The Lost Colony of Roanoke: Unsolved mystery no more?

A whole group of settlers mysteriously vanishing without a trace sounds like a Twilight Zone episode. But as Britannica so succinctly put it, “The lost colony of Roanoke is one of the most notorious mysteries in American history.”

Or is it?

“The Lost Colony is a marketing campaign that started in 1937, and it created this myth of a colony that vanished. And none of that is real,” said Scott Dawson in a WHRO Public Media video.

Dawson is the president of the Croatoan Archaeological Society. He also runs the Lost Colony Museum and Gift Shop on Hatteras Island, which was once known as Croatoan Island.

In the video, he explained that recent archaeological finds “demonstrate that the colonists are living with the Croatoan. They’re not just near them on the island in their own little village. They have completely moved in.”

The “finds” are “empirical, physical evidence,” which include “hammer scale,” a byproduct of blacksmithing.

“This is showing they’re living there,” Dawson said. “This is showing the presence of the English working metal and living in the village for decades.”

Some Lost Colony of Roanoke Mysteries Persist

Croatoan Island

The Roanoke settlement was established in 1587. John White, its mayor, left that same year. He sailed back to England to gather more resources and people. When he returned in 1590, just three years later, he found the settlement abandoned and the word “Croatoan” carved on a tree.

Where did they go? Why did they leave that word behind? Was it a warning or a clue to their whereabouts? That’s haunted people for centuries.

It’s easy to understand why White and those who returned with him may have interpreted it as something cryptic and perhaps menacing. Especially when you consider how easily misinformation and conspiracy theories spread even now in our well-connected day and age.

But Dawson said Croatoan referred to the indigenous people. Croatoan Island was marked on maps. Allegedly, White wasn’t able to navigate the waters to get to the island and see if the colonists were there. He instead returned to England.

Clearly, that’s an inadequate investigation. If he’d been more thorough, the Lost Colony myth may never have evolved. Depending on what he found, of course. Perhaps he would have found some untoward fate had befallen his brethren, and the legend would’ve persisted anyway.

Until now, I hadn’t realized he’d never conducted a thorough search for the others. As a result, it’s hard to buy the “lost” or “vanished” theory now.

Marketing the Lost Colony

It makes it even harder to believe after learning about Dawson’s revelation that the Lost Colony was part of a marketing campaign. But why would they do that?

Money.

Or, as Dawson put it, “Mysteries sell.”

The Dare Stones

Between 1937 and 1940, dozens of stones were allegedly discovered in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. They would become known as the “Dare Stones.” They were carved with details about the colonists from Roanoke and their fates. Many were “signed” with the initials “EWD,” which were believed to signify the initials of “Eleanor White Dare,” John White’s daughter.

It was an exciting find to be sure—until it wasn’t. The stones were eventually proven to be a hoax.

Well, all but one. Some believe the first Dare stone may not have been forged. John Hammond claimed to have found it in 1937 while summering in Edenton, North Carolina. It contained mysterious etchings he hoped someone could decipher, so he took it to Emory University.

Professors determined the front read, “Ananias Dare & Virginia went hence Unto Heaven 1591.” They also discerned the back instructed anyone who found it to show it to John White.

Mental Floss pointed out several scholars “pinpointed possible red flags” with the graffiti on the rock. However, “most of them felt that these details were too weak to be incontrovertible evidence of a forgery.”

However, the makeup of the rock itself may prove its authenticity. The words on its dark exterior were as aged and “as weathered as the stone’s natural surface.” Someone with “considerable expertise” could have accomplished the effect.

Did Hammond possess such skills? It doesn’t seem anyone knows. It’s why some Lost Colony scholars believe that it may, in fact, be legit. If it was, at least the fates of those colonists are known.

For now, it appears we still don’t know definitively what happened to the others. (Other than, of course, the natural progression of life: inevitable death.) But science sure is pointing in the direction that they assimilated with the Croatoans.

Check-In

Did you know the Lost Colony of Roanoke was never really lost? Or is this the first you’re learning about it, too?