ROANOKE

It’s the late 1500s and the rulers of England are hungry for expansion. Spain has already claimed vast territories in the Americas, and Queen Elizabeth the First wants her own foothold in the New World. The legendry explorer Sir Walter Raleigh convinces the Crown to fund an expedition that can secure a permanent settlement across the ocean. In 1587, men, women, and children set off under the leadership of the artist and mapmaker John White. They land on Roanoke Island, where White is intended to act as Governor of a new civilian colony. Yet soon after, he returns to England for supplies. But when he comes back to Roanoke… the settlement is abandoned. 

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Credits:
https://www.britannica.com/story/the-lost-colony-of-roanoke
https://www.earth-scope.com/2025/10/dna-breakthrough-finally-solves-the-lost-colony-mystery-genetic-evidence-reveals-what-really-happened-to-roanokes-settlers.html
https://www.history.com/articles/what-happened-to-the-lost-colony-of-roanoke
https://historychronicles.org/the-lost-colony-of-roanoke-what-really-happened-in-1587-the-latest-research/
https://www.nps.gov/fora/learn/historyculture/1587-the-lost-colony.htm
https://uppbeat.io/

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Although every effort is made to ensure that the episode is researched and accurate we cannot guarantee the complete contents is entirely factually correct, and AI tools maybe used to enhance the dramatization of episodes.

