The colonists who remained soon faced another unforeseen calamity. In September 1589, a powerful hurricane moved through the Caribbean and then turned northward just off the coast of Florida, following the typical Gulf Stream track toward the Carolina coast. Even a minor Category 2 hurricane, like Floyd when it made landfall at Cape Fear in 1999, could be accompanied by a nine to ten foot storm surge. Such an event would have inundated the Outer Banks and the coastal mainland, completely eradicating the new mainland settlement and inflicting any number of fatalities there and at Croatoan as well. Any surviving colonists, along with the Croatoans, would have been forced to vacate the Outer Banks and the coastal mainland where the soil was contaminated by saline residue from the surge.
The history of the Lost Colony effectively ended in September 1589, after which the colony and the mainland settlement, by all evidence, no longer existed. If any colonists survived, they quickly integrated with the native tribes, most likely the Croatoans, and were somewhere on the mainland across Pamlico Sound after September of 1589. Croatoan was still abandoned when White finally returned in 1590, but it would be eventually reinhabited. From this point onwards the only questions that remain unanswered are the locations of any possible survivors and the likelihood of admixed descendants. As for the few original colonists who may have lived beyond 1589, their subsequent total immersion in the native Algonquian culture would have eroded their English identities rather quickly. Yes, there very likely could have been first, second, and perhaps third generation admixed descendants, but their language and names would almost certainly have been Algonquian, not English, by the second generation. Other than the periodic occurrence of an unusual eye or hair color, descendants of the 1587 Lost Colonists would soon have been virtually indistinguishable from native peoples.
Given the extremely high mortality rate of the eastern Carolina tribes, the possibility of Lost Colony descendants surviving beyond the 17th and early 18th centuries would have been seriously diminished. Add to this the genetic requirements noted by Estes—an unbroken line of Y or mitochondrial DNA—and the chances of an existing 21st century direct male or female line of Lost Colonist descendants are extremely remote. Also implausible is the 19th century claim that a large group of direct descendants of the Lost Colonists with their original 16th century surnames was discovered in North Carolina tilling the soil and owning slaves and still speaking Elizabethian English. Although direct Lost Colony descendancy may not have existed beyond the mid–17th century, that does not invalidate the oral tradition of tribes asserting that some of “their ancestors were the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island,” as C.D. Brewington had noted. All that unquestionably remains of the Lost Colony today are those oral traditions and legends that persist in southeast North Carolina.
Equally important as the careful reconstruction of the foregoing Lost Colony narrative is the deconstruction of the more than four centuries of myths and misinformed accounts about the supposed fate of the Lost Colonists and the rumored locations of survivors. Both elements are crucial halves of a comprehensive, whole Lost Colony analysis. With the possible exception of Wowinchopunck’s report of the “cloathed men” at Pananiock, all of the stories about the Lost Colony reported from Jamestown between 1607 and 1611 were erroneous assumptions made by John Smith and William Strachey, who misunderstood the essentially accurate information provided by the Powhatans. The myths of Lost Colonists at faraway places called Pakrakanick and Ocanahonan, where they taught the Indians to build English-style houses, were hasty misinterpretations made by Smith and repeated by Strachey, and in reality were Algonquian memories of Spanish expeditions into the Piedmont of the present day Carolinas many decades earlier. They had nothing whatsoever to do with the Lost Colony.
Likewise, the 1587 colony was never slaughtered by Powhatan, or anyone else for that matter. There was a slaughter of sorts at Roanoke, but that occurred in 1586 and involved the assault and rout of Grenville’s contingent of Englishmen and was conducted by a combined force of warriors from Aquascogoc, Secota, and Dasamonguepeuk. The Lost Colony was not involved in any way with that event or with Powhatan’s massacre of the Chesapeake tribe in 1607. Nevertheless the erroneous reports about Powhatan’s slaughter of the 1587 colony and Lost Colony survivors at places called Pakrakanick and Ocanahonan were officially accepted in London by 1609. Variations of that false narrative have been with us ever since.
