The Lost Colony -- One of America's Greatest Mysteries

Most Americans know the story of the “Lost Colony”. It dates back to the time the Europeans began to settle on this free land that is now known as Virginia. The village of Roanoke was the one of the first English colonies to be established on the soil. However, this village did not turn out to be that of a successful one.

The Governor of this hamlet had the name of John White. The small population of Roanoke complained about their lack of food and tools. They also contained frightening suspicions that the Natives may launch a surprise attack on them. These complaints eventuated in John White going to England to later return along with the proper supplies the colonists requested.

John White returned three long years afterwards, but what he returned to was not that of a colony but of a ghost town. The area which was once a village was stripped of its people. Houses and other shelters were nowhere in site. What was left behind were some small cannons, an opened chest, a tall fence built around the perimeter of the former village site, and a single word inscription carved on a fence post, “Croatoan”.

Some popular theories as to the fate of the colonists:

1. The colonists abandoned the settlement.
2. The colonists were killed by disease.
3. The colony was destroyed by a hurricane.
4. The colonists decided to assimilate into the local native population.
5. The colonists were killed by the local native population.

From The Shadowlands

Plans are underway for a new archaeological dig at Roanoke to attempt to determine once and for all what really happened to the infamous “Lost Colony”. Read more about this new project at National Geographic.