Sunday, March 30, 2014

Roanoke: Violent Beginnings - Part IV

               Part four of a four part series on the lost colony of Roanoke.



Finally John White was able to sail back to Roanoke with some minimal supplies in 1590, but he found no trace of the colony he left behind. He approached the settlement and saw “CRO” carved on a tree in Roman letters.[i] The settlement was abandoned and dismantled, but featured no signs of an attack or struggle. This was a good sign to White since the inhospitable Secotans lived near by.
On the main gatepost was the word “CROATOAN” just as White and the settlers agreed if they should move. The only difference was there was no cross or sign of distress. Upon further examination of the island, the boats and cannon that the settlers had were missing. The everything pointed towards the colonists traveling to a new location, which was expected as John White recorded, “…at my departure they intended to goe fiftie miles into the mayne.”[ii] It seemed clear that some part of the English colony moved down to the friendly Croatoan community to wait for supplies while the rest followed the Chowan River into Virginia. That was never confirmed because White was unable to visit Manteo’s community.
During the night their ship lost three of its four anchors in a gusty storm and the captain turned the ship back to England for the crews own safety. John White lost his chance to visit the Croatoans and confirm his belief. He was unable to return to America and support for the colonization effort by Sir Walter Raleigh waned and virtually disappeared.[iii]
In 1602 and 1603 expeditions were sent to Virginia to try and find the lost colonists, but they discovered nothing. Then in 1607 Jamestown was built in the Chesapeake Bay, and Captain John Smith began to hear information that led him to believe the colonists survived and “lived in native communities somewhere to the south.” [iv]
To prove the rumors, the Pamunkey Indians captured Smith and told him valuable information about the colonists. During his captivity he was told that there were, “certain men clothed at a place called Ocanahonan, clothed like me.”[v] Additionally he was told this place was located by the lands of the “Roanoke” Indians and if he explored to the south there was a place called Anone that had stone houses. He was taken to Wahunsonacock, also called Powhatan, before he was given his freedom and Powhatan told Smith the land of Roanoke had an “abundance of Brass, and houses walled as ours.” [vi] When Smith returned to Jamestown with this information, men were sent into the outer banks and mainland to explore. These men found little information, but the news of the lost colonists possibly being alive spread quickly and over the Atlantic to England.
An Algonquian weroance named Machumps was visiting England in 1609 and told the English scribe William Strachey valuable information about the lost colonists. He said they lived in relative peace with the local Indians for twenty or so years, even living within several different communities. “[Pakerakanick & Ocananhonan] have howses built with stone walles, and one story above another, so taught them by those Englishe whoe escaped the slaughter at Roanoak.”[vii] He gave more information about the battle at Roanoke in which several colonists were killed or captured in 1607 when the English ship landed in the Chesapeake Bay and Jamestown was found.
Machumps then told of seven colonists still alive, “the Weroance Eyanoco preserved seven of the English alive-fower men, two boyes, and one younge mayde (who escaped and fled up the river of Chanoke).” [viii]
The belief that the colonists moved further into the mainland is a real and highly likely possibility according to the testimony of Machumps and John White. The plan was for the colony to move and White even outlined a plan if they should move while he was gone. If they moved into the mainland, going to the bank of the Chowan River and into Menatonon’s territory would have been the safest place. He was still friendly to the English and could have assimilated the colonist with his community, as it was not unusual custom.[ix]
The evidence points to the Roanoke colonists deciding to become part of the native culture and community because of the inability of England to give them sufficient supplies. The colony split apart and integrated into several different tribes and some of them assimilated into the Indian settlements. Local legends maintain that the colonists survived and fully integrated themselves into the Indian culture and they still have descendants living on the coast in North Carolina to this day.[x] This looks partially true as later on it was discovered that several of the Croatoan Indians had grey and blue eyes, evidence that some of the colonist resided with them.[xi] According to Machumps many of the colonists were killed in 1607 when Powhatan attacked them.
With the various accounts matched together it seems clear that a portion of the colonists remained with the Indian settlements while the majority of them traveled into the mainland to establish a safer colony. The lived peacefully as part of the culture until the English returned, as that is when the Powhatan attack on the settlers happened. They were killed and enslaved, eliminating all remains of the actual colony. The English colonists who survived became slaves of other weroances or already were living in other Indian communities, waiting for John White to return.




[i]James Horn, A Kingdom Strange (New York: Basic Books, 2010), 188.
[ii]Alan Smith, Virginia 1584-1607 (London: Theodore Brun Fine Editions Limited, 1957), 69.
[iii]James Horn, A Kingdom Strange (New York: Basic Books, 2010), 197.
[iv]Michael Oberg, The Head in Edward Nugents Hand (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007), 133.
[v]James Horn, A Kingdom Strange (New York: Basic Books, 2010), 207.
[vi]Ibid, 209.
[vii]William Strachey, The Historie of Travaile Into Virginia Britinia (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1849), 26.
[viii]Ibid, 26.
[ix]Michael Oberg, The Head in Edward Nugents Hand (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007), 142.
[x]Karen Ordahl Kupperman, Roanoke (United States: Barnes & Noble, 1993), 141.
[xi]Michael Oberg, The Head in Edward Nugents Hand (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007), 129.










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