. When the villagers did not produce the cup, the English burned the village and its crops, forcing the natives to flee.
Manteo arranged a meeting between Grenville, Lane, and Granganimeo to secure land for the English settlement on Roanoke Island. Both sides agreed the island was a good location for its access to the ocean and ability to avoid Spanish patrols. Lane began building a fort on the island’s north side. No drawings of the Roanoke fort survive, but it likely resembled the one at Mosquetal.
Grenville left Roanoke on August 25, 1585, aboard the Tiger. Soon after, in Bermuda, he captured the Spanish galleon Santa Maria de San Vicente, which had become separated from its fleet. The ship, filled with treasure, was taken to England, making the Roanoke expedition profitable and exciting Queen Elizabeth’s court.
The Roebuck left Roanoke on September 8, 1585, leaving one pinnace under Amadas’ command. Records show 107 men remained with Lane at the colony. Historians disagree on whether John White returned to England with Grenville or stayed at Roanoke during the winter.
Many colonists had joined the mission hoping to find gold and silver. When these resources were not found, morale dropped. The English also studied where Native Americans obtained copper but never located its source. The colonists relied on corn, venison, fish, and oysters from nearby villages to survive the winter. Little is known about the colony’s activities between September 1585 and March 1586, but it is likely they used up their supplies by October, leading to low morale.
Lost colony
Despite the abandonment of the Lane colony, Raleigh was encouraged by Hakluyt, Harriot, and White to try again. However, Roanoke Island was no longer safe for English settlers after conflicts between Lane's men and the Secotan tribe and the death of Wingina. Hakluyt suggested Chesapeake Bay as a new location, believing the Pacific coast might be near the explored areas of Virginia. On January 7, 1587, Raleigh approved a charter to establish "the Cittie of Raleigh," with White as governor and twelve assistants. About 115 people agreed to join, including White's pregnant daughter Eleanor and her husband Ananias Dare. Most colonists were middle-class Londoners who hoped to become wealthy landowners. Manteo and Towaye, who had left the Lane colony with Drake's fleet, also joined. This time, the group included women and children, but no soldiers.
The expedition had three ships: the flagship Lion, captained by White with Fernandes as master and pilot, a flyboat under Edward Spicer, and a full-rigged pinnace commanded by Edward Stafford. The fleet left on May 8.
On July 22, the flagship and pinnace anchored at Croatoan Island. White planned to take forty men to Roanoke to meet Grenville's fifteen men before heading to Chesapeake Bay. However, a "gentleman" on the flagship, representing Fernandes, ordered the sailors to leave the colonists on Roanoke.
The next morning, White's group found the site of Lane's colony. The fort had been torn down, and the houses were empty and overgrown with melons. There was no sign of Grenville's men, except for human bones White believed were remains of someone killed by Native Americans.
After the flyboat arrived on July 25, all colonists landed. Soon after, colonist George Howe was killed by a native while searching for crabs in Albemarle Sound.
White sent Stafford to rebuild relations with the Croatan, with Manteo's help. The Croatan explained that a group of mainland tribes, led by Wanchese, had attacked Grenville's group. The colonists tried to negotiate peace through the Croatan but received no reply. On August 9, White led a surprise attack on Dasamongueponke, but the enemy had already left the village, and the English accidentally attacked Croatan looters. Manteo helped ease tensions again. For his help, Manteo was baptized and named "Lord of Roanoke and Dasamongueponke."
On August 18, 1587, Eleanor Dare gave birth to a daughter, named "Virginia" to honor being the first Christian born in Virginia. Records show Margery Harvye also gave birth around the same time, but no other details about her child are known.
By the time the fleet prepared to return to England, the colonists decided to move 50 miles (80 km) up Albemarle Sound. They convinced Governor White to return to England to explain their situation and ask for help. White reluctantly agreed and left with the fleet on August 27, 1587.
After a difficult journey, White arrived in England on November 5, 1587. By then, reports of the Spanish Armada preparing for attack had reached London, and Queen Elizabeth ordered all ships to stay in England to fight the Armada.
During the winter, Grenville was allowed to lead a fleet to the Caribbean to attack the Spanish, with White joining as a resupply ship captain. The fleet was set to leave in March 1588, but bad weather kept them in port until Grenville received new orders to defend England. Two smaller ships, the Brave and the Roe, were not fit for battle, so White was allowed to take them to Roanoke. The ships left on April 22, but the captains tried to capture Spanish ships to gain profit. On May 6, they were attacked by French mariners (or pirates) near Morocco. About two dozen crew members died, and supplies for Roanoke were stolen, forcing the ships to return to England.
