Lost Colony of Roan Oak Island

[Jasmine333]

Maybe if someone here is a history buff you can answer the question of the lost colony of Roanoke Island. There was even an episode about it on Unsolved Mysteries many years ago. I believe they were early English settlers that came to America. Their mother ship was to go back to their homeland to bring back supplies to the setters but was delayed in getting back. When it did finally make it back the settlers were gone, and to this day I don't know if they ever found out what happened to them. Anyone know anything about this?

Edited March 5, 2014 by Jasmine333

[Jeremiah65]

There is a lot of speculation...the trip back to Europe and back to the new colony would have taken a very long time.

Possibilities I have heard

They were killed by sickness or disease or starvation

They were killed by native americans

They were absorbed by the local tribes

They simply relocated and then one of the above happened.

No one knows for sure...if they do, they ain't talking.

[Cygnus05]

There is a lot of speculation...the trip back to Europe and back to the new colony would have taken a very long time.

Possibilities I have heard

They were killed by sickness or disease or starvation

They were killed by native americans

They were absorbed by the local tribes

They simply relocated and then one of the above happened.

No one knows for sure...if they do, they ain't talking.

Most likely a combination of those factors.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Cygnus05

[jaylemurph]

Their last recorded act before the ships returned to England was to shoot down a group of Native American women and children /who were bringing them baskets of food/. This after the previous colony on exactly the same site spent a year stealing from, berating and killing anyone they could find without white skin.

...what do you think happened?

(This thread brought to you by the Dare County, NC Chamber of Commerce: Inventing Reasons for you to Visit Dare County since 1935.)

--Jaylemurph

[keninsc]

Pretty much those that survived were absorbed into the local Indian tribes of the area. We don't know who survived or where they went, the only clue was the name of an Indian tribe that was written on a plank and nailed to a tree. However, the tribe wasn't so open to having white men around.

[Jasmine333]

I've always taken an interest in the question of what happened to the colony, and the responses here are all quite viable, but I had never heard about the last act before the ships returned to England. But that does make sense because I had heard that when settlers first started coming over to America most of the Indians, or Native Americans, were friendly and made strides to teach the settlers how to cultivate the land to grow crops. But then the settlers turned hostile toward the Native Americans.

[Q-C]

Hostility or fear toward anyone different? This almost never happens.

[jaylemurph]

I've always taken an interest in the question of what happened to the colony, and the responses here are all quite viable, but I had never heard about the last act before the ships returned to England. But that does make sense because I had heard that when settlers first started coming over to America most of the Indians, or Native Americans, were friendly and made strides to teach the settlers how to cultivate the land to grow crops. But then the settlers turned hostile toward the Native Americans.

Well, the first colony were in no sense "settlers". And the next colony didn't turn hostile, they were /always/ more or less hostile to the Natives, like their predecessors: for them, the Natives existed solely to service their needs, and the Natives had no purpose or use outside of that. Mostly, their needs equalled food.

And as for the Natives, they weren't noble savages happy to help anybody out who showed up. There were many seprate small groups, all of which were in the midst of a war where one group was seeking to dominate or destroy the others. The English offered the possibilty of a distinct technological advantage. The English knew this and played them all off each other to get whatever they could out of the Natives. The only thing all the Natives had in common was getting screwed over by the English, which is why no serious historian would tell you there's a mystery as to the fate of the colony. The only people shovelling that dreck are people with something to sell you: a book, usually.

(The person who won that war, Powhatan, certainly knew exactly what happened to the Roanoke Colony. When Jamestown settlers showed up in his area 30 years later, trying to throw their weight around, he held up some worked English metal and said, roughly, "We're not afraid of you. We took care of the last bunch of you jokers and can take care of you, too.)

Also: I love the typo in the thread title that makes Roanoke sound like Rowan Oak, William Faulkner's estate.

--Jaylemurph

Edited March 5, 2014 by jaylemurph

[Almagest]

Pretty much those that survived were absorbed into the local Indian tribes of the area. We don't know who survived or where they went, the only clue was the name of an Indian tribe that was written on a plank and nailed to a tree. However, the tribe wasn't so open to having white men around.

Seconding this. People don't realise how common it was for colonists to desert their colony and throw in with the Indians. In certain colonies it was so prevalent there were laws passed against it.

[keninsc]

Seconding this. People don't realise how common it was for colonists to desert their colony and throw in with the Indians. In certain colonies it was so prevalent there were laws passed against it.

Sometimes it was by force, Indians would capture people and for whatever reason just adopt one of the captives. Other times they allowed people to just join the tribe. The reasoning for this isn't exactly known, it's probably just as simple as they liked them for whatever reason or they didn't like them. Being on the "not like" list with American Indians could get you killed in some rather nasty ways, but if you got on the "like" list then you were like family. I have asked some Native American friends about it and they just said, it was just a personal choice with the NA of the time.........and the times change and the criteria changes as well.

