X Is for X Marks the Spot
This month I'm participating in the A to Z Challenge. My theme this year is Unsolved Mysteries. Today's letter is:
I'm going to be honest. X sucks! I think it sucks for almost everyone, every year. So this year I'm fudging a little and use a term that is attached to treasure maps.
So far this month I've covered missing people, missing airplanes, and even a vanishing boat...but the case of the missing colony may be the largest group I've covered so far. The Roanoke Colony was settled in 1585, during a time when Europeans were beginning to settle in Virginia.
Soon after the colony was established, the settlers were running out of food and tools. John White, who had been named governor of the area, volunteered to travel back to England to get the supplies they needed. He said he'd be back the next year.
A picture of a ship similar to John White's.
He left his wife, his daughter, and his grandaughter, who was the first baby born in the New World to English parents.
Unfortunately, John White encountered several obstacles. It was a full three years before he returned to Roanoke. When he arrived, the area was completely deserted. The only clue was a word carved into a tree: "Croatoan."
Croatoan was the name of a nearby island, as well as a Native American tribe in the area. Over the years, several clues have arisen that might answer the mystery. Recent archaeological finds suggest the colonists may have split into two groups, settling into two Native American colonies. These finds include items that were distinctly European and unlikely to have belonged to Native Americans.
Unfortunately, John White never located his family in his lifetime, although he never gave up searching.
Do you believe the colonists simply relocated? Or did they meet with some sort of tragic end?
⬅️ W Is for the Woolpit Green Children
I'm going to be honest. X sucks! I think it sucks for almost everyone, every year. So this year I'm fudging a little and use a term that is attached to treasure maps.
So far this month I've covered missing people, missing airplanes, and even a vanishing boat...but the case of the missing colony may be the largest group I've covered so far. The Roanoke Colony was settled in 1585, during a time when Europeans were beginning to settle in Virginia.
Soon after the colony was established, the settlers were running out of food and tools. John White, who had been named governor of the area, volunteered to travel back to England to get the supplies they needed. He said he'd be back the next year.
A picture of a ship similar to John White's.He left his wife, his daughter, and his grandaughter, who was the first baby born in the New World to English parents.
Unfortunately, John White encountered several obstacles. It was a full three years before he returned to Roanoke. When he arrived, the area was completely deserted. The only clue was a word carved into a tree: "Croatoan."
Croatoan was the name of a nearby island, as well as a Native American tribe in the area. Over the years, several clues have arisen that might answer the mystery. Recent archaeological finds suggest the colonists may have split into two groups, settling into two Native American colonies. These finds include items that were distinctly European and unlikely to have belonged to Native Americans.
Unfortunately, John White never located his family in his lifetime, although he never gave up searching.
Do you believe the colonists simply relocated? Or did they meet with some sort of tragic end?
⬅️ W Is for the Woolpit Green Children
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