Sir Walter Raleigh attempted to establish the first permanent English settlement in North America with the Roanoke Colony (/ˈroʊənoʊk/ ROH-ə-nohk). The colony was established in 1585, but the colonists had mysteriously vanished by the time a ship landed in 1590. It is now referred to as the Lost Colony, and it is still unclear what happened to the 112–121 people.
In 1585, Governor Ralph Lane established Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island in what is now Dare County, North Carolina. A shortage of resources and strained ties with some of the nearby Native American tribes plagued Lane’s colony.
After Sir Richard Grenville’s resupply voyage was postponed, Lane left the colony and accompanied Sir Francis Drake back to England in 1586. Two weeks later, Grenville arrived and went home as well, leaving a small garrison to defend Raleigh’s claim.
In 1587, a second expedition headed by John White arrived on the island and established a new town. He was dispatched by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the “Cittie of Raleigh” in Chesapeake Bay. Because of the mysterious disappearance of its inhabitants, that endeavor came to be known as the Lost Colony.
White and his colonists were compelled to stay on Roanoke by Simon Fernandes, the flagship’s pilot, who stopped to see how Grenville’s troops were doing. In 1588, White brought Fernandes back to England with plans to bring additional supplies.
When he returned to Roanoke in 1590, it had been abandoned but fortified due to the Anglo-Spanish War. White deduced that the colonists had moved to Croatoan Island based on the mysterious word “CROATOAN” that was etched into the wall. Rough seas and a missing anchor prompted the expedition to return to England before he could pursue this clue.
It is unknown what happened to the around 112–121 colonists. Writings as early as 1605 speculate that they had integrated with local Native American groups. Although there were rumors of European-looking individuals being spotted in Native American towns and allegations of the Roanoke settlers having been slaughtered, the Jamestown colonists’ investigations yielded no concrete proof.
Before George Bancroft’s narrative in A History of the United States was published in 1834, there was little interest in the subject. Bancroft’s portrayal of the colonists, especially White’s newborn granddaughter Virginia Dare, captivated the public’s interest and positioned them as key players in American society.
Context
Giovanni da Verrazzano discovered the Outer Banks in 1524, mistakenly believing the barrier islands to be an isthmus after mistaking Pamlico Sound for the Pacific Ocean. Seeing this as a possible route to China, he submitted his research to King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France, but neither of them followed up.
A charter to travel and settle “unclaimed by Christian kingdoms” was given to Sir Humphrey Gilbert by Queen Elizabeth I in 1578. In the early 1570s, Gilbert had assisted in putting down the first Desmond Rebellion in the Munster province of Ireland. Although the Queen’s charter was ambiguous, Gilbert interpreted it to award him ownership of all New World territories north of Spanish Florida.
In 1583, under Gilbert’s leadership, the English temporarily asserted their claim to St. John’s, Newfoundland, as the first English possession in North America, under Queen Elizabeth I’s royal prerogative. However, Gilbert was lost at sea while returning to England.
After Gilbert passed away in 1583, Queen Elizabeth split the charter between his half-brother Sir Walter Raleigh and his brother Adrian Gilbert. The patent on Newfoundland and all northern regions, where geographers anticipated someday discovering the long-sought Northwest Passage to Asia, was granted to Adrian by his charter.
Even though Spain had already claimed a large portion of the southern regions, Raleigh was given them. However, at this point, Richard Hakluyt had noticed Verazzano’s “isthmus”—which was inside Raleigh’s claim—and was advocating for England to seize the chance.
According to the terms of his charter, which was granted on March 25, 1584, Raleigh had to found a colony by 1591 or risk losing his colonization rights. He had the task of “discover, search, find out, and view such remote heathen and barbarous Lands, Countries, and territories … to have, hold, occupy, and enjoy” . Raleigh was supposed to set up a base from which to launch raids by privateers against Spain’s treasure fleets.
Raleigh was given a lot of authority, yet he was not allowed to leave the queen’s side. He assigned assignments to his allies and managed operations from London rather than personally conducting expeditions to the Americas.
The Amadas-Barlowe voyage
Raleigh set up an expedition to investigate his allegation right away. In 1584, it left England on April 27. There were two barques in the fleet: Arthur Barlowe was in charge of the smaller one, while Philip Amadas was captain of the bigger one, piloted by Simon Fernandes. Although there are hints that John White and Thomas Harriot could have been on the expedition, no documents that directly attest to their participation have survived.