After the Spanish Armada was defeated in August, England kept a shipping ban to focus on preparing a Counter Armada to attack Spain in 1589. White would not be allowed to resupply Roanoke until 1590.
The Spanish Empire had been gathering information on the Roanoke colonies since Grenville captured Santa Maria de San Vicente in 1585. They feared the English had created a base for pirates in North America but could not find it. They did not know Lane's colony had been abandoned or that White's would be placed elsewhere. The Spanish greatly overestimated the success of the English in Virginia, with rumors claiming the English had found a diamond mountain and a route to the Pacific Ocean.
After a failed mission in 1587, Philip II of Spain ordered Vicente González to search Chesapeake Bay in 1588. González found nothing there but discovered Port Ferdinando along the Outer Banks, which appeared abandoned. He left without investigating further. Although the Spanish thought González had found the secret English base, the defeat of the Armada prevented Philip from attacking it. In 1590, a plan was reportedly made to destroy the Roanoke colony and build a Spanish one in Chesapeake Bay, but this was false information meant to trick English intelligence.
Eventually, Raleigh arranged for White to join a privateering expedition led by John Watts. The fleet of six ships would raid Spanish outposts in the Caribbean during the summer of 1590, but the flagship Hopewell and the Moonlight would split off to take White to his colony. At the same time, Raleigh was transferring the venture to new investors.
Hopewell and Moonlight anchored at Croatoan Island on August 12, but there is no evidence White used the time to contact the Croatan for information. On the evening of August 15, while anchored at the north end of Croatoan Island, the crew saw smoke rising from Roanoke Island. The next morning, they saw another column of smoke on the southern end of Croatoan but found nothing. White's landing party struggled for two days to cross Pamlico Sound, with many losses. On August 17, they saw a fire on the north end of Roanoke and rowed toward it but reached the island after dark and decided not to land. The men spent the night in their boats, singing English songs in hopes the colonists would hear.
White and the others landed on the morning of August 18 (his granddaughter's third birthday). They found fresh footprints in the sand but saw no one. They also discovered the letters "CRO" carved into a tree. When they reached the colony site, White noticed the area had been fortified with a wooden fence. Near the entrance, the word "CROATOAN" was carved into one of the posts. White
Investigations into Roanoke
In 1590, White could not find the colonists, but his report said they might have moved to another place and could still be alive. Raleigh wanted to keep the situation unclear because if the settlers were not proven dead, he could keep his claim on Virginia. In 1594, a request was made to declare Ananias Dare legally dead so his son, John Dare, could inherit his property. This request was approved in 1597.
During Raleigh's first trip to America in 1595, he claimed to be looking for the lost colonists, but he later said this was false information to hide his search for El Dorado. On the return trip, he sailed past the Outer Banks and later said that bad weather stopped him from landing.
Later, Raleigh tried to keep his control over Virginia, based on the idea that the Roanoke colonists might still be alive, when the price of sassafras rose sharply. He funded a 1602 mission to the Outer Banks, with the goal of searching again. Led by Samuel Mace, this trip was different because Raleigh bought his own ship and promised the sailors their wages so they would not be distracted by piracy. However, the ship's plan and list of supplies showed that Raleigh's main goal was to collect sassafras far south of Croatoan Island. When Mace reached Hatteras, bad weather forced them to leave quickly. In 1603, Raleigh was involved in a plot against King James and was arrested for treason, ending his control over Virginia.
In 1603, one final expedition was sent to find the Roanoke colonists, led by Bartholomew Gilbert. Their goal was Chesapeake Bay, but bad weather made them land near there instead. The landing group, including Gilbert, was killed by Native Americans for unknown reasons on July 29. The rest of the crew had to return to England without success.
After the Jamestown settlement was built in 1607, John Smith was captured by the Powhatan and met with their leader, Wahunsenacawh (called "Chief Powhatan"), and his brother, Opechancanough. They described places called "Ocanahonan," where men wore European-style clothing, and "Anone," which had walled houses. Later, Smith arranged with Wowinchopunk, the leader of the Paspahegh, to investigate "Panawicke," another place said to have people in European clothes. The colony made a simple map of the area, including these villages. The map also showed a place called "Pakrakanick" with a note saying, "Here remaineth four men clothed that came from Roonock to Ocanahawan."
In the summer of 1608, Smith sent a letter and the map to England. The original map is no longer available, but a copy was sent to Pedro de Zúñiga, the Spanish ambassador to England, who gave it to King Philip III of Spain. This copy, now called the "Zúñiga Map," was found again in 1890.
