American History Tellers - Lost Colony of Roanoke | The Vanishing | 2

Episode Date: July 7, 2021

On April 26, 1587, 117 colonists sailed from England to establish a permanent settlement on the east coast of North America. After a long voyage fraught with storms and spoiled food, they landed on the island of Roanoke, in the Outer Banks region of what is now North Carolina. Under the leadership of John White, the settlers built a fort and homes, but faced hunger and harsh conditions. At the end of the summer, White was forced to leave his family and his newborn granddaughter, Virginia, to sail back to England for more supplies. While he was there, war broke out between England and Spain, and he could not return for three long years. When he finally did, he found Roanoke completely deserted, with only a few puzzling clues left that have haunted historians ever since. Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/historytellers.Support us by supporting our sponsors! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Imagine it's July 28th, 1587. You're a widower from London and an assistant to Governor John White, the leader of your small colony in the New World. It's only been a few days since you and your young son landed here on the island of Roanoke with all the other colonists, but already you're having to forage for food. After two and a half months at sea, your supplies are nearly exhausted. You trudge along the shoreline, carrying two wooden pails which you hope to fill with shellfish. It's just a few hours after dawn,

but already blazingly hot on this narrow strip of beach. You hail another settler, who stands knee-deep in the gentle surf, fishing for mackerel. Hey, any luck? Nah. It's still a little early, but I'd really like to catch something soon so I can help with building the fort. White instructed me to get some crabs. Apparently you just dig in these shoals down near the end of the beach, but it's all new to me. I hope I don't let everybody down. Well, good luck to you, because if we don't catch enough seafood today, we'll be eating snails tomorrow.

You continue down the beach another mile or two until you get to a marshy inlet. It's peaceful out here, away from the noisy clatter of the settlement, where everyone is still unloading from the ship and sorting out their gear. You stretch and take a look around. It is beautiful here, and you're glad to be away from the stench and dirt of London's crowded streets. You carefully roll up your trousers and sink your feet in the soupy sand to start digging for crabs. But before you begin, you hear something. You stand up straight and look around. Something in the tall reeds behind you. A bird, maybe, or just the wind. So you go back to your digging. But there it is again. A rustling sound. Whatever's making it, it's too big to be a bird.

Hello? Is someone there? There's no answer, but you can feel it in your gut that something's not right. You start to raise yourself up, but before you can straighten your legs, you hear something whiz past your ear. You turn and see an arrow embedded in the sand just behind you. Then you feel a horrific pain in your calf. You look down to see an arrow lodged in your leg. Now there are arrows flying all around you. You drag your feet out of the mucky sand and start to run. You feel another arrow lodge itself in your shoulder, then another in your back. You look down and see blood. Blood is dripping down your leg and arm,

leaving a stained trail in the sand. The struggle to move forward is enormous, and you're miles away from help. As you try to keep running, you wonder if you'll ever see your son again, or if he and the other colonists are also under attack. With Audible, there's more to imagine when you listen. Whether you listen to stories, motivation, expert advice, any genre you love, you can be inspired to imagine new worlds, new possibilities, new ways of thinking. And Audible makes it easy to be inspired and entertained as a part of your everyday routine

without needing to set aside extra time. As an Audible member, you choose one title a month to keep from their ever-growing catalog. Thank you. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing The Best Idea Yet, a brand new podcast about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with. Listen to The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History on Roanoke Island, just off the coast of modern-day North Carolina, in the chain of barrier islands called the Outer Banks. This was the fourth voyage sent by Queen Elizabeth I to North America,

but the first one meant to be a permanent settlement. From the beginning, the colonists faced harsh conditions and hostility from some of the local indigenous people. When one of their governor's assistants, George Howe, was found dead, riddled with 16 arrows, it sent a panic through the colony. But despite the dangers, they stayed. More than 30 years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, these settlers built a fort and some rudimentary homes, making Roanoke the first English colony in the New World. But the colony's position was precarious.

They had arrived too late in the summer to plant crops, and with their food reserves dwindling, colonial governor John White made the agonizing choice to return to England to get more supplies. He never imagined he might not see the colonists again, but White would be the last known person to have contact with the group. What happened to the colony at Roanoke is still a mystery, but the settlers left some intriguing clues that have fueled debate to this day. This is the last of our two-part series on the lost colony of Roanoke, The Vanishing.