By sailing south to capture trade winds that took them westward to the West Indies, where they gathered fresh water, the expedition followed a typical transatlantic path. After that, the two ships headed north until they discovered land at what is now known as Cape Fear on July 4. On July 13, the fleet landed at an entrance north of Hatorask Island, which Fernandes dubbed “Port Ferdinando” after him.
The local Native Americans had probably met, or at least seen, Europeans on earlier excursions. The Secotan, who ruled over Roanoke Island and the peninsula between the Pamlico River and Albemarle Sound, quickly contacted the English and built cordial ties. Wingina, the Secotan leader, had just been wounded in a battle with the Pamlico, so his brother Granganimeo stood in for him.
When Amadas and Barlowe returned to England in the fall of 1584, they praised Roanoke’s advantageous position and the friendliness of the tribes. Two locals were returned by them: Manteo, a Croatan whose mother was the chieftain of Croatoan Island, and Wanchese, a Secotan. Although Raleigh may have inflated these claims, the expedition’s papers referred to the Golden Age and the Garden of Eden, describing the area as a beautiful and fertile location.
The outcomes of Raleigh’s mission impressed Queen Elizabeth. She declared the territory given to Raleigh “Virginia” and named him “Knight Lord and Governor of Virginia” during a knighting ceremony in 1585. In order to finance a colony, Sir Walter Raleigh went on to look for investors.
Lane colony
Raleigh designed a mostly military approach for the first colony in Virginia that was centered on resource acquisition and assessment. Although 69 colonists were supposed to be sent on the journey, over 600 men were despatched, of whom about half were supposed to stay in the colony and be followed by a second wave later.
The overall operation was headed by the naval commander, Sir Richard Grenville, although Philip Amadas would become admiral and Ralph Lane was named governor of the colony. Among the civilian attendants were metallurgist Joachim Gans, physicist Thomas Harriot, and artist John White. The ship also carried Manteo and Wanchese, who were coming home from their trip to England.
Travel
Seven ships made up the fleet: the flyboat Roebuck (captained by John Clarke), the galleass Tiger (Grenville’s flagship, piloted by Fernandes), the Elizabeth (captained by Thomas Cavendish), the Dorothy (Raleigh’s personal ship, possibly captained by Arthur Barlowe), and two small pinnaces.
The fleet left Plymouth on April 9, 1585, and traveled south via the Bay of Biscay. One of the pinnaces was sunk and Tiger was cut off from the rest of the fleet by a powerful storm off the coast of Portugal. Luckily, Fernandes had a plan for this such of situation, and the ships would rendezvous at Mosquetal, [b] on Puerto Rico’s south coast. Tiger, traveling alone, reached the rendezvous site on May 11 ahead of the other ships and made good pace toward the Caribbean.
Grenville set up a base camp where his people could relax and protect themselves from Spanish soldiers while they awaited the fleet. Lane’s troops took advantage of the chance to practice constructing the necessary defenses at the new colony. In order to build a replacement ship, the crew also started to replace the lost pinnace, forge nails, and cut local lumber. Elizabeth came on May 19, just after the fort and pinnace were finished.
The rest of the fleet did not reach Mosquetal. The commander of at least one of the ships sent twenty of his men ashore when the ship ran out of supplies and faced problems close to Jamaica. By mid-June, Roebuck, Red Lion, and Dorothy had finally made it to the Outer Banks.
Red Lion embarked for privateering in Newfoundland, leaving perhaps thirty men on Croatoan Island. Grenville made contact with the local Spanish officials in the interim in the aim of securing more supplies. Grenville thought the Spanish would attack shortly because they did not deliver the promised supplies, so he and his ships left the makeshift fort.
Grenville expanded his force by capturing two Spanish ships in the Mona Passage. Using one of these vessels, Lane visited Salinas Bay and seized salt piles that the Spanish had gathered.
Once more, Lane constructed fortifications to keep his troops safe as they transported the salt. When Grenville’s ships reached La Isabela, the Spanish ceased fighting in order to engage in commerce with the well-armed English fleet. Grenville departed Hispaniola on June 7 in order to go to the Outer Banks.
On June 26, the fleet passed through an entrance at Wococon Island, which is close to the modern-day Ocracoke entrance. The ship was almost destroyed when Tiger hit a shoal, destroying most of the food supplies.
There are hints that Grenville’s fleet was expected to stay with the new colony for the winter, maybe to start exploiting it as a privateering base right away. However, that was not feasible due to the wreck of Tiger.
A colony as vast as had been envisioned could not be supported by the existing provisions. Furthermore, the area was unsuitable as a base for big ships due to the Outer Banks’ shallow inlets. Finding a better harbor would now be the colony’s first priority.