Smith planned to explore Pakrakanick, but a conflict with the Paspahegh stopped the mission. He also sent two groups to search for other villages and find "the lost company of Sir Walter Rawley." Neither group found any sign of the Roanoke colonists.
By May 1609, England's Royal Council for Virginia heard that the 1587 colonists had been killed by Wahunsenacawh. The source of this claim is unknown. Machumps, Wahunsenacawh's brother-in-law, had recently arrived in England and shared information about Virginia. Some think he might have also brought a letter from Smith,
Scientific research
Research into the disappearance of the 1587 colonists mostly stopped after Lawson's 1701 investigation. Interest in the Lost Colony grew again in the 19th century, leading to many studies by experts.
The ruins Lawson saw in 1701 later became a place for tourists to visit. U.S. President James Monroe visited the site on April 7, 1819. In the 1860s, people described the old fort as a simple hill-shaped structure and noted holes dug nearby to search for valuable items. The 1921 silent film The Lost Colony and road construction caused more damage to the site. In the 1930s, J. C. Harrington pushed for the structure’s restoration. The National Park Service started managing the area in 1941, naming it Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. In 1950, the hill-shaped structure was rebuilt to look like it originally did.
In 1998, a team led by climatologist David W. Stahle (from the University of Arkansas) and archaeologist Dennis B. Blanton (from the College of William and Mary) found that a severe drought happened in Tidewater between 1587 and 1589. Their study used growth rings from bald cypress trees, creating data from 1185 to 1984. The year 1587 had the worst growing conditions in the 800-year period. These findings matched the concerns the Croatan people had about their food supply.
Since 2005, computer scientist Roberta Estes has created groups to study DNA and family history. Her work on the Lost Colony aimed to find a genetic link between the colonists and possible Native American descendants. Testing regular DNA is not reliable because not much of the colonists’ genetic material would remain after five or six generations. However, testing Y chromosomes and mitochondrial DNA is more reliable over long periods. The biggest challenge is finding a genetic sample to compare with, either from a Lost Colonist’s remains or a descendant. While it is possible to study DNA from 430-year-old bones, no bones from the Lost Colony have been found. As of 2019, no living descendant had been identified.
Archaeological research
Archaeological research on Roanoke Island began in 1887 when Talcott Williams found a Native American burial site. He returned in 1895 to dig at the site of a fort but found no important items. In the 1990s, Ivor Noël Hume made several discoveries, but none were clearly connected to the 1587 colony, only to the earlier 1585 settlement.
In 1995, Hurricane Emily exposed Native American artifacts along Cape Creek in Buxton, North Carolina. Anthropologist David Sutton Phelps Jr. led an excavation in 1995. In 1998, his team found a ring that seemed to be a gold signet ring with symbols from the Kendall family in the 16th century. This discovery was celebrated, but Phelps did not publish his findings or test the ring. In 2017, X-ray analysis showed the ring was brass, not gold, and experts could not confirm its connection to the Kendall family. Because the ring had little value and was not well known, it is hard to link it to the Roanoke voyages. It may have been brought to the New World later.
A major challenge for archaeologists studying the 1587 colonists is that many common items could have come from the 1585 colony or from Native Americans who traded with European settlers. Andrew Lawler suggests that a conclusive discovery would be the remains of a woman (since the 1585 colony had only men) buried in a Christian way (lying on her back, facing east-west) and dated before 1650. However, few human remains have been found at sites linked to the Lost Colony.
One reason for the lack of archaeological evidence may be shoreline erosion. Between 1851 and 1970, the northern shore of Roanoke Island lost 928 feet (283 meters) of land. If this trend continued back to the 1580s, parts of the settlements may now be underwater, along with any artifacts or signs of life.
In 2011, researchers at the First Colony Foundation noticed two patches on White’s 1585 map, La Virginea Pars. The British Museum examined the map with a light table and found one patch covered a symbol for a fort near the Roanoke and Chowan rivers. A faint outline of a fort, possibly drawn in invisible ink, was also found on the patch. One idea is that White may have hidden the fort from the Spanish, who wanted to destroy the colony. The Spanish had sent an expedition but could not find the settlers.
The symbol on the map covers an area in Bertie County, North Carolina, near the 16th-century Weapemeoc village of Mettaquem. In 2012, archaeologists named the location “Site X,” as in “X marks the spot.” In 2015, a team excavated Site X.
In 2017, the First Colony Foundation reported finding pieces of Tudor pottery and weapons at Site X. They concluded these items suggest a small group of colonists lived peacefully in the area. However, researchers must prove these items were not brought there by the 1585 Lane colony or the 1650s trading post of Nathaniel Batts. In 2019, the Foundation planned to expand research into Salmon Creek State Natural Area, land donated to North Carolina.