[Rafterman]

Brian Dunning did an episode on the Lost Colony for his Skeptoid podcast a couple of year back where he looked at several of the leading theories.

Bottom line, there just simply hasn't been enough evidence found to conclude what happened - several good theories, but they all need more support.

You can read the transcript or listen to the podcast here:

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4245

Finding the Lost Colony of Roanoke

One of the early attempts of the English to colonize America ended with every person simply disappearing from the Roanoke colony.

[Harte]

Their last recorded act before the ships returned to England was to shoot down a group of Native American women and children /who were bringing them baskets of food/. This after the previous colony on exactly the same site spent a year stealing from, berating and killing anyone they could find without white skin.

...what do you think happened?

(This thread brought to you by the Dare County, NC Chamber of Commerce: Inventing Reasons for you to Visit Dare County since 1935.)

--Jaylemurph

All true, but it doesn't answer the question, does it? And obviously the question has never been raised, much less answered, here at U-M.

So, if you can, (if you dare,) tell us, Jaylemurph - what really happened to them?

Harte

[Jasmine333]

All interesting theories here and I enjoy reading them all. I know in one of the history classes way back in school it was thought that some may have been taken in by the tribes as it was noted that some of the Indian children born had gray eyes.

[+DieChecker]

I seem to remember Piney writting about this subject and mentioning that the Croatoan tribe to this day has genetic markers indicating genetic transfer during the time frame in question. He was 100% sure that the settlers went to the Croatoan's area and were absorbed into the population.

I don't believe the ships that returned even really looked for them. They just pulled up, found the place empty and turned around.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

I seem to remember Piney writting about this subject and mentioning that the Croatoan tribe to this day has genetic markers indicating genetic transfer during the time frame in question. He was 100% sure that the settlers went to the Croatoan's area and were absorbed into the population.

That's the theory I've heard and subscribe to as well.

[Myster D]

they where knights templer hiding their knowledge and wealth looking to a new Jerusalem but where eventually absorbed into the native indigenous Indian population lost over the years hence oak island's bottomless pitt

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

they where knights templer hiding their knowledge and wealth looking to a new Jerusalem but where eventually absorbed into the native indigenous Indian population lost over the years hence oak island's bottomless pitt

Are you serious or making an Assassin's Creed reference?

[Hugh]

I seem to remember Piney writting about this subject and mentioning that the Croatoan tribe to this day has genetic markers indicating genetic transfer during the time frame in question. He was 100% sure that the settlers went to the Croatoan's area and were absorbed into the population.

I don't believe the ships that returned even really looked for them. They just pulled up, found the place empty and turned around.

I remember there being one word carved out as a clue left by the settlers that had left... It was Croatoan... So the above sounds probable...

[jaylemurph]

I remember there being one word carved out as a clue left by the settlers that had left... It was Croatoan... So the above sounds probable...

Yep. You know how you adopt strangers who can't speak a word of your language and who recently shot your mother in the face while she was bringing them food. I imagine they got on smashingly well with the Croatans. And as to bringing in decimating plagues? Who /wouldn't/ want those in their close-knit nomadic community?

Yep, the Native had lots of reasons to adopt the jerky white folks into their own.

--Jaylemurph

[Hugh]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Croatoan.jpg

[PersonFromPorlock]

they where knights templer hiding their knowledge and wealth looking to a new Jerusalem but where eventually absorbed into the native indigenous Indian population lost over the years hence oak island's bottomless pitt

In that case, the History Channel treasure hunters need to move well to their right.

[Keel M.]

Currently reading an historical fiction account of the colony. Will be interesting to see how the author lays out all of the story and "evidence".

[+Noteverythingisaconspiracy]

they where knights templer hiding their knowledge and wealth looking to a new Jerusalem but where eventually absorbed into the native indigenous Indian population lost over the years hence oak island's bottomless pitt

Yes why not combine several different stories, that happened at different places

I am sure that if you really try there is room for Atlantis too !

[LucidElement]

Here is a great link about it Jasmine in more depth from NAT-GEO if you'd like to read it.

"HAVE WE FOUND THE LOST COLONY" -Nat Geo (link below)

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131208-roanoke-lost-colony-discovery-history-raleigh/?rptregcta=reg_free_np&rptregcampaign=20140623_t2_rw_membership_r1p_us_dr_w#members.join

[jaylemurph]

Well.... they do go into the divisions in the local tribes and the general dickishness of the English colonists, both of which are unusual (and true). And I like the implication that the Blue Ridge Mountains are just a quick trip down the road from the Chowan River (!).

--Jaylemurph