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”.
Five Popular Theories:
1. The people of Roanoke simply left
the settlement.
This is one of the more probable theories.
It is said that they have supposedly left Roanoke island and started settling
in the Chesapeake Bay. And that they built rafts or a boat of some
sort using materials torn apart from their houses. Close to twenty
years had passed before John Smith and his group started the well-known
settlement of Jamestown (where the popular story of Pocahontas takes place).
This settlement was near the Chesapeake Bay. The evidence in this
tale is that the ruler of the natives did indeed admit to killing the colonists.
They said that they had been in their land (Chesapeake Bay area) and were
then annihilated to prevent more English settlers form stealing their land.
2.The whole population of Roanoke Island
was killed by a disease.
This is an absurd theory. It
is true that the English had brought over some diseases. However,
note, there were no bodies found and the houses had disappeared.
Quite a ridiculous theory.
3. The village was destroyed by
a severe storm such as a hurricane.
Another one of the incredulous theories.
A hurricane could have washed away the colonists and destroyed the houses,
true. But the huge problem with this theory is the fence was still
standing. It is not possible for a storm to do as much damage as
clearing away the whole settlement when the fence remained untouched.
4. The people of Roanoke decided
to leave Roanoke Island to live with the Natives.
This theory is definitely probable.
Crotoan, which was carved on the post, was the name of an island in the
area. It was also the name of the group of the kind natives that
inhabited it. It is possible that they colonists decided to live
with the natives of Croatoan. Though there has not been a descent
amount of evidence to prove this theory, there also has been no evidence
against it.
5. The colonists were killed by
the Native Americans
This is the most probable of all five
theories. One important fact supports this theory. As one may
not know, the English men had before tried to start the colony of Roanoke
before. Twas a group of fifteen men. A little over a year had
passed since they first started the colony, before explorers decided to
check up on their hopeful progress. What these explorers found was
one dead body. It was verified that it was the work of the Natives.
From this past event we know that the Natives were capable of such atrocities
and also capable of hiding the bodies. What’s interesting is that
the Natives pulled all of that off in between less than a two year period.
While the “lost colony” had been deprived of its leader for a number of
three years. The “Indians” had a sufficient amount of time to tear
down the buildings too. However there has still not been enough evidence
to verify this theory.
It is an incredible fact that hitherto
historians contain no sure explanation about what exactly happened to the
colonists and the residences of Roanoke in 1588. People have
umpteen theories on what occurred in that three year period. Some,
as we know, include, the spread of a disease, a hurricane, etc. Even
peculiar yet probable theories such as extra-terrestrial abductions have
been issued. Will mankind perpetually crawl in the dark when it comes
to this topic? Or, will light be discovered?
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