Chapter Notes
Introduction
1. Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World (London: Headline Book Publishing, 1997) p. 31.
2. Ibid. Chapter 10, “The Dragon in My Garage,” p. 160.
Chapter 1
1. Jenny Higgins, “Uncovering Cabot: The Ruddock Riddle,” Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Web Site, 2013. http://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/exploration/cabot-ruddock.php.
2. “A discourse of a discouerie for a new passage to Cataia.” Written by Sir Humfrey Gilbert, Knight. Richard Hakluyt, The Voyages of the English Nation to America. Vol I, Edited by Edmund Goldsmid (Edinburgh: E & G Goldsmid, 1889). p. 34.
3. Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of the English Nation edited by Edmund Goldsmid, XIII “America Part II. #23: “The Letters Patents, granted by the Queenes Maiestie to M. Walter Ralegh now Knight, for the discovering and planting of new lands and Countries, to continue the space of 6. yeeres and no more.” This edition published by The University of Adelaide Library and available online http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/h/hakluyt/voyages/v13/contents.html. Hereafter referred to as Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations...
4. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #24: “The first voyage made to the coasts of America, with two barks, wherein were Captaines M. Philip Amadas, and M. Arthur Barlowe, who discouered part of the Countrey now called Virginia Anno 1584. Written by one of the said Captaines, and sent to sir Walter Ralegh knight, at whose charge and direction, the said voyage was set forth.”
5. Seth Mallios, The Deadly Politics of Giving (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2006) p. 60.
6. David Beers Quinn, Set Fair for Roanoke: Voyages and Colonies, 1584–1606 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985) p. 35.
7. Ibid.
8. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #24
9. Ibid.
10. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #22 “A Discourse of Western Planting, written by M. Richard Hakluyt, 1584.”
11. William S. Powell, North Carolina, A Bicentennial History (New York: W.W. Norton, 1977) p. 15.
12. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #25: “The voiage made by Sir Richard Greenuile, for Sir Walter Ralegh, to Virginia, in the yeere 1585.”
13. Ibid., July 15.
14. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #27: “An account of the particularities of the imployments of the English men left in Virginia by Richard Greenuill vnder the charge of Master Ralph Lane Generall of the same, from the 17. Of August 1585. Vntil the 18. Of Iune 1586 at which time they departed the Countrey; sent and directed to Sir Walter Ralegh.”
15. Hakluyt, #22, Chapter IX.
16. Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #27.
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #29: “A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia: of the commodities there found, and to be raised, aswell merchantable as others: Written by Thomas Heriot, seruant to Sir Walter Ralegh, a member of the Colony, and there imployed in discouering a full tweluemonth.”
20. Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #27.
21. Karen Ordahl Kupperman, Indians and English (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2000) p. 186.
22. Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #27.
23. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #26: “An extract of Master Ralph Lanes letter to M. Richard Hakluyt Esquire, and another Gentleman of the middle Temple, from Virginia.”
24. Hakluyt, The P
rincipal Navigations… #27
25. Julian S. Corbett, editor, Publications of the Navy Records Society of Great Britain, Vol. II, “The Spanish War 1585–87,” Printed for the Navy Records Society, 1898. p. 26. http://books.google.com/books?ei=agsJU92OEcG0sASMvYCoBA&id=sP1aAAAAIAAJ&dq=weapons+falcons+and+fowlers&q=pinnace#v=snippet&q=pinnace&f=false
26. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #28: “The third voyage made by a ship sent in the yeere 1586, to the reliefe of the Colony planted in Virginia at the sole charges of Sir Walter Ralegh.”
27. Ibid.
28. The Deposition of Pedro Diaz… “in Havana on the twenty-first day of March in the year one thousand five hundred and eighty-nine.” This transcription from Andrew T. Powell, Grenville and the Lost Colony of Roanoke (Leicester, UK: Matador/Troubador Publishing, 2011) pp. 149–156.
29. Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #27.
30. Quinn, Set Fair, p. 106.
Chapter 2
1. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #29: “A briefe and true report…”
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Quinn, Set Fair, pp. 256–8.
7. Ibid., p. 270
8. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #30: “The Fourth Voyage Made to Virginia with Three Ships, in Yere 1587. Wherein was transported the second Colonie.”
9. Julian S. Corbett, editor, Publications of the Navy Records Society of Great Britain, Vol II, “The Spanish War 1585–87,” p. 135.
10. The precise number of 1587 colonists is disputed. Furthermore, there a difference between the number of those who sailed from England and the number of colonists who remained at Roanoke and were “lost.” Most authors have settled on 115 “lost” colonists. Author Andrew Powell has done a credible examination of this topic and arrived at 119 “lost” colonists, including Virginia Dare and a “Harvie” child, both of whom were born after the arrival at Roanoke. The number of colonists who sailed from England used here—118—is Powell’s total minus the two born later, plus George Howe, who was killed by Indians upon arrival. See Andrew T. Powell, Grenville and the Lost Colony of Roanoke (Leicester, UK: Matador/Troubador Publishing, 2011) pp. 209–218.
11. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #30.
Chapter 3
1. His name has been variously spelled Simão Fernandes Fernandes in his original Portuguese, Simon Fernandez in Spanish, Simon Fernando or Ferdinando in English; here and afterwards the more common “Fernandez” is used.
2. Lee Miller, Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony (New York: Arcade Publishing, 2001) Part Three, “A Case of Conspiracy,” pp. 127–261.
3. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #30: “The Fourth Voyage Made to Virginia with Three Ships, in Yere 1587. Wherein was transported the second Colonie.” Entry for July 1.
4. William S. Powell, ed., Dictionary of North Carolina Biography D–G, Vol. 2 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986) pp. 190–1.
5. Ibid.
6. Paul E. Hoffman, A New Andalucia and a Way to the Orient (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1990, 2004) p. 244.
7. Helen Wallis, Material on Nautical Cartography in the British Library, 1550–1650 (Lisbon, Portugal: the Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, 1984) p. 195.
8. Powell, pp. 190–1.
9. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #30, entry for July 22.
10. Miller, pp. 181–184, 160–1, et al.
11. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #2: “A letter of Sir Francis Walsingham to M. Richard Hakluyt then of Christchurch in Oxford, incouraging him in the study of Cosmographie, and of furthering new discoueries, &c.”
12. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #3: “A letter of Sir Francis Walsingham to Master Thomas Aldworth merchant, and at that time Maior of the Cittie of Bristoll, concerning their aduenture in the Westerne discouerie.”
13. Giles Milton, Big Chief Elizabeth (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000) pp. 76, 131.
14. David Beers Quinn, Set Fair for Roanoke: Voyages and Colonies 1584–1606 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985) p. 149.
15. Ibid., p. 259.
16. Hakluyt. #30, entry for July 22.
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. Richard Hakluyt, Principal Navigations… #29 “A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia—The conclusion.”
20. Hakluyt, #30, entry for July 22.
21. Ibid. entry for July 25.
22. Paul E. Hoffman, Spain and the Roanoke Voyages (Raleigh: North Carolina Dept. of Cultural Resources, 1987) pp. 27, 30, 32.
23. Ibid., p. 32; also Irene Wright, The Early History of Cuba 1492–1586 (New York: Macmillan, 1916) p. 349.
24. Hoffman, Spain…, p. 42.
25. Ibid., p. 45.
26. Ibid., pp. 46–7.
27. Hakluyt #30, entries for July 2, 3, 4.
28. Hoffman, A New Andalucia and a Way to the Orient, p. 233.
29. Hakluyt, entry for July 22.
30. Hakluyt, entry for July 23.
31. Hakluyt, entry for July 28.
32. Powell’s total of “lost” colonists. See Andrew T. Powell, Grenville and the Lost Colony of Roanoke (Leicester, UK: Matador/Troubador Publishing, 2011) pp. 209–218.
