In 1578, England's Queen Elizabeth granted Sir Gilbert Humphrey the right to search out and find undiscovered lands not inhabited by civilized Christian people. It had been over 150 years since the New World was discovered, yet England had done little to claim any land. Queen Elizabeth wanted to change that.
Sir Humphrey had little luck in his ventures. While some of his ships were abandoning the mission, other ships were turning back for repairs. In 1583, Sir Humphrey made another voyage, but it failed as the first attempt had done. He met his death near the coast of New England.
Walter Raleigh, who happened to have been one of the sailors in Sir Humphrey's first voyage, petitioned Queen Elizabeth for a charter, for a chance to do what Sir Humphrey had failed to do twice. In 1584, the ships departed for the New World.
Arthur Barlowe was one of the commanders of the voyage. About three months after leaving England, Barlowe sighted land and described the area as "...so full of grapes, as the very beating, and the surge of the Sea overglowed them, of which we founde such plentie...that I thinke in all the world the like aboundance is not to be founde." During the time the explorers were on the island, they formed good relations with the Indians.
Sir Raleigh soon petitioned Queen Elizabeth for another voyage to the New World. He wanted to establish a permanent colony. In 1585, seven vessels were prepared to sail for the new colony. This expedition was under the command of Sir Richard Grenville. Around 600 men set sail for the Americas that Spring, along with provisions.
Almost from the beginning, the fleet of ships ran into problems. They ran into a fierce storm near Africa, and Sir Grenville was forced to sail on to Puerto Rico, a Spanish Territory, and wait for the rest of the fleet. Within two weeks, all but one of the seven ships had reunited with Sir Grenville, and they continued on their voyage to the New World. When they reached the shores of Wococon Inlet, the lead ship grounded and most of the cargo was destroyed.
By the Fall of 1585, a fort had been built. Sir Grenville was preparing to return to England. Captain Ralph Lane was left to command the 107 men in Roanoke. Diseases were spread to the Indians from the men that stayed behind in Roanoke.
As the Spring came and went in 1586, relations between the English and the Indians were at an all time low. Sir Grenville had not yet returned as he had intended to by Easter. Captain Ralph Lane lead an attack on the Indians, the ones that had fed them and been friendly with them. The Indian's king was killed.
Soon after, Sir Francis Drake found the English men scrounging for food, and in a bad state. Most of the men decided to return to England with Sir Drake. Less than one month later, Sir Grenville arrived back in the Americas with fresh supplies. But after learning of the departure of the other soldiers, he left only 15 men to stay on Roanoke and returned to England, with most of his men and supplies still on board.
Back in England, plans were already underway for a colony to be established with men, women, and children. Sir Raleigh had the idea of settling families in the New World rather than soldiers. He wanted to make the settlement in a large bay north of Roanoke Island known as Chesepiock or, as it is now known, the Chesapeake Bay.
In 1587, a charter was made to establish a body to govern the colony. The governor was John White, along with twelve assistants. The other settlers included 85 men, 17 women, and 11 children. The ships left England that Summer, and met with misfortune quickly. One of the smaller ships was separated from the fleet in a storm off the coast of Portugal.
In about two months, the ships reached Roanoke where White and the colonists prepared to go ashore. They intended to find the 15 men left by Grenville and to continue on to the Chesapeake Bay. However, once off the ship, Simao Fernandes, one of the twelve assistants, informed the colonists he would not be continuing on to the Chesapeake Bay, that he needed to return to England.
The colonists began rebuilding the forts on the island. They never found the 15 men that were left from the previous voyages. John White returned to England for more supplies. He left behind his daughter, Eleanor White Dare who had given birth on August 18, 1587, to Virginia Dare, the first child born on American soil. John White promised to return in six months. If the colonist left, to move to another place because of distress, they were to carve a Maltese cross over the name of their destination.
It would be 1590 before John White returned to America. War had broken out and all of the available ships were used to protect England. there was no sign of the colonists, only smoke where they had landed. The letters C-R-O were carved in one tree and, nearby, the word C-R-O-T-O-A-N was carved on another tree. There was no indication of distress in the message, and no sign of the colonists.
A storm forced John White to return to England. He could not get anyone to back him for another trip to America. He never saw his daughter, or the daughter she had, again.
Several theories have arose over the years as to what happened to the colonists. Some say they went with the Chesapeake Indians, became a part of them, when John White did not return. Some say they moved on south and integrated with the Croatoan tribe of Indians.
Captain John Smith was exploring the area in the southern Chesapeake Bay to establish the Jamestown colony, in 1608, and met up with Powhatan, the Indian leader who ruled over the local Indian tribes. Powhatan claimed to have killed all of the colonists shortly before John Smith arrived. Yet there were reports of seeing a young Indian boy with white skin and blond hair, about ten years old. Other reports said that the colonists lived South of Jamestown. None of these reports were ever confirmed.
The Lumbee tribe of Robeson County, North Carolina, claims to be descended from the Croatoan Indian tribe. They claim that their ancestors were the lost colonists. Much of their language is reminiscent of 16th century English. Many have last names that are similar to or identical to those of the lost colonists.
Also another Indian tribe, in Person County, North Carolina also has legends of descent from the Lost Colony and last names similar to those of the colonists. Most of the Native American Indians are redheads or blondes and have gray eyes.