Transcript

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It's the late fifteen hundreds, and the rulers of England are hungry for expansion. Spain has already claimed vast territories in the Americas, and Queen Elizabeth I wants her own foothold in the New World. The legendary explorer Sir Walter Raleigh convinces the Crown to fund an expedition that can secure a permanent settlement across the ocean. In 1587, men, women and children set off under the leadership of the artist and mapmaker John White. They land on Roanoke Island, where White is intended to act as governor of a new civilian colony. Yet soon after he returns to England for supplies. But when he comes back to Roanoke, the settlement is abandoned, his new society has vanished. Welcome to Unexplained, brought to you by Enigma from the Pod. And this episode is Roanoke. Yet further expansion means reaching across the globe, and England wanted to reach the Americas to break the Spanish dominance, gain wealth, expand power, and secure strategic territory before rival empires claimed everything. The first English expedition reaches Roanoke Island in 1584. This reconnaissance mission, sent by Sir Walter Raleigh, is designed to scout a suitable location for a future settlement. It is led by two captains, Philip Amadas, a naval commander, and Arthur Barlow, an English explorer. They are not colonists, they are scouts. They explore the outer banks and coastal North Carolina, anchoring along the barrier islands and traveling inland in small boats. Accounts described that they made peaceful contact with local indigenous groups, first the Roanoke tribe, then neighboring nations. Goods are exchanged and varying customs respectively observed. There is no evidence these communities had met Europeans before, but the accounts suggest a formal greeting of strangers took place in a harmonious fashion. The party stays for six weeks, mapping the region, assessing sites for colonization, and building relationships with the local populations. The reconnaissance mission was deemed successful and even returned to England with two indigenous men, Manteo of the Croatoan people and Wancheza of the Roanoke, who both agree to travel back to England as cultural ambassadors. The second expedition arrives in 1585. This mission, also funded by Raleigh, aims to establish a base for privateering against Spanish ships and continue scouting for long-term colonisation. Seven ships carrying around 600 soldiers and sailors arrive under Sir Richard Grenville and Governor Ralph Lane. Grenville soon returns to England, leaving Lane with about 100 men to hold the fort. Although this is not intended as a permanent settlement, houses are still built around the fort, but Lane quickly realizes they cannot grow enough food. The indigenous members, Manteo and Juancherze, had also returned with Greenville and Lane, with the intention of maintaining beneficial relations. And although Manteo assisted with the survival of Lane and his men, Juan Chasey was openly hostile and supported anti-English sentiment. As the seasons pass, Lane becomes isolated, starving, and surrounded by hostile tribes. He launches an attack, killing a local leader. This seals the colony's fate. Hostile warriors gather, and Lane expects an attack at any moment. In 1586, Lane is besieged. But it is then by chance Sir Francis Drake arrives. Drake has been conducting a massive privateering campaign in the Caribbean, but before returning to England, he decides to check on the Roanoke outpost, the only English presence in the region. He arrived peacefully, no hostility or conflict occurred, but this is likely due to him arriving in what was the largest fleet to ever appear on this coastline at that point in time. A formidable force that had just previously been successful in destroying Spanish settlements, and the local tribes were unlikely to attempt any attack on this naval force. The exact reason for this unplanned visit is not documented, but put simply, Drake was explicitly tasked with attacking Spanish holdings and supporting English colonial efforts when possible. Roanoke was the only English outpost in the region. It was natural, even expected, that he would check on it. But when he arrived at Roanoke, he found Lane's colony starving and surrounded by hostile tribes. Drake offered evacuation, and unsure that Grenville would ever return, Lane accepted. The entire 1585 military colony, defeated, left with Drake for return to England. It was just two weeks later that Grenville returned with fresh supplies and new settlers, but finds the fort empty. With no knowledge concerning the recent evacuation and to maintain England's claim to the region, he leaves fifteen men behind and sails back home. Those fifteen men are never seen again. Despite the financial and human cost of the first two English expeditions to Roanoke Island, Sir Walter Raleigh did not view them as subject failures. He saw them as part of a long-term strategy to secure an English foothold in the New World. And this did not necessarily mean Roanoke was the only option for establishing a colony. Scouting reports helped identify a better location, the Chesapeake Bay, 80 kilometers north of Roanoke. It offers safer harbors and protection from Atlantic storms, fertile farmland with abundant game for hunting, and crucially, a politically stable local indigenous population who were open to alliances. So, in 1587, men, women and children set off under the leadership of the artist and mapmaker, John White, who had the intention of acting as governor of the new civilian colony. Three ships piloted by Simon Fernandez set out to build a fortified English city, the planned city of Raleigh. This was to be the anchor that established England's claim to the New World. Simon Fernandez started life off born in Portugal. He trained as a navigator at an elite Spanish school and displayed a high level of sailing skill, making him an asset for the Spanish crown. However, he soon broke ranks with the Spanish and turned to piracy, operating out of British ports and targeting Spanish shipping. By late 1577, his luck ran out. He was arrested for piracy but escaped execution thanks to intervention from one of Queen Elizabeth I's spymasters. Fernandez denounced his Catholic origins and became an English subject, entering the service of Sir Walter Raleigh, where he provided valuable information concerning Spanish ships and his experience of the Atlantic Ocean. As the pilot chosen to guide John White's new colony, Fernandez stood as a symbol of Raleigh's trust and of the faith England placed in his experience. He was the man meant to deliver the settlers safely to Chesapeake Bay, the site where Raleigh envisioned his city of Raleigh. But what happened on the voyage north remains one of the most debated moments in early colonial history. The plan was simple: make a brief stop at Roanoke Island, check on the fate of the abandoned 1585 military garrison, and then continue northward to Chesapeake Bay to establish the new colony. But on arrival at Roanoke Island, White went ashore and found no one to greet him. Only a sun-bleached skeleton remained of the fifteen men previously left by Sir Richard Grenville. White returned to the sailing vessels for the intended departure north to Chesapeake Bay. But it was at this moment that Fernandez then refused to continue. And as he, the pilot of the sailing vessels, together with the support of the crew, White had no authority to override him. White and the colonists, with their supplies, sailed in small boats back to the Roanoke Island. The Grenville fort was now overgrown, previous homes were now rotten or destroyed, and most of the tools and amour already in place were damaged or rusted beyond repair. There was one glimmer of hope when they were visited by the Croatoan people. These were the people of Manteo, the local who returned to England with the first reconnaissance expedition. It was relayed to White that the men left by Grenville had been attacked and killed by neighboring hostile tribes, and that there was no possibility of a reconciliation. With inadequate supplies and little possibility or survival, the newly arrived colonists convinced White that he must return to England and petition Sir Walter Raleigh to send the provisions required and report the betrayal of Fernandez. White recognized he had no choice but to secure passage back to England. A decision made even