Chapter 4
1. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #30, “The Fourth Voyage Made to Virginia with Three Ships, in Yere 1587. Wherein was transported the second Colonie.” Entry for July 30.
2. North Carolina Archaeological Council Publication Number 30, 2011, “The Archaeology of North Carolina: Three Archaeological Symposia” Ewen, Whyte, and Davis, Jr., editors.
3. David Beers Quinn, Set Fair for Roanoke: Voyages and Colonies 1584–1606 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985) p. 347.
4. Thomas C. Parramore, “The ‘Lost Colony’ Found: A Documentary Perspective.” The North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 78, No. 1 (January 2001), pp. 70–71.
5. Ibid.
6. James Horn, A Kingdom Strange (New York: Basic Books, 2010) p. 164.
7. Horn, pp. 224, et al.; also Horn, A Land As God Made It (New York: Basic Books, 2005) pp. 145–6, et al.; also Lee Miller, Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony (New York: Arcade Publishing, 2000) pp. 227–235; also Parramore “The ‘Lost Colony’ Found: A Documentary Perspective,” p. 71; also Quinn. Set Fair, p. 347.
8. Hakluyt #30, entry for Aug 22.
9. Ibid. Single entry for May 16.
10. Ibid. Entry for July 25.
11. Ibid. Entry for June 19–21.
12. Quinn, Set Fair, p. 273.
13. David Stick, Roanoke Island: The Beginnings of English America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1983) p. 199.
14. Hakluyt, #30, entry for Aug 18.
15. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #24, “The first voyage made to the coasts of America, with two barks, wherein were Captaines M. Philip Amadas, and M. Arthur Barlowe, who discouered part of the Countrey now called Virginia Anno 1584. Written by one of the said Captaines, and sent to sir Walter Ralegh knight, at whose charge and direction, the said voyage was set forth.” Description of Roanoke.
16. Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #30, Entry for July 23.
17. Ibid. Entry for July 28.
18. Ibid. Entry for August 9.
19. Ibid. Entry for July 23.
20. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #33, “The fift voyage of M. Iohn White into the West Indies and parts of America called Virginia, in the yeere 1590.” Entry for August 18.
21. Karen Ordahl Kupperman, Roanoke, the Abandoned Colony (Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Allanheld, 1984) p. 108.
22. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations… #27, “An account of the particularities of the imployments of the English men left in Virginia by Richard Greeneuill vnder the charg
e of Master Ralph Lane Generall of the same, from the 17. of August 1585. vntil the 18. of Iune 1586. at which time they departed the Countrey; sent and directed to Sir Walter Ralegh.”
23. “Ancient map gives clue to fate of ‘Lost’ Colony,” published May 4, 2012, by The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9244947/Ancient-map-gives-clue-to-fate-of-Lost-Colony.html; Also Joint Announcement, First Colony Foundation and British Museum, May 7, 2012 http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/05/07/new-clue-to-mystery-lost-roanoke-colony/
24. A number of news outlets reported on the fort symbol discovery and cited similar quotes. See above “Ancient map gives clue…” Also “New clue to mystery of lost Roanoke colony” Published May 7, 2012 by FoxNews.com. http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/05/07/new-clue-to-mystery-lost-roanoke-colony/ See also “Scientists report new clue to fate of Roanoke’s Lost Colony” by Martha Waggoner of the Associated Press, published by NBC News.com 5/3/2012, http://www.nbcnews.com/id/47288500/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/scientists-report-new-clue-fate-roanoke-lost-colony/#.VwKeHPnF96U
25. Hakyluyt, The Principal Navigations… #27.
26. Ibid.
27. Ibid.
The Lost Colony of Roanoke Page 32