The+Lost+Colony

An entire colony vanishes without a trace... How? Sir Walter Raleigh ( []) || Sir Francis Drake []  The only clue is the word 'Croatoan' carved on a nearby tree. []
 * Date || What happened? ||
 * March 25th, 1584 || * In the midst of the Anglo-Spanish War, Queen Elizabeth I grants Sir Walter Raleigh a chance to colonize Virginia, North America.
 * Raleigh is given 7 years to establish a settlement or lose his colonization rights.
 * April 27th, 1584 || * Sir Walter Raleigh dispatches an expedition to explore the Eastern coast of North America. The expedition is led by Phillip Armadas and Arthur Barlowe. ||
 * July 4th, 1584 || * The expedition arrives. Relationships are established with the local natives, the Secotans and Croatans.
 * Upon hearing promising descriptions of the area in reports, Sir Walter Raleigh sends another expedition. ||
 * April 9th, 1585 || * The second expedition is led by Sir Richard Grenville.They explore mainland coast and native village settlements. Disputes arise when the nearby Aquascogoc people are blamed for stealing a silver cup.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Grenville leaves 107 men behind to establish a colony, promising to return with fresh supplies and men. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">April 1586 || * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Grenville's relief fleet still has not arrived. The stolen cup incident has stirred bad blood and fights between the English and the Natives.
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Sir Francis Drake, an Elizabethan sea captain and navigator and politician, on his way home from a raid in the Caribbean, offers to take the colonists back home. They leave with him and return to England.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Grenville's relief fleet arrives shortly after and finds the settlement abandoned. He goes back to England, leaving behind a small group of colonists to upkeep Raleigh's and England's claim to Virginia. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">July 22nd, 1587 || * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Sir Walter Raleigh dispatches a new group of 150 colonists to establish a colony. This group is led by John White. Upon arrival, they find Grenville's men gone with no explanation. The fleet's commander refuses to let the colonists return to the ships so that they are instead forced to establish a new colony on Roanoke.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">John White re-establishes relationships with the Croatans, but faces hostility from the tribes that had been upset from the previous colonists. After a colonist is killed by an Indian, the group begins to worry for their lives.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">White is convinced by his fellow English colonists to return home and ask for help. He leaves behind about 115 colonists. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">August 18th, 1587 || * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Virginia Dare is born healthy, the first English child born in the Americas. She is named for the land and is John White's granddaughter.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">White is convinced by his fellow English colonists to return home and ask for help. He leaves behind about 115 colonists. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">August 18th, 1590 || * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Finally, three years later, White gains passage back to Roanoke. He arrives to find the colonists gone, the settlement deserted. There is no sign of struggle or battle.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">All 115 colonists have disappeared. ||

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<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">To this day, despite hundreds of years of theorizing, DNA testing, and archaelogy sites, no one has been able to establish what caused this colony to mysteriously disappear. Check out the discussion post above (if you haven't yet) to see what I think. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Mysterious? Definitely.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Back to home