In 2020, new artifacts were found in North Carolina that researchers think may belong to survivors of the Lost Colony. These were discovered about 50 miles west of Roanoke Island. Scientists studied the artifacts to see if they matched the Lost Colony’s items, since later settlers, like those from Jamestown, had different tools, such as clay pipes, which were not used earlier. Another researcher found items about 50 miles south of Roanoke Island.
In 2020, Mark Horton, an archaeologist from the University of Bristol, found European items at a Native American village on Hatteras Island, including parts of a sword and a gun. This may show that settlers lived among local Native Americans.
In 2020, Scott Dawson published a book titled The Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, describing his work with Horton to find colony-related artifacts. He also wrote articles, including one in American Heritage magazine, about European-made items like an olive jar, glass, and other objects.
In 2025, Dawson and Horton announced a new dig on Hatteras Island uncovered large amounts of hammerscale, small metal flakes from forging iron, in a layer dated to the late 16th century. They argue that hammerscale, a waste product, would not be traded, and Native Americans would not know how to forge iron, so this proves settlers were present. However, some experts question this, noting no hearth was found and the hammerscale might have come from other processes. The results have not yet been reviewed by other scientists.
Hypotheses about the colony's disappearance
Without clear proof of where the Lost Colony moved or what happened to them, people have guessed about their fate since the 1590s. This topic has become known among scholars for drawing too much attention and excitement without providing strong evidence.
Guesses about the Lost Colonists usually start with what is known. When John White returned to the colony in 1590, there were no signs of a battle or people leaving in a hurry, but the area was protected. No human remains or graves were found, which suggests that everyone was still alive when they left. The message "CROATOAN" left behind matches an agreement White had made to show where to look for them, meaning they likely wanted to be found.
David Beers Quinn believed the 1587 colonists tried to move to their original plan, Chesapeake Bay, using a small boat called the pinnace and other small boats to carry their belongings. A small group stayed behind at Croatoan to wait for White and guide him to the new location. After White failed to find them, the main group likely joined the Chesepians, while those at Croatoan became part of the Croatan tribe.
Quinn thought Samuel Mace’s 1602 voyage might have gone to Chesapeake Bay and taken some Powhatans back to England. These people could have told Thomas Harriot that Europeans were living in the area, which might explain why people believed the colonists survived after 1603.
Although Strachey wrote that Wahunsenacawh killed the colonists and Chesepians in separate events, Quinn thought this happened in one attack in April 1607. He suggested Wahunsenacawh might have been angry about Mace’s kidnappings. Quinn believed John Smith learned about the attack but kept it secret to avoid problems. However, Quinn’s theory is not widely accepted by other scholars, who rely too much on Strachey and Purchas’s accounts.
Since at least 1605, people have guessed that the missing colonists might have become part of nearby Native American tribes. If this happened, they would have used up their European supplies and stopped using European ways of life as they adapted to Native American traditions. Europeans noticed that people taken by Native Americans often did not want to return to European society. This makes it likely that the colonists or their descendants would not have tried to reunite with later English settlers.
This raises the question of which tribes the colonists joined. It is widely believed that the Croatan were ancestors of the 18th-century Hatteras, but this is not certain. The modern Lumbee tribe claims to be descendants of both the Croatan and the Lost Colonists through the Hatteras.
Some 17th-century maps used the word "Croatoan" to describe areas on the mainland near Roanoke and Hatteras. By 1700, these areas were linked to the Machapunga. Stories about the Croatan moving across the mainland are common in eastern North Carolina, such as the "Legend of the Coharie" recorded in 1950.
In the 1880s, a state legislator named Hamilton McMillan claimed that the Native American community in Robeson County (then called free people of color) had names and language from the 1587 colonists. His work led the North Carolina legislature to recognize the group as the "Croatan" tribe in 1885. The tribe later changed its name to Lumbee in 1956.
Other tribes, like the Catawba and Coree, have also been linked to the Roanoke colonists. Some believed the colonists moved west to the Chowan River, while others said they scattered to areas like the Pamlico and Neuse rivers.
Early reports from 1607 described encounters with pale-skinned, blond-haired people among Native American tribes. While this is often linked to the Lost Colonists, it could also be due to higher rates of albinism in Native Americans. A 2020 book by Dawson claimed the colonists merged with the Croatan tribe, but experts like Alain Outlaw and Nick Luccketti called this "storytelling" without real evidence. Dawson’s book also admitted there was no clear proof of assimilation and was not reviewed by other scholars.
An archaeological dig by Mark Horton found European items, like part of a sword and gun, at a Native American village on Hatteras Island. This might prove the colonists joined local Native Americans.