more difficult, having just witnessed the birth of a grandchild. The largest of the three ships, known as the Lion, was now captained by Fernandez, who intended to pursue privateering. But one of the smaller vessels was intending to make a return to England, and so White secured passage and commenced the journey back across the Atlantic. White almost never made it back to England. The country he was returning to had been thrown into chaos. Political tension, military panic, and the looming threat of the Spanish Armada. As his ship approached the coast of Southwest England, disaster struck. A group of French pirates closed in and attacked. In the chaos, supplies were stolen, equipment was stripped from the vessel, and White himself was wounded. Despite the injuries and the loss of vital cargo, he managed to reach the shore alive. White immediately sets out to report back to Raleigh, including the desperate situation of the colonists and the betrayal of Fernandez. Both work closely to secure ships, gather supplies, recruit sailors, and prepare for the return to Roanoke Island. The plan appeared to be working, but then history has other plans. Within weeks of White's return to England, the Crown enters full military mobilization against Spain. All ships are seized for defense, privateering licenses are restricted, and ports are locked down. No vessel can legally leave England. White refuses to give up, but when all official channels of support fail, he turns to privateers. John Watts, a London merchant and privateering financer, agrees to let White use his ship, the Hopewell, captained by Abraham Cock. But only after it completes its privateering mission. And it was in 1590, three years after leaving his colony, that White finally returns to Roanoke. As the island comes into view, the crew fires a cannon and sounds a trumpet. But there is no response to their arrival. A landing party is put together and rows ashore in two small boats, but there is no one who greets them. White walks the overgrown pathways that show no sign of recent human activity. Just before the settlement, he finds the letters CRO carved into a tree. This was an agreed distress code. But there is no cross above it, meaning the colonists did not leave under duress. The old fort is discovered, not destroyed or burned, but carefully dismantled. The site is deserted but appears to have been left in an orderly departure. Then, White finds the word Croatone carved into a post. He now believes the colonists relocated to Croatone Island. White searches the now derelict colony and discovers a trunk he buried prior to his return to England. Opening the trunk, he discovers his books, maps, and drawings are all ruined. The result of years of painstaking research is now destroyed. The continuation of searching the settlement results in no bodies, no signs of violence, and no clues beyond the carvings already cited. As dark clouds and fading light threatens, the captain orders a return to the ships. White protests, wanting to search further, but he is overruled. Captain Cock is resolute in his order to return, and as violent storms grows stronger, he is forced to cut the ship's anchor cables and they are blown out to sea. White begs and pleads the captain to return to Croatoan Island once the storm passes. But the ships have sustained damage. The crew members are exhausted, and the privateers now want to return home with their captured Spanish valuables. White is devastated. He never sees Roanoke again. There is not any conclusive evidence to suggest where the lost colony of Roanoke went, but there are some clues to support speculative theories. Oral stories passed down through Croatoan indigenous populations have described ancestors with strange names and grey eyes. Maybe the lost colony was absorbed into the community of local tribes, only leaving their mark with folklore and the now forgotten traditional custodians of the lands. Some historians point to the scattered archaeological traces found miles inland, fragments of English pottery, a copper aglet, a few tools out of place, as hints that small groups may have broken away and tried to rebuild their lives elsewhere. These artifacts don't speak loudly, but they do hint at possible movement, adaptation, and survival far from the island where their story began. And then there is the silence, the absence of bodies, the dismantled houses, the careful removal of belongings. Nothing about the site suggests panic. It feels instead like a community that left with intention, leaving behind a single carved word as both message and hope. In the end, the fate of the Roanoke colonists sits somewhere between evidence and imagination. Perhaps they were absorbed into neighbouring nations, their English identities dissolving into new kinship lines. Perhaps they scattered, some surviving, some not. What remains is a mystery shaped as much by what we cannot find as by what we can. What became of Simon Fernandez is not clear, and there is no known surviving record to demonstrate he survived past 1590. We know he certainly did not return to England, where he was sure to have been arrested and executed for his offences against the crown. Sir Richard Grenville continued his naval service, but was killed in 1591 at the hands of the Spanish. Ralph Lane provided administrative support for the English crown and supplied written accounts that would assist with future colonization. He was later knighted for his services and died in 1603 of natural causes. Sir Francis Drake became one of England's most feared naval commanders. But despite inflicting numerous campaigns against the Spanish, he led a failed expedition to the Caribbean, where he died of dysentery and was buried at sea in 1596. Sir Walter Raleigh continued to be a courtier and favourite of Queen Elizabeth. But when she died in 1603, Raleigh's fortunes collapsed. The new King James I distrusted him and favoured peace with Spain. He was accused of treason for later attacks against the Spanish and executed in 1618. John White, upon his return to England, quietly slipped into retirement at Sir Walter Raleigh's estates in Ireland. He did not assume any further public roles or governmental positions. He continued to hope that his family had survived, but never attempted to pursue another rescue attempt. Although there is no recorded death for White, likely due to him not being a nobleman, but historians place it at about 1600. White did leave us a collection of paintings, maps, and drawings that are preserved in the British Museum. And it was in 2012 researchers examined two paper patches on White's 16th-century map he had drawn when sailing alongside Gremville and Lane during the second expedition. The researchers found a hidden symbol, a faint outline of a fort beneath a patch of paint that suggests the colonists may have attempted to establish a second settlement upriver from Roanoke and coincides with the location that archaeologists had previously discovered a small amount of English-style pottery. Maybe the missing colonists did move inland and survived, and John White left us a glimmer of hope that they followed a pre-agreed plan to seek survival at a second location where they lived for the remainder of their days. We simply don't know. What makes the Roanoke mystery so haunting isn't just the disappearance, it's the silence, no letters, no journals, no survivors, just a carved word on a tree. We're left with a story that ends mid-sentence, a mystery suspended in time, and maybe that's why Roanoke still captures us, because it reminds us that history isn't a straight line. Sometimes it's a trail that stops abruptly in the woods, leaving us to wonder what happened just beyond the edge of the path. Four hundred years later, Roanoke Island is quiet again. Tourists walk the trails, and the forests have reclaimed the land, but somewhere beneath the soil, beneath the roots and the sand, the truth is still waiting to be found. The 1587 colony wasn't intended to be a doomed outpost. It was to be the beginning of England's New World Empire. Instead, it became one of history's most enduring mysteries, and a series of events that led to the disappearance of an entire population. This has been unexplained, brought to you by Enigma from the pod. And you have been listening to Roanoke. As a stand-up podcast, we greatly appreciate your support. Please follow us on social media and consider leaving us a review.