On April 26, 1587, three months before Howe was found dead, riddled with arrows, three ships set sail from Portsmouth, England. They were bound for the part of North America the English had named Virginia. The flagship was the Lion, a 130-ton vessel carrying most of the crew and colonists. Its captain was Simon Fernandez, a former pirate who had piloted the flagship of the last expedition to Roanoke two years earlier.

That voyage had nearly ended in disaster when Fernandez ran his ship aground. But despite his earlier performance, here Fernandez was again, now in charge of the entire journey. Fernandez had been hired by his friend Sir Walter Raleigh, the Queen's close confidant and mastermind behind the latest attempt to colonize the New World. Fernandez was one of Raleigh's most trusted explorers, but on this latest voyage, his motives would soon become suspect. Fernandez was Portuguese by birth and had trained with Spanish sailors in his younger years.

When he became an English citizen and married an English woman, he publicly renounced any interest in Spain and Portugal, but some wondered if he had any lingering loyalties. And at the time of the fleet's departure, Protestant England and Catholic Spain were in the grips of an escalating conflict that would soon become a full-scale war. Joining Fernandez on the line was John White, who had also been part of the last expedition to Roanoke as an illustrator and mapmaker. This time, Raleigh had promoted him to governor of the new colony, hoping that his knowledge of

the region and its native peoples would be a boon to the colonists. The Native Americans also had a representative on the ship. Manteo, chief of the Croatoan people, was returning from his second trip to England to rejoin his tribe. While other indigenous groups had grown suspicious of the English, Manteo thought the survival of his people rested on good relations with them. He sought to increase his knowledge of the English language and to teach English leaders his tongue. He also hoped to introduce a harmonious trading system between the two nations. The fleet carrying Fernandez, White, and Manteo included two smaller boats in addition to the Lion that would navigate shallow bodies of water. All told, there were 117 colonists and 33 crewmen aboard all three ships. The colonists had been recruited to build a self-perpetuating English community on American

soil, the first of its kind. All of them had some kind of skill or trade that would be helpful in achieving this goal. There were well diggers, carpenters, brewers, fishermen, metal workers, butchers, tailors, and salt makers. Most of the men could also act as soldiers or hunters, while the women could cook, tailors, and salt makers. Most of the men could also act as soldiers or hunters, while the women could cook, keep house, and raise children. All of them hoped that joining the colony meant they could improve their station in life. The majority of them were in their 20s and 30s, most working class or solidly middle class. They were lured to the

new world by the promise of land, 500 acres for each male head of household, and the hope of a better life. These colonists' first task upon arriving at the New World was to visit where 15 soldiers from the previous colony had been left to guard a temporary fort. It's not clear how much Fernandez or White told the colonists about the failed attempt at this military colony two years earlier. That expedition had violently attacked the local Native Americans and escalated tensions in the region. Those tensions were one reason why the new colonists were to continue 100 miles up the coast to Chesapeake Bay and establish their colony there. The bay offered a natural harbor, and it was hoped, a chance to build better relations with a new set of native peoples. But the colonists had no way of knowing of what might await them there.

On May 8th, after a week's stay on the Isle of Wight off the coast of England, the Lion and its fleet finally started their voyage across the Atlantic. The ships got caught in a bad storm off the coast of Portugal, where Fernandez insisted on abandoning one of the smaller boats. It was the first of many decisions that would annoy White, who had no authority while the colonists were at sea. Then, after a month's voyage, on June 22nd, the remaining ships landed at St. Croix in what is now the Virgin Islands. For most of the colonists, St. Croix was their first taste of the New World and a harsh reminder of just how alien and dangerous these unfamiliar lands could be. Imagine it's the morning of June 22, 1587. You are a farmer's wife from outside London, England.

After four weeks on the ocean, you're taking your first steps on land. The island you've arrived at is strange and beautiful, covered in tall, spindly trees unlike any you've ever seen, and beaches as white as lamb's wool. You're thrilled to be on solid ground and away from the stinking interior of the ship. Your companion, a woman named Jane, is not as happy. The captain said there was fresh water on this island, but where? All I see is sand and rocks. I can't carry these dirty linnas all day. Well, those trees must need water to grow. Let's look over there. Let me help you with your bundle. Oh, thank you. I'm so tired. There's nowhere to take the little one when she's crying. The boat rocking makes her sick.

