The “Chowanoke” and “fort-symbol” theories are further challenged by the messages left by the Lost Colonists themselves, directing John White south to Croatoan from Roanoke (courtesy Michael Gayle).
One of the arguments usually cited to support the fort symbol theory—as well as the Chesapeake and Chowanoke theories—has to do with John White’s notations that the colony intended “to remoue from Roanoak 50 miles into the maine.”28 A number of news articles based on the First Colony Foundation/British Museum announcement in May of 2012 suggested that White’s fifty-mile reference supported the conclusion that the colony intended to move to the fort symbol location in present-day Bertie County, which would have been about a fifty or sixty mile voyage from Roanoke west across Albemarle Sound.
White made two separate statements regarding the colonists’ intention to relocate to the mainland fifty miles from Roanoke. The first was written in 1587, after returning to England, and the second was written after White’s failed voyage to find the colonists in 1590. The fact that White used that precise “50-mile” distance on two separate occasions would seem to indicate that the fifty mile designation did have a unique significance.
It is clear, though, that White did not know where the colony would decide to go after he left Roanoke in 1587, and he did not know where he might look for them when he returned in 1590 (until, of course, he located the CRO and CROATOAN carved inscriptions). Therefore, since the colony’s relocation intentions had not been decided until after White departed, he could not have been designating any specific location by his “fifty mile” references, including the fort symbol location in present-day Bertie County. As iterated previously, it was because he did not know where the settlement would be eventually located that White and the colonists devised the carved-message system so that upon his return White would learn “the name of the place where they should be seated.”29
The specific fifty-mile designation, then, may have represented something else entirely. Author Lee Miller suggested that the “fifty mile” phraseology might have indicated a jurisdictional limitation, such as the precise fifty mile radius from Jamestown within which the colonists were granted governance in 1607.30 If that were the case, Miller theorized, maybe “White’s colonists felt that they had no rights within that fifty-mile zone” of Roanoke Island.31 It was reasonably supposed, then, that this interpretation would support the notion that the colony went to the present-day Bertie County site because it was just beyond the fifty mile radius from Roanoke. This reasoning, by the way, would automatically eliminate Parramore’s Weapemeoc theory as well as Dasamonguepeuk and the Alligator River for their proximity to Roanoke.
It is very possible that White’s fifty-mile designation referred to an understood jurisdictional limitation, as Miller proposed. A specific fifty-mile jurisdiction was indeed included in the comprehensive and detailed 1606 First Virginia Charter, which set out the rules for establishing the Jamestown colony. That fifty miles, however, was a specific north-south jurisdiction only. As the charter stated, the colony’s authority extended “for the space of fifty like English Miles, all alongst the said Coasts of Virginia.”32 The east-west jurisdiction, however, had different parameters: the Jamestown colony was granted rights for all lands from the settlement “directly into the main Land by the Space of one hundred like English Miles” and also to “all the Islands within one hundred Miles” of the shore.33 In that case the fifty mile argument for the fort patch location to the west of Roanoke would be irrelevant.
Raleigh’s charter, granted by Queen Elizabeth on March 5, 1584, was virtually identical to the Letters Patent that had been granted to Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1578. They both promised exclusive control over all lands “within the space of two hundreth leagues,”34 or about 600 miles. This was the only jurisdictional limitation mentioned in the Gilbert and Raleigh charters, and it was intended to define the broad territorial claims of the two charters, not English settlements within each charter’s territorial claim. Gilbert had already claimed Newfoundland and all land within 200 leagues for the queen in 1583. As suggested earlier, Raleigh’s colonization opportunities were thereby restricted to an area no farther north than about 36–37° north latitude, or 200 leagues from the southern limit of the Newfoundland claim. Consequently, once Raleigh established his claim in “Virginia” (Roanoke is 35°53'N) in 1584, England would then control the entire Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to the Spanish settlements in the south.
Although Raleigh’s charter did not specifically mention it, there may have been an implied fifty mile limitation separating settlements within a larger territorial claim, and then codified in later charters such as the First Virginia Charter in 1606. As mentioned, however, if that were the case then White’s fifty mile references would have applied to a north-south restriction only, as it would later be clearly specified in the 1606 First Virginia Charter. It is worth recalling that the original settlement location was supposed to be at the Chesapeake, about fifty miles north of Roanoke, which was intended to remain an English possession governed by the newly Christianized and titled Lord Manteo. Once the originally intended Chesapeake location had been eliminated, the most advantageous and logical option may have been fifty miles to the south of Roanoke, to the mainland beyond Secotan territory in present-day Carteret, Pamlico, or southern Beaufort Counties.
