Without a Trace: The Lost Colony-- Part 2" What Happened?

When John White was finally able to return, the colonists he had left were gone, the village disassembled and overgrown with brush.

He found the word "Croatoan" carved into the surface of one of the palisades' entrance posts, and the letters "Cro" carved into a nearby tree.  White believed that meant that the colonists had moved south to join the Croatoan Indians and he set out to find them.

But storms and lack of provisions soon halted his search, and he returned to England without ever knowing what had happened to his colonists.

To this day, no one is sure, either.

Somehistorians believe they died from disease or Native American attacks.  Or, perhaps they split up and were assimilated with the locals.

It would be 65 more years before immigrants again came to North Carolina.

--DaCoot

Without a Trace: The Lost Colony, "Croatoan"

From the Feb. 2017 Our State magazine, North Carolina.

In April 1587, more than 30 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, explorer John White and about 120 men, women and children set sail from England to establish England's first permanent settlement in what became America.

They were the first whites to come here and joined thousands of Indians already living here for centuries.  They had intended to land in the Chesapeake Bay area, but got dropped off on Roanoke Island and soon became some of North Carolina's most famous residents: the Lost Colony

After living at the island for six weeks, White left the colony for England to get supplies and reinforcements.  he had delays in returning.

--Cooter