Yeah, her and everyone else. But here, chew on these sassafras leaves. You'll feel better. Oh, thank you. But is that all we have left? No, but close. Mrs. Dare told me that we're down to just a few pounds of salted pork and only a few days worth of oatmeal. I told her we should start setting aside rations for the children. What if we can't find food on this island? You trudge along a pathway toward a line of tall, swaying trees. As you pass some smaller, shrub-like trees, Jane stops and points. Oh goodness, what are these? On the ground are bunches of little green fruits. Like everything else on the island, they don't look like anything you've seen before. But they do look edible. You walk over and pick one up. It smells good, like a ripe crab apple. They look all right. Let's take some back to the ship. You start to

gather some of the fruits in your apron. But Jane just grabs one and takes a big bite. Jane, oh, what if they're not meant to be eaten? But Jane is already devouring the mystery fruit. It's a little bitter, but not bad. It's like an unripe plum. You know, try it. Tentatively, you take a bite. You're right. It's better than hardtack anyway.

Okay, let's gather some more. You both grab as many of the fruits as your apron pockets will allow. You're already wondering how long they'll keep and whether you might try baking some into a pie once you reach your final destination. But then you notice that Jane has dropped a handful of fruit and is doubling over. You pull back her bonnet and are stunned to see that her face is red and her lips are swollen. Jane, what's wrong? I don't know. I can't breathe. My mouth is burning.

And now your mouth feels hot and itchy too. You pull the fruit from your apron pockets and fling them to the ground. They must be poison. Let's get back to the ship. Jane is wheezing loudly now. And you're having trouble breathing too. As quickly as you can, you head back toward the beach and the safety of the ship. You knew this journey would be dangerous.

You knew you'd have to learn much about this strange new land. But you're beginning to realize just how hard it's going to be to survive here. When the tired, hungry, and thirsty English colonists landed on St. Croix, they went foraging across the island, looking for fresh water and food. Some ate a mysterious yellow-green fruit, which turned out to be poisonous and made several of them sick. It was probably from the mantanil tree, whose sap some locals used to tip poison arrows. Other colonists drank from a stagnant pond, which also made them ill. They did, however, manage to find some food, five huge sea tortoises, which provided them

with some much-needed protein. But still low on food and desperate for fresh water, salt, and other supplies, the colonists left St. Croix after just a few days. Captain Fernandez assured Governor White that he knew of other islands where they could find more provisions. But after wandering the Caribbean for another week without any luck, Fernandez finally announced that they would continue on to Roanoke, with only the dwindling provisions they had brought with them from England, and some fresh water they had picked up in Puerto Rico. White was furious at Fernandez for his apparent incompetence,

and even angrier when he learned that two crew members had deserted in Puerto Rico, which was a Spanish colony. White feared that the men, both Irish Catholics, would quickly find their way to local Spanish authorities and tell them about the English plan to establish a Protestant colony on Chesapeake Bay. He also suspected that Fernandez had allowed them to desert, which would suggest that the Portuguese captain was actively plotting to undermine the entire colonial expedition. But for the time being, there was little White could do. He and the rest of the colonists were completely dependent on Captain

Fernandez to get them to their final destination, more than a thousand miles up the coast. Finally, the colonists departed the Caribbean and set off on the last leg of their journey, tugging the southeastern coastline of North America. On July 22nd, the ships anchored off Roanoke Island. White immediately sailed the smallest boat with 40 men to seek out the 15 soldiers left behind by the previous colony. His plan was to rescue them from their isolation and bring them up to the Chesapeake Bay area with the rest of the colonists. But to White's horror, as soon as the boat began to move away from the line, one of Fernandez's lieutenants called out to them. He told them they should not bring anyone back. Roanoke Island, he said, would be everyone's final destination.

