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    Disappeared Without a Trace Vol II: The Lost Colony of Roanoke Island
    Disappeared Without a Trace Vol II: The Lost Colony of Roanoke Island
    Disappeared Without a Trace Vol II: The Lost Colony of Roanoke Island
    Ebook55 pages1 hour

    Disappeared Without a Trace Vol II: The Lost Colony of Roanoke Island

    By James R Ashley

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    Most people believe that the first English colony established in North America was at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1609. In point of fact, however, that was the second English colony. The first one was 21 years before Jamestown and was on a small island just behind the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was called Roanoke Island, sometimes referred to as the Lost Colony, because all the colonists who settled there disappeared without a trace.

    The Roanoke Island colony was star-crossed almost from the beginning. The colony was first set up as a military base to be garrisoned by soldiers. The objective was to establish a resupply base for English privateers operating against the Spanish treasure fleets in South and Central America. However, the soldiers’ goal was to enrich themselves by finding gold mines and pearls, and they spent most of their time attempting to do so. They wasted no time attempting to grow crops to feed themselves, preferring instead to rely on uncertain shipments of foodstuffs from England or forcing the Indian natives to supply them with food, whether they liked it or not. When the Indians finally became fed up with the soldiers leaching off them and refused to barter away any more of their scarce food with them, the soldiers simply took it, burning down the Indian villages and killing as many of the native Indians as they could. Being bitterly disappointed in not finding their expected riches and dissatisfied with the irregularity of their food supplies, the soldiers abandoned the colony at the first opportunity and returned to England with the 1st relief force (that of Sir Francis Drake) that arrived at the base.

    Learning from the mistakes of the 1st expedition to Roanoke Island, the English investors now sent out a proper expedition, this time consisting of families who were intent on permanently colonizing the site. Although all of the men, women, and children on the 2nd expedition had high hopes of starting a new life in the wilderness of North America, they were doomed almost from the start. There were arriving in the New World too late in the season to plant their crops, so they would have to rely for their foodstuffs and survival on Indians made bitter by their former ill-treatment by the soldiers. As the colonists inevitably ran low on food, they mistreated the Indians the same way as the soldiers had done and with the same result, that being the indifference and outright hostility of the Indians to their survival.

    Quickly becoming aware of the unsuitability of Roanoke Island as a site for a self-sustaining colony, the colonists decided to relocate to the Chesapeake Bay area, which they considered a superior site. At this point the colonists disappear into the mists of history and were never seen again. And although we can make an educated guess on what might have happened to the so-called Lost Colony of Roanoke Island, we will never know for sure what their fate was. So turn the page and see if you can solve the 400-year-old mystery of one of the great mass disappearances of history.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJames R Ashley
    Release dateFeb 18, 2015
    ISBN9781311742551
    Disappeared Without a Trace Vol II: The Lost Colony of Roanoke Island

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      Book preview

      Disappeared Without a Trace Vol II - James R Ashley

      Disappeared Without a Trace

      The Lost Colony of Roanoke Island

      James R Ashley

      Copyright 2015 James R. Ashley

      Smashwords edition

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Humphrey Gilbert

      Arthur Barlowe

      Richard Grenville

      Ralph Lane

      Richard Grenville's Return

      John White

      Spain

      What Happened to the Colonists?

      Biography

      Introduction

      Most people believe that the first English colony established in North America was at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1609. In point of fact, however, that was the second English colony. The first one was 21 years before Jamestown and was on a small island just behind the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was called Roanoke Island, sometimes referred to as the Lost Colony, because all the colonists who settled there disappeared without a trace.

      The Roanoke Island colony was star-crossed almost from the beginning. The colony was first set up as a military base to be garrisoned by soldiers. The objective was to establish a resupply base for English privateers operating against the Spanish treasure fleets in South and Central America. However, the soldiers’ goal was to enrich themselves by finding gold mines and pearls, and they spent most of their time attempting to do so. They wasted no time attempting to grow crops to feed themselves, preferring instead to rely on uncertain shipments of foodstuffs from England or forcing the Indian natives to supply them with food, whether they liked it or not. When the Indians finally became fed up with the soldiers leaching off them and refused to barter away any more of their scarce food with them, the soldiers simply took it, burning down the Indian villages and killing as many of the native Indians as they could. Being bitterly disappointed in not finding their expected riches and dissatisfied with the irregularity of their food supplies, the soldiers abandoned the colony at the first opportunity and returned to England with the 1st relief force (that of Sir Francis Drake) that arrived at the base.

      Learning from the mistakes of the 1st expedition to Roanoke Island, the English investors now sent out a proper expedition, this time consisting of families who were intent on permanently colonizing the site. Although all of the men, women, and children on the 2nd expedition had high hopes of starting a new life in the wilderness of North America, they were doomed almost from the start. There were arriving in the New World too late in the season to plant their crops, so they would have to rely for their foodstuffs and survival on Indians made bitter by their former ill-treatment by the soldiers. As the colonists inevitably ran low on food, they mistreated the Indians the same way as the soldiers had done and with the same result, that being the indifference and outright hostility of the Indians to their survival.

      Quickly becoming aware of the unsuitability of Roanoke Island as a site for a self-sustaining colony, the colonists decided to relocate to the Chesapeake Bay area, which they considered a superior site. At this point the colonists disappear into the mists of history and were never seen again. And although we can make an educated guess on what might have happened to the so-called Lost Colony of Roanoke Island, we will never know for sure what their fate was. So turn the page and see if you can solve the 400-year-old mystery of one of the great mass disappearances of history.

      Humphrey Gilbert

      In 1565 John Hawkins returned to England and informed Queen Elizabeth I that France had established a colony in North America. However, it wasn’t until June 11, 1578, that Queen Elizabeth granted Sir Humphrey Gilbert (Sir Walter Raleigh’s half-brother) the exclusive right to establish an English colony anywhere in North America north of Spanish Florida. The royal patent was in effect for 6 years and if Gilbert was unable to establish a colony during that time, the rights granted him would revert back to the crown. If Gilbert did, however, establish a colony, his rights to explore anywhere in North America and to

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