The colonists might have tried to return to England using the pinnace, a small boat left behind. If they did, the ship might have been lost at sea, explaining their disappearance. It is possible the colony had sailors who could make the journey. Ships of the pinnace’s size could travel to England, though they usually traveled with other ships.
The colonists may have avoided the usual route across the Atlantic to avoid Spanish attacks, choosing instead to sail directly to England. A similar journey was made in 1563 by French settlers at Charlesfort, who built a boat and returned to Europe. Alternatively, the colonists might have sailed north to reach English fishing ships in the Gulf of Maine.
The pinnace was too small to carry everyone, and the supplies needed for a long trip would limit the number of passengers. However, the colonists might have built another boat using local wood and parts from the pinnace. Survivors of the 1609 Sea Venture shipwreck later built ships, so it is possible the Lost Colonists could have done the same. With the pinnace and a new boat, most of the group might have made the journey.
In popular culture
Raleigh was publicly criticized for not caring enough about the fate of the 1587 colony, especially by Sir Francis Bacon. In 1597, Bacon wrote, "It is the most sinful thing in the world to abandon a colony that was doing well. This harms the reputation of the people involved and shows guilt for the suffering of many people." The 1605 comedy Eastward Hoe includes characters traveling to Virginia, who are told that the lost colonists had married Native Americans by that time, creating "a whole country of English."
Until 1834, United States historians paid little attention to the Roanoke settlements. In 1834, George Bancroft praised the 1587 colonists in his book A History of the United States. He highlighted the nobility of Walter Raleigh, the betrayal by Simon Fernandes, the danger from the Secotan people, the bravery of the colonists, and the tragic loss of the colony. Bancroft was the first since John White to write about Virginia Dare, noting her importance as the first English child born on what would become U.S. soil. His account interested the American public. As Andrew Lawler wrote, "The country wanted an origin story more exciting than the events in Jamestown or Plymouth. Roanoke, with its heroes and villains, offered the right mix for a national myth."
The first known use of the phrase "The Lost Colony" to describe the 1587 Roanoke settlement was by Eliza Lanesford Cushing in her 1837 story Virginia Dare; or, the Lost Colony. Cushing also wrote about Virginia Dare, the granddaughter of John White, being raised by Native Americans after the other colonists were killed. She focused on Virginia Dare’s life as a young woman. In 1840, Cornelia Tuthill wrote a similar story, describing Virginia wearing the skin of a white doe. In 1861, Mary Mason’s story in the Raleigh Register imagined Virginia being magically transformed into a white doe. This idea later appeared in the 1901 poem The White Doe by Sallie Southall Cotten.
The popularity of the Lost Colony and Virginia Dare in the 19th and early 20th centuries happened at the same time as debates in the United States about increasing numbers of Catholic and non-British immigrants, as well as the treatment of African Americans and Native Americans. Both the Lost Colony and the adult Virginia character were used as symbols of white nationalism. Even when Virginia Dare was used to support women’s suffrage in the 1920s, it was to convince North Carolina lawmakers that giving white women the vote would protect white dominance. By the 1930s, this racist meaning seemed to fade, though the VDARE organization, founded in 1999, has been criticized for promoting white supremacist ideas.
Celebrations of the Lost Colony on Virginia Dare’s birthday have taken place on Roanoke Island since the 1880s. To attract more visitors, Paul Green’s play The Lost Colony opened in 1937 and is still performed today. President Franklin D. Roosevelt attended the play on August 18, 1937, which was Virginia Dare’s 350th birthday.
The message "CROATOAN" left by the colonists has been used in fictional stories. In Harlan Ellison’s 1975 short story "Croatoan" and Stephen King’s 1999 miniseries Storm of the Century, the word took on a supernatural feel. It also appears as the name of a villain in King’s Haven and in the 2005 TV series Supernatural. In the 1994 graphic novel Batman-Spawn: War Devil, "Croatoan" is the name of a powerful demon who tries to sacrifice Gotham City to Satan.
In the 2011 American Horror Story episode "Birth," a fictional story describes the Lost Colonists dying and their ghosts haunting Native Americans until a tribal elder banishes them with the word "Croatoan." This idea was expanded in the sixth season of American Horror Story: Roanoke, which features fictional TV shows about ghostly encounters with the colonists. The leader of the undead colonists, "The Butcher," is shown as John White’s wife Thomasin, even though there is no historical evidence she was a colonist.
In the 2015 novel The Last American Vampire, the colonists are victims of a vampire named "Crowley," and the message "CRO" was an incomplete attempt to name him.