White was shocked and then enraged. For all the time Fernandez had wasted in getting them to this spot, he was now in a hurry to leave. His actions were jeopardizing the entire colony before it had even been established. But Fernandez's crew made it clear that they had every intention of obeying their captain's orders. So once again, there was nothing White could do. Like it or not, the new colony would be in the same spot as the old military outpost, Roanoke Island. White would now have the difficult task of convincing his civilian colonists

to make the best of this strange, inhospitable site for the first English town in the New World. But to many of the colonists, it didn't feel like they were arriving at a new home. It felt like they were being abandoned in a hostile place where it would take everything they had just to survive. In November 1991, media tycoon Robert Maxwell mysteriously vanished from his luxury yacht in the Canary Islands. But it wasn't just his body that would come to the surface in the days that followed. It soon emerged that Robert's business was on the brink of collapse, and behind his facade of wealth and success was a litany of bad investments,

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early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Check out Exhibit C in the Wondery app for all your true crime listening. With the impending departure of Captain Simon Fernandez and his ships, the Roanoke colonists lost their main exit route off the island. They were faced with being stranded. But they wouldn't be abandoned immediately. Though Fernandez was eager to depart, his ship stayed anchored off Roanoke for nearly five weeks.

Unloading all of the colonists' supplies and belongings was a slow, laborious process. The ships, too, needed to be prepared for the long journey back to England. Sails had to be repaired, decks swabbed, and a fresh coat of hot tar painted over the ships' hulls to waterproof them. Out of options, White and the other colonists started the long process of unloading all their belongings from the Lion. Then they set out to find the fifteen soldiers who were left on Roanoke the year before. White's search party did not find them. They did, however, find an eerie, bleached skeleton just outside what was left of the fort. The wooden structure

had been burned to the ground, and the earthworks surrounding it had been razed, too. The houses outside the perimeter of the fort were intact, but they were overgrown with vines and weeds. It was obvious to White that the fort had been attacked and its men killed by hostile Indians. White urged his settlers to start rebuilding. Meanwhile, he made several trips back and forth to the line to implore Fernandez to bring the colonists further up the coast to the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay, their original destination. The Chesapeake, he argued, could offer them a better harbor and fewer hostile natives, but the captain refused. Fernandez insisted that he was doing the colonists a favor.

He argued that at least on Roanoke, White had the advantage of knowing the area, and some friendly Indians, too, who lived nearby. What lay in store for them, 100 miles up the coast coast was anyone's guess. As they argued, one of White's most important allies disembarked and slipped away into the woods. After more than a year away, Manteo was anxious to return to his people on neighboring Croatoan Island. But he was not gone for good. From time to time, throughout the summer, he would travel back to help the new colonists. Meanwhile, the colonists themselves got to work making Roanoke their home. They started to rebuild and enlarge the fort, repaired the other existing structures,

and began to construct new ones. White directed them to gather food and water from spots he knew from his previous visits. But because it was too late in the season to plant crops, the colonists were reduced to eating the grain seeds they had brought with them to plant. They hoped that by the following spring, they could borrow seeds from the Indians. They also hoped that they could eventually send people up the coast to put down stakes in the Chesapeake Bay area, as originally planned, because everyone was already nervous about their ability to stay on Roanoke Island, even temporarily. And then they became more nervous after the events of July 28th, when White's assistant, George Howe, was found

dead about two miles away from the camp. He had been ambushed while gathering crabs alone. There were 16 arrows lodged in his body, and his face was severely beaten. Governor White wrestled with what to do next. On the one hand, Manteo and his people had always been friendly to the English. The governor had no reason to worry about an attack by Manteo's tribe, the Croatoan. On the other hand, Howe's murder was a clear sign that other Indians, especially the Roanoke people native to the island they now occupied, would not stand for their continued presence. White knew that for the safety of his colony, he could not let Howe's killing go unrevenged. So a week later, he sanctioned an attack on a

nearby Indian village where he thought the Roanoke chief Juan Chiz was staying. But in seeking revenge, White and his men made a terrible mistake. In a nighttime raid, they mistakenly attacked friendly Croatoan Indians who had come to ransack the village for supplies after it was abandoned by the Roanoke. Before the colonists realized the Indians were Manteo's people, one lay dead and many others were badly wounded. The attack left Manteo in a difficult position. He had long served as an ally to the English and acted as a kind of diplomat between the two peoples, the English and the Croatoan. Now the English had killed one of his own, and his fellow Croatoans were furious. But Manteo wanted to keep the peace, so he would appeal to his old friend, Governor White,