The discovery of the fort symbol, however, seemed sufficiently compelling at the time to initiate an archaeological investigation at the Bertie County site. In October of 2012 the First Colony Foundation began its archaeological work on the north side of the confluence of Salmon Creek and the Chowan River in Bertie County, identified as Site 31BR246. In March 2014, the FCF published the results of its archaeological investigation in a comprehensive sixty-nine page report and concluded that the Bertie County site was clearly not where the Lost Colony had relocated.35
5
The Colonists Select a Mainland Settlement Site
October–November 1587
The situation facing the colonists at Roanoke during the late summer and fall of 1587 may have been somewhat discouraging, but certainly not critical by any means. Their original Chesapeake plan had been altered, and, as previously proposed, was virtually eliminated because the Spanish knew of their intention to settle there and were conducting searches for them. Yet there was no talk of abandoning the entire colonization project. On the contrary, the colonists clearly had the intention of selecting a new settlement site somewhere on the mainland, but the location of that site had not been decided by the time White left for England on August 27. In the meantime the colonists repaired and fortified Lane’s old settlement at Roanoke, and they would spend the winter there.
Furthermore, since it now seems likely that Edward Spicer in the flyboat did acquire the necessary cargo in the West Indies during the week or so following his rendezvous with the Lyon on June 21, the colonists would have had an adequate store of food and supplies. Finally, White had sailed for England and was sure to return the following spring or summer with fresh supplies and additional colonists. The prospects were not nearly as dim as most authors propose, at least not yet.
Another factor, generally ignored, is the role that Manteo would have played at this time. As already noted, Raleigh’s original plan seems to have intended the territory of Roanoke and Dasamonguepeuk to be a satellite possession, associated with the main colony at the Chesapeake and enlarging his territorial possessions. Manteo had already been baptized into the Church of England and was now “Lord of Roanoke and Dasamonguepeuk,” a title he would have taken seriously. It can be reasonably expected that he would assume that position once the colonists had vacated Roanoke and relocated to their settlement site elsewhere. Until that time Manteo would likely have been a frequent and welcome presence at Roanoke, and his knowledge of the geography and tribes to the south was undoubtedly helpful to the Assistants in the selection of the new settlement location. A group of Manteo’s Croatoans may have begun preparations for the
occupation of Roanoke and Dasamonguepeuk at this time. It will be recalled that some of the Croatoans had already occupied Dasamonguepeuk prior to August 9, when White launched the unfortunate attack there and mistook the Croatoans for the followers of Wingina/Pemisapan. Those hostile Indians, fearing retaliation for the murder of George Howe, had abandoned Dasamonguepeuk shortly after the killing. It is unlikely that they would return as long as an English presence remained at nearby Roanoke.
The search for the new settlement location on the mainland was probably pursued in earnest during the month or two following White’s departure, and a number of considerations would have factored into their final selection. The Cittie of Ralegh was originally intended to be a self-sustaining agricultural colony at the Chesapeake Bay, but the change of venue would not have altered the agricultural nature or intentions of the colony. Fertile soil and potential farmland would have been required, but those could be found at any number of locations on the mainland. What was not readily available on the mainland was accessibility. That paramount concern had logistical and geographical implications which would have significantly narrowed the colonists’ choices for their permanent mainland settlement site. Their survival as a viable colony depended upon their anticipated regular contact with, and periodic supplies from, England. Obviously this could only be accomplished if their mainland settlement location was accessible for re-supply.
Accessibility to a settlement site on the mainland depended entirely on its proximity to one of the inlets along the barrier islands. Nearly all of the existing inlets along the coast, however, were too shallow to allow access to the sounds in 1587, a problem which the English had experienced since the first Roanoke voyage in 1584. If the 1587 colony were to flourish—or even survive—on the mainland, its proximity to a navigable inlet would be critical.
To be sure, there were other concerns on the minds of the colonists regarding the selection of a viable settlement site in 1587–88. Among those would have been the dual threats posed by Spanish ships patrolling the coast and hostile native Indian tribes. The former concern, though, does little to reveal their eventual settlement site since there were numerous mainland locations which would offer concealment beyond the barrier islands. The latter concern would certainly have eliminated lands controlled by hostile tribes as possible settlement locations, and that will be addressed later in this chapter.
The identification of viable inlets, then, would have been an essential step in determining a potential location for the settlement on the mainland. The map above, a portion of Theodor de Bry’s engraving from John White’s 1585–86 hand-drawn map, illustrates what White’s 1587 colonists would have understood about the barrier islands along the coast of present-day North Carolina (north is to the right).
Portion of Theodor de Bry’s 1590 engraving from John White’s 1585–86 map showing the inlets along the Outer Banks.
The Chesapeake Bay, not shown here but located beyond the map’s border to the right, would have provided a good harbor and access to the mainland, as it eventually did in 1607 when the Jamestown colony was established. As already noted, however, the Chesapeake was not a viable option in 1587 because the Spanish were well aware of Raleigh’s plan to establish a colony there and were actively searching for it. The Spanish, in fact, made two attempts during this time period to find the colony at the Chesapeake, the first in May 1587, and the second in June 1588. With the Chesapeake eliminated as a settlement possibility for the 1587 colonists, their search for potential navigable inlets would have focused on the barrier islands depicted above. A closer view of the White/de Bry map shows a number of inlets, but we know from the early accounts that most of these were far too shallow to be of any use.