Following repairs, Tiger and the rest of the fleet proceeded to Port Ferdinando, where Roebuck and Dorothy were reunited. During this period, the men that Red Lion had left behind were probably also found. To announce the expedition’s safe arrival, John Arundell assumed command of one of the speedier ships and sailed for England on August 5.
Establishment of the colony
The colony will sustain much fewer residents than first anticipated due to the loss of supplies from the Tiger. Only around 100 men, Grenville concluded, would remain with Lane, sufficient to achieve the colony’s goals until a second wave of colonists and supplies could be sent by another fleet that was expected to depart England in June 1585.
To warn fishing fleets that the Spanish had started capturing English commercial ships in reprisal for raids by English privateers, Grenville was unable to be aware that this operation had been rerouted to Newfoundland. Lane’s colony would be mostly reliant on the kindness of the locals until a resupply trip could be organized.
Grenville planned an excursion to investigate Pamlico Sound and the Secotan settlements of Aquascogoc, Pamlico, and Secotan while the Tiger was being repaired. His group established communication with the natives, giving Harriot and White the chance to do in-depth research on Native American culture.
Harriot’s comprehensive assessment of Virginia’s population and natural resources was published in 1588, with engravings of White’s pictures included in the 1590 edition, despite the fact that most of their research was lost during the colony’s departure in 1586.
After this first investigation, a silver cup was reported lost. Grenville sent Amadas to take a detachment back to Aquascogoc to demand the return of the lost goods since he thought the item had been stolen. The English determined that harsh punishment was required to prevent the impression of weakness when the locals failed to present the cup. The locals fled as Amadas and his troops destroyed the town and its crops with fire.
In order to grant territory for the English settlement on Roanoke Island, Manteo set up a conference between Granganimeo and Grenville and Lane. The island was strategically situated, according to both sides, to provide access to the ocean and to evade Spanish patrol identification. Lane started building a fort on the island’s north side. Although there are no extant depictions of the Roanoke fort, its architecture was probably comparable to that of the Mosquetal fort.
On August 25, 1585, Grenville sailed on the Tiger to England. A few days later, Grenville stormed the Santa Maria de San Vicente, a huge Spanish galleon that had drifted apart from the rest of its fleet in Bermuda.
There was enthusiasm in Queen Elizabeth’s court over Raleigh’s colonization attempts since the merchant ship, which Grenville carried back to England as a prize, was filled with enough treasure to turn the entire Roanoke voyage into a profit.
On September 8, 1585, the Roebuck departed Roanoke, leaving one of the pinnaces under Amadas’ command. Lane was still at the colony with 107 men, according to the records. Despite his exclusion from the roster of colonists, historians debate as to whether White spent the winter at Roanoke or returned to England with Grenville.
Investigating
Many colonists had enlisted in the mission with the hope of finding gold and silver sources. These men lost hope and concluded the entire endeavor was a waste of time when they were unable to find any such sources. Although the English investigated the source of copper used by the local Native Americans, they were never able to trace the metal’s origin.
In order to supplement their meager supplies, the colonists spent the fall of 1585 buying grain from the nearby towns. In addition to venison, fish, and oysters, the colony reportedly acquired enough grain to last them through the winter.
A complete evaluation of the winter, however, is impossible due to the paucity of evidence that remains on events that took place at the colony between September 1585 and March 1586. By October, the colonists had probably used up all of their American grain and English goods, and the monotony of their remaining food supplies surely lowered the spirits of the troops.
Amadas traveled as far as Cape Henry and the James River during his winter exploration of Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake communities of Chesepioc and Skicóak were contacted by his party while they were there. The English may have expected something like to the affluent Inca and Aztec kingdoms that the Spanish found since the Secotans had characterized Skicóak as the biggest metropolis in the area.
Despite being pleased by the temperature and soil quality of the region, Amadas instead discovered a relatively modest village. In their exploration of the Virginia territory, Harriot and Gans met Native American tribes and surveyed the area’s natural riches. White’s La Virginea Pars map was created using the information that Harriot and his helpers gathered while traveling.
Harriot observed that every place the colonists visited saw a terrible outbreak that may have been smallpox or influenza, but 16th-century science was unable to explain the phenomena. Some Secotan believed that the plague was brought on by mystical forces that the English had let loose.
His own people were unable to care for Wingina when he became ill, but he healed after asking the English for prayers. Wingina was impressed and requested that the colonists distribute this power to other affected towns, which further accelerated the spread of illness. The fall harvest, when Lane’s colony would be mostly reliant on its neighbors to augment its meager food supply, was probably severely impacted by the pandemic.
To be continued in the next part