to help him do so. Imagine it's late summer in the year the white men call 1587. You are Chief Manteo of the Croatoan people. On a cloudy, humid afternoon, you have sailed from your home island to Roanoke to pay a visit to your friend, John White. At least you hope he can still be your friend. As you enter the English village, a summer storm cracks thunder off in the distance, and tension hangs in the air. White beckons you into his half-constructed house

as a light rain begins to fall. Thank you for agreeing to see me, old friend. I bring you gifts, some mats for sitting, some pottery for your women. It will be helpful to collect some of this rainwater. You won't roll the straw mats on the ground, and White sits down across from you. Ah, well, thank you. But I should be the one offering you gifts after what happened. It was a mistake. But my people should not have paid the price for your vengeance.

You're right. I'm deeply sorry for what happened. I accept your apology. But my people, many of them are angry. Their fathers and sons are badly wounded. They don't believe me when I tell them you can still be trusted.

Well, I'd like to be. What do we do now? I don't want this to damage our alliance with the Croatoan, especially when Wan-Chis is likely to attack us again. I will urge my people to help your people, but they are afraid. They need some assurance that your men will not attack our villages or try to take our land. Well, I think I have a solution. I've waited until the right moment to tell you this. Before we left England, I was authorized to give you

the title of Lord of Roanoke. This is our people's way of declaring that this land belongs to you, and we reside here only as your guests. How does that sound? Thank you. This would be good news to my people, but you must do something for me in return. And what is it? You must be baptized in our church. You pause. From your visits to England, you know that to the whites, this baptism ceremony means you are renouncing your own religion for theirs. But your religion is sacred to you. Still, you decide that you must do what you can for your people. Yes, John, I will be baptized. It would be an honor.

You shake hands on it in the English way. You see no reason why you can't pledge yourself to the English god, but not turn your back on your own religion. You think that what you and White have agreed upon today will help keep the peace. You hope that your people, back on Croatoan Island, will see it the same way. On August 13, 1587, Manteo became the first Native American to be baptized in the Anglican Church. Manteo hoped that this spiritual marriage between the two nations, English and Indian, would forge closer social bonds between them.

Governor White hoped so too. But for the English it was mainly a political move, one that had been authorized by Sir Walter Raleigh before colonists had even left England. Raleigh and White knew that by offering Manteo the title of Lord and membership in the Anglican Church, the chief could continue to be a valuable ally in an otherwise hostile region. And five days later, on August 18th, the colonists had another reason to celebrate. White's daughter, Eleanor Dare, gave birth to her daughter, the first English child born in the New World. They named her Virginia, after the Virgin Queen Elizabeth and the name of the new colonial territory she was born into. But the celebratory mood didn't last long.

The colony still didn't have enough food to get through winter. As Captain Fernandez prepared to sail back to England, White and his assistants decided that someone had to go back with him to get more supplies. In spite of all the setbacks they had experienced, the colonists still had faith in White and elected him to go back on their behalf. At first, White resisted. As governor, he didn't want to abandon the colony. And as a new grandfather, he was reluctant to part with his family. But in the end, White agreed to go. He knew he might be the only one with enough status to convince Walter Raleigh to provide the ships, manpower, and supplies needed

to move the colony up to Chesapeake Bay, which he still viewed as a safer alternative to Roanoke. Heartbroken but determined, White made his final preparations to leave Roanoke. He persuaded Fernandez to leave behind a few small boats so that the colonists could come and go from the island and explore the mainland if they wished. White planned to reach England by late September, get reinforcements, and then quickly return to his family and fellow settlers on Roanoke. But first, he had to endure a transatlantic voyage marred by storms, hunger, and more erratic behavior from Captain Fernandez. And when he finally reached his homeland, White encountered his biggest challenge of all,

one that threatened to make a return trip to Roanoke impossible. England and Spain were at war. Are you in trouble with the law? Need a lawyer who will fight like hell to keep you out of jail? We defend and we fight just like you'd want your own children defended. Whether you're facing a drug charge, caught up on a murder rap, accused of committing war crimes, look no further than Paul Bergeron. All the big guys go to Bergeron because he gets everybody off. You name it, Paul can do it. Need to launder some money?