The inlet situated at Hatorask (not to be confused with Hatteras) had been known as Port Ferdinando and was the main access to Roanoke from 1584 to 1590 when White finally returned. The Hatorask/Port Ferdinando inlet, however, reached a maximum depth of just twelve feet only at high tide and was very narrow, ranging from just eighteen to thirty feet wide.1 Between 1584 and 1587 this inlet proved to be just barely adequate, navigable only by shallow-drafting vessels up to the size of a pinnace for the movement of colonists, supplies, and equipment from the larger ships anchored offshore. In his account of the 1585–6 voyage, Lane complained several times about the access to Roanoke, noting that “the harborough and port there … by proofe is very naught.”2 If the seas were not calm, even small boats had problems at the Hatorask inlet: In August 1590, a boat with eleven men overturned while attempting to navigate the inlet in strong winds, drowning Edward Spicer and six others.
Immediately north of Hatorask is a minor inlet, unnamed on the map but called Port Lane by White, but this was far too small and shallow and does not seem capable of use by anything larger than a small oared boat. The inlet at Trinety harbor also seems to have had very limited use (more on Trinety harbor below). The colonists would have been well aware that access to their new mainland settlement would require a better inlet than Hatorask, which was probably only manageable at all because Roanoke was situated very close to the inlet itself.
From Hatorask down to Cape Fear at the far left on the map, there are three sizable inlets shown, two of which appear to be considerably wider than Hatorask. The first of the three inlets is located at the north end of the island of Croatoan, separating it from Paquiwoc. The second and narrowest is at the south end of Croatoan. The third and largest inlet is located at the north end of the island of Wokokon.
The inlets situated at both ends of Croatoan would have been eliminated from consideration because the early documents show that the Roanoke voyagers, who were always on the lookout for better access to Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, paid little or no attention to them between 1584 and 1590. Depth soundings, in fact, were taken at the northern Croatoan inlet by sailors on the 1590 voyage, but no entry was attempted. The Wokokon inlet, however, was an entirely different story.
The English took note of the Wokokon inlet during the first Roanoke voyage in 1584, and on the second voyage the following year Sir Richard Grenville made a planned stop there. On June 26, 1585, Grenville’s large flagship, the Tyger, attempted to enter the Wokokon inlet but missed the main channel and ran aground in the process. The importance of this incident is that it must have been understood at that time that the channel in the Wokokon inlet was suitable enough for a ship the size of the Tyger which was “seven score tunnes” (140 tuns).3 Since there is no evidence that the Hatorask/Port Ferdinando inlet at Roanoke could accommodate vessels any larger than a pinnace (generally in the 30 tun range), there can be no doubt that the Wokokon inlet was far superior.
On July 11, 1585, Grenville and a party of at least sixty men entered the Wokokon inlet and spent eight days exploring Pamlico Sound. This excursion is remembered mainly for the series of drawings John White produced at Pomeioc and Secota, as well as the controversy about the silver cup and the unfortunate destruction of Aquascogoc. The focus on White’s drawings and the incident at Aquascogoc, however, have distracted attention from the probable purpose of this lengthy detour. As mentioned previously, the main reasons for Grenville’s excursion through Pamlico Sound may have been to search out alternative settlement locations. According to Quinn, the colonization plan in 1585 was to have taken place in two stages, the first of which was the Grenville/Lane colony which settled at Roanoke. The second stage, led by Amias Preston and Bernard Drake, was to follow a month or two after the first. Quinn suggested that Grenville may have been scouting out a settlement location for the Preston-Drake group. Grenville, however, was unaware that, just before its departure from England in June 1585, the Preston-Drake expedition was ordered to proceed to Newfoundland instead, to warn English ships about heightened Spanish aggression.4
In any case, Grenville’s activities at Wokokon between June 26 and July 21, 1585, particularly his exploration of the Pamlico Sound mainland, could certainly have had an influence on the 1587 colony’s settlement decisions. Gr
enville obviously considered this excursion important, since it delayed his eventual arrival at Roanoke by nearly a month. If he was seeking alternative settlement locations for his colonists in 1585 or for the colony expected later that summer, then the information gathered during his excursion to the mainland could have played an important role in the ultimate settlement decisions made by White’s colony two years later.
It is worth repeating that the key to the survival of a permanent settlement on the mainland was its accessibility for re-supply via a navigable inlet. The Wokokon inlet was undoubtedly the gateway to the mainland south of Roanoke in 1585, but the barrier island inlets are notoriously unstable. A single storm a year or two later could have altered the coast significantly. The barrier islands shift continually and inlets tend to migrate southward. Storms, tides, and the volume of water discharged into the sounds from the many rivers constantly create new inlets and close others. Hurricanes and storm surges have a dramatic impact on the barrier islands and can open or close inlets in a matter of hours. It is clear that Wokokon was the superior inlet along the Outer Banks in 1585, but was the Wokokon inlet one of these erratic, changeable inlets which might not have provided a reliable access two or three years later?
Fortunately, the history of the barrier island inlets is well established.5 Presently there are just six active inlets between Cape Lookout and the Virginia state line: Oregon, Hatteras, Ocracoke, New Old Drum, New Drum, and Ophelia. Five of these six currently active inlets have had erratic histories:
The Lost Colony of Roanoke Page 8
