Major Theories
When John White finally returned to Roanoke Island in 1590, he found the colony abandoned. After discovering a clue about the colonists’ possible whereabouts, he quickly formed his own theory about their fate but was never able to confirm it.
In the 430 years since their disappearance, many clues, theories, and ideas have been investigated. However, no one has definitively proven what happened to the Lost Colony. Below are several of the most well-known theories about the colonists’ fate. Examine each one and decide for yourself what you think happened to the Roanoke settlers.
A Hurricane Hit the Village and Killed the Colonists
One popular theory is that a hurricane hit the area and either killed the colonists or forced them to abandon the colony. Much like today, hurricanes often impacted the Outer Banks. In 1586, a hurricane sank many ships in Sir Francis Drake's fleet while they were anchored off the coast of Bodie Island. Additionally, in 1588, Spanish colonists recorded a strong hurricane hitting the city of Havana, Cuba. It's possible that it made its way up the coast and hit the Outer Banks.
Hurricanes hitting the Outer Banks in back-to-back years is rare, but not impossible. However, when John White returned to the colony on Roanoke Island, he didn’t find any destruction indicative of a hurricane. He noted that the buildings weren’t destroyed, but rather dismantled. That hasn’t stopped it from being a popular theory, though!
Famine and Disease Killed the Colonists
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Corn, beans, and squash were a major staple food among the Algonquian people and the English began to farm them.
Famine and disease rank high among the popular theories for the demise of the Lost Colony. Shortly after the colonists arrived on Roanoke Island and found themselves insufficiently provisioned, they sent John White back to England to seek help from Sir Walter Raleigh. The colonists had hoped to trade with the native Algonquian people, but a major drought struck the Outer Banks in 1587 and lasted for three years. As a result, the Algonquian did not have enough food to trade.
However, when John White returned, he found no graves in the village—something that would likely have been present if disease or famine had devastated the colony. While disease outbreaks were common at the time, they tended to affect the Algonquian people more than the English. Even if disease and famine did not completely destroy the colony, it is likely that some colonists could have died as a result.
The Spanish Attacked the Colonists
In the summer of 1587, Spain and England were in the midst of war. When John White sailed back to England for supplies that same summer, he was unable to quickly return to the colony as planned due to the war. People have speculated that the Spanish had a hand in the downfall of the colony. In 1587, the Spanish captured an English sailor and learned there was an English colony in the Outer Banks.
In 1588, Spanish Captain Vicente Gonzalez sailed to the Chesapeake Bay and the Outer Banks looking for the English. While he found evidence of a boat slip on nearby Roanoke Island, he found no English people during the journey. When John White returned in 1590, he did not notice any signs of a Spanish attack at the village location.
The Colonists Moved to the Chesapeake Bay
There are three common theories about the Lost Colony moving away from Roanoke Island. The first is that they moved to the Chesapeake Bay – Sir Walter Raleigh’s intended location for the now-lost colony. When John White returned in 1590, he did not sail up to the Chesapeake Bay to look for signs of the colonists.
Almost 20 years later, new colonists founded Jamestown along the Chesapeake Bay. They asked the local Algonquian people about the earlier settlers and learned that many of the lost colonists had fought and died in a battle before the Jamestown colonists arrived.
Despite the rumors, no archaeological evidence of the Lost Colony has been uncovered in the Chesapeake Bay area. The journey from Roanoke Island to the Chesapeake Bay required open-ocean navigation. None of the colonists were sailors or navigators, casting doubt on whether they could have made the trip.
The Colonists went up the Albemarle Sound
The second theory involving the colonists leaving Roanoke Island suggests that they moved up the Albemarle Sound, away from the ocean. On a map created by John White, there is a patch covering a fort-like symbol approximately 50 miles inland, near present-day Bertie County. White had also left instructions for the colonists to move 50 miles inland if they left Roanoke Island. Archeological work began in Bertie County in the 2010s in search of clues. Archeologists have uncovered many English artifacts during the digs that they believe may have belonged to the colonists.
However, they have not been able to locate any human remains, graves, buildings, or a village site in the area. Even the artifacts found there have not been definitively linked to the Lost Colony. It’s possible that earlier English colonists could have traded these items to Native people, who then brought them to Bertie County.
The Colonists Moved Down to Croatoan (Hatteras Island)
The third theory involving the colonists leaving Roanoke Island is, perhaps, one of the most popular and compelling. Some theorize that the colonists relocated to Croatoan (present-day Hatteras Island). John White had instructed the colonists that if they had to leave before he returned, they should move 50 miles inland up the Albemarle Sound. If they chose a different location, he asked them to leave a message indicating where they went. When he returned in 1590, he found the word Croatoan carved into a post at the abandoned colony.
Croatoan was the name of both a people and a place. The Croatoan people lived on Croatoan (Hatteras Island) when the English first arrived in the Outer Banks. Manteo, a friendly Croatoan man, even lived with the colonists on Roanoke Island. After discovering the carved message, White believed the colonists had moved to Croatoan. Over the years, artifacts from the time of the Lost Colony have been discovered on Hatteras Island.
However, like the Albemarle Sound theory, no human remains, graves, buildings, or village sites have been definitively linked to the Lost Colony. Although the English visited the island during the colonial period, many of the artifacts found there may have been obtained through trade with the Algonquian people who also lived on the island. Additionally, the Croatoan people were hesitant to trade with the English when they first arrived, and given the island’s limited resources, it may not have been able to support an additional 117 people.
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