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If you haven't listened yet, head over to Apple Podcasts to hear for yourself. Imagine it's August 26th, 1587. You're a blacksmith, one of Governor John White's 12 assistants. The governor is set to return to England tomorrow, and so you've decided to call a meeting with everybody in the colony to discuss what to do next after he's left. The colonists gather around outside your makeshift blacksmith shop. You tell your assistants to stop hammering and call everyone to attention. All right, listen. Autumn will be here

before we know it. We can't afford to wait any longer. We have to start searching for friendly natives on the mainland. I want to gather some volunteers to go with me. A young woman speaks up. What about the Croatoans? Won't they help? They will help, but their food stores are low too. If we're going to keep friendly relations with them, we can't wear out our welcome. Governor White has said we might have some luck by heading northwest to visit the Chowan Oaks. It's a few days journey, but we can do it. For a few minutes, everyone argues about the wisdom of your decision. While a few colonists agree with you that it would be critical to find more allies among the natives,

many say that none of them can be trusted. They point to George Howe, murdered just a few miles from your village. But you remain resolute. Look, look, our fort is strong now, and we have enough weapons to guard it. The local Indians will know better than to attack us. The same nervous woman speaks up again. It is a concern, and you're not sure what the solution is. But then she provides one on her own. to abandon the village. Let's carve the name of where we're going into the trees and maybe onto the fort posts. They're sturdy. Rain won't wash away a carved message. Yeah, yeah, that's an excellent idea. We'll tell Governor White. But we need something more, though. A distress signal if we are taken hostage or removed by force. Something the Indians wouldn't know the significance of. What about a Maltese cross? That sounds as good as anything else. If no one has a better idea, then that's what we'll do. But let's just be confident that we'll

never have to use it. This expedition would be good for us, good for the Indians, good for everyone. All right, now thank you everyone. That's all for now. As you go back to your forge, you try to keep a calm demeanor. But White's choice to leave the colony and return to England himself has left you uneasy. He's your leader, and no one knows the natives better than him. You'll do your best to lead in his absence, and you know others will step up too. But with colder weather coming, and your food supply is so low, you wonder if it will be enough. On August 27, 1587, two boats left Roanoke, the Lion and its smaller flyboat, which had John White aboard. But White's voyage home turned into a disaster.

Some equipment on his small boat broke and injured several of the crew. Then, as they approached the coast of Europe, a violent six-day storm blew the smaller boat back out to sea. Lost and out of drinking water, John White and the injured crew wandered the Atlantic for days, with several men dying. Finally, they made landfall in Ireland, and by early November, White was back home. But it was not a happy homecoming. White soon learned that the month before his return, Queen Elizabeth's council had ordered that no ships could leave England because they might be needed to defend the nation's shores from the Spanish Armada.

White's hope of a quick return to Roanoke was dashed. But despite the war with Spain, Sir Walter Raleigh promised he would send White back with a fully loaded relief ship in the new year. But by March, just as the relief ship was about to set sail, the vessel and his captain were pressed into service to fight the Spanish. As the Anglo-Spanish War dragged on, White remained stuck in England. Finally, in 1590, three years after he had left Roanoke, White found a private ship called the Hopewell to take him back,

but only after it made several stops in the Caribbean, where its captain planned to pirate Spanish ships. On March 20, 1590, the Hopewell set sail. So much time had passed, and White had no way of knowing what awaited him upon his return to the New World. At daybreak on August 18, after a meandering five-month journey, John White finally stepped ashore on Roanoke Island. It was his granddaughter Virginia

Dare's third birthday. As he hiked along the beaches toward the village he had helped build, White saw something strange. The letter C-R-O carved into a tree. A few minutes later, White and his landing party reached the village. It was completely deserted, but nothing looked destroyed or damaged. The place felt eerie, as though its residents had simply vanished. Then White saw something else. The full word Croatoan carved into one of the gateposts. But there was no Maltese cross, the symbol to indicate the colonists had left under duress. This gave White hope.

If the colonists had gone to Croatoan Island to look for Manteo's people, maybe they were still there and maybe safe. Exploring further, White found several bars of lead and iron, cannon shot, and lots of other supplies almost overgrown with grass and weeds. He also found the remains of five storage trunks, three of which were his. They had been hidden in the sand, but clearly discovered and ransacked. The only thing obviously missing from the colony were its boats, which were nowhere to be seen. Because of the carved words in the missing boats, White was sure that the settlers had gone to

Croton, a narrow island that lay south of Roanoke. By boat, it was a journey of anywhere from three hours to a full day, depending on the wind and tides. White convinced his shipmates to take him there the next day. But the blustery weather of the North Carolina coast thwarted White's plans. A sudden storm blew the Hopewell out to sea and tore off three of her four anchors. With only one good anchor left, the ship's captain decided he could not risk anchoring off the coast of Croatoan, where another storm might cripple his vessel beyond repair. Reluctantly, White agreed to sail with a Hopewell south to the West Indies, where they would wait out the winter and try for Croatoan again in the spring. They never did.

Another storm blew the Hopewell off course, and the captain instead decided to go to the Azores, a group of islands far out in the Atlantic, closer to Portugal than North America. White had no choice but to come along for the ride. In October of 1590, frustrated and defeated, White returned to England. Later, he testified about what he thought might have happened to the colonists. It was his belief that some went to Croton

to get help from Manteo and his people, while others made their way 50 miles or so into the mainland by way of the Albemarle Sound to look for other friendly Indian tribes. White even created a detailed map of the Chesapeake region and drew a fort where he thought his family and other colonists might go if they could not stay on Roanoke. But unless he could get back to the New World, it was all speculation. White had no idea what had become of the Roanoke colonists. And neither did anyone else.

John White never returned to North America. He disappeared from the historical record after 1593. It's believed he died some years later in Ireland, never seeing his daughter or granddaughter again. In 1607, English colonists finally settled in their original destination of the Roanoke colonists, Chesapeake Bay, on the coast of modern-day Virginia. They called their colony Jamestown. Soon after arriving, they sent expeditions south to search for survivors of the Roanoke colony. Along the way, they met Native Americans who insisted that they had seen members of other tribes with gray or blue eyes and lighter colored skin. One Jamestown

colonist himself reported seeing a Native child with blonde hair. They were sure these blonde and blue-eyed natives must be the offspring of Roanoke colonists who had married into Native American tribes, but they could never confirm it. Other Native Americans told different stories about the Roanoke colonists. Powhatan, a powerful Indian leader in the Chesapeake Bay region, told Jamestown leader John Smith that he had killed the earlier colonists. Other reports suggested that a few English survived this attack and were living with other tribes. The last search party sent out between 1609 and 1612,

learned nothing more about the Roanoke colonists. Eventually, the Jamestown settlers presumed that they had all perished. Among the many Native Americans the Jamestown colonists spoke to, one important figure was missing. Manteo, the Croatoan chief appointed Lord of Roanoke by John White. In English accounts of the period, there's no further record of any contact with him. Like the Roanoke colonists themselves, the remainder of Manteo's life has been lost to history. But in the modern era, new tantalizing clues have emerged. Recent archaeological excavations have turned up pottery and metal objects at the place where White drew a fort onto his map. In Birdie County, North Carolina, 50 miles inland from Roanoke. Researchers call this spot

Site X. The artifacts found there suggest it might once have been home to at least some of the Roanoke colonists. European artifacts have also been found at Croatoan Island, which thanks to shifting tides is now part of a larger island called Hatteras. But so far, none of the pieces have been conclusively linked to the Roanoke colony. Other theories about the fate of the lost colonists abound, all difficult or impossible to prove. Some scholars speculate that they may have been kidnapped

or killed by the Spanish. Others believe that, running out of food and desperate, they tried to take their small boats and sail back to England and were lost at sea. For centuries, the men, women, and children of Roanoke were largely forgotten, as the more successful colonies at Jamestown, Virginia, and Plymouth, Massachusetts, assumed more historical prominence. But today, Roanoke is rightly remembered as England's first settlement in North America. Still, the mystery of what became of those first colonists may forever go unsolved. Next on American History Tellers, I speak with Andrew Lawler, author of the best-selling book

The Secret Token, Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke. We'll discuss intriguing new physical evidence that might explain what became of the Roanoke colonists For more information, visit by Dorian Marina. Our senior producer is Andy Herman. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marsha Louis for Wondery. If you like American History Tellers, you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.