1. Oregon inlet was opened by a hurricane in 1846 near the site of a previous inlet (Gun or Gunt) which closed in 1798. Gunt was the successor to the earlier Hatorask/Port Ferdinando inlet known to the Roanoke voyagers. Between 1846 and 1989, Oregon inlet migrated approximately two miles south of its original location.
2. Hatteras (again, not to be confused with Hatorask) inlet opened during the same hurricane that opened Oregon Inlet in September of 1846.
3. Drum inlet initially opened about 1899, but then closed naturally by 1919. It was then reopened during a major hurricane in 1933. By 1971, the inlet had nearly closed again, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredged open New Drum inlet several miles to the southwest.
4. In 1999, Hurricane Dennis reopened Drum inlet, which is now referred to as New-Old Drum inlet.
5. In 2005, Hurricane Ophelia opened an inlet southwest of New Drum inlet. Currently Ophelia inlet is expanding, and has nearly merged with New Drum inlet.
6. By contrast, the Ocracoke Inlet—known to the Roanoke voyagers as Wokokon inlet—has remained stable throughout the centuries.6
The rarity of this phenomenon can be illustrated by advances in modern geophysical science. Ground-penetrating radar has provided data which allows for the identification and dates of all inlets, including those that existed when the Lost Colonists were deciding on a mainland settlement location in 1587–88. The map on the following page illustrates the opening dates of the six currently active inlets as well as the opening/closing dates of the eight inlets (in bold) that existed in 1585.7
There are two relevant points to be noted here. The first is that the 1585 inlet locations identified by radar correspond quite accurately with those depicted on White’s 1585–86 map. The map identifies the modern names of eight inlets which existed during the Roanoke voyages: Old Currituck, Roanoke, Gunt, Chacandepeco, Ocracoke, Swash, South Core Banks 1, and South Core Banks 2. What appear to be inlets on the White/de Bry map at Trinety harbor and the next breach farther north on White’s map may have been shoals, with Trinety “harbor” simply indicating a deep water anchorage just offshore. Quinn suggested that Trinety harbor could have served more as an “outlet” for the waters of Albemarle Sound and that it “could conceivably have closed up over the period between September 1585 and June 1586….”8 Notice that no inlet existed between Old Currituck and Roanoke inlets in 1585. Furthermore, White’s Virginea Pars map does not depict an opening at the Trinety Harbor location, another indication that whatever breach existed there was probably only a shoal.
Locations and opening dates of the six current inlets and the opening and closing dates of the eight inlets that existed when the Lost Colonists were selecting a mainland settlement site (courtesy Michael Gayle).
As illustrated on the map on the following page, Hatorask became Gunt inlet, which had migrated southward and closed in 1795. The inlet between Croatoan and Paquiwoc was called Chacandepeco, meaning “shallows”9 and closed in 1672. Wokokon is present-day Ocracoke. (The name evolved gradually from Wokokon or Wococon to Wococock, then Ocacock, then to Ocracock, and finally to Ocracoke.10) The remaining pre–1585 inlets—Old Currituck (closed in 1731), Swash (closed in 1722, opened again in 1939 and closed in 1961), South Core Banks 1, and South Core Banks 2 (both closed in 1722)—are shown on White’s map, but are noticeably smaller and must have been considered to be insignificant. The more important point to be made is that of all the inlets identified, both pre–1585 and current, the Ocracoke/Wokokon inlet is the only one that has existed continually from before 1585 to the present day.
Recent scientific studies have determined that the Wokokon/Ocracoke Inlet is located over an ancient river valley that drained the Pamlico Sound basin during the last Ice Age, some 20,000 years ago. It is believed that “the occurrence of this river valley beneath the [Wokokon/Ocracoke] inlet accounts for its stability and longevity.”11 Throughout recorded history the Wokokon/Ocracoke inlet has offered the best navigable route for private and commercial vessels. In fact, prior to the opening of the Oregon and Hatteras Inlets during the hurricane in 1846, the only permanent option for ships traveling to the mainland ports of Bath, Edenton, Washington, and New Bern was the Ocracoke Inlet, which was designated an official port of entry in 1715.12
Later names of the eight inlets depicted by White in 1585–86; all later closed except Ocracoke.
It is worth noting that John Lawson described all the inlets during his 1700–1701 exploration of North Carolina and wrote the following commentary in his A New Voyage to Carolina: “Some of their Channels admit only of Sloops, Brigantines, small Barks, and Ketches; and such are Currituck, Ronoak, and up the Sound above Hatteras: Whilst others can receive Ships of Burden, as Ocacock [Ocracoke] … Ocacock is the best Inlet and Harbour yet in this Country; and has 13 Foot at Low-water upon the Bar. There are two Channels; one is but narrow, and lies close aboard the South Cape; the other in the Middle, viz. between the Middle Ground, and the South Shoar, and is above half a Mile wide.”13
There are a number of old maps illustrating the continual importance and dependability of the Wokokon/Ocracoke inlet. One of these is Henry Mouzon’s 1775 An Accurate Map of North and South Carolina, on which there is a passage marked by a dotted line which proceeds from the Atlantic through the Wokokon/Ocracoke inlet (called Occacoke Inlet on the map) directly to the mouth of the Neuse River. That passageway through the Wokokon/Ocracoke inlet is marked “A Good Channel,” the only inlet so marked on the Outer Banks.
The important conclusion to be drawn here is that the stability and longevity of the Wokokon/Ocracoke inlet have been well-established for well over four centuries, and is unique among all the past and present inlets along the Outer Banks. It is a virtual certainty that the Wokokon inlet was the most navigable entry along the Outer Banks in both 1585 as well as 1587–88, when White’s colonists were considering settlement options. Again, the survival of the mainland colony depended on periodic resupply from England, and access to the mainland colony depended upon a navigable inlet. Since Wokokon was undoubtedly the most navigable inlet along the Outer Banks, it follows that the colonists’ choice for their mainland settlement location may very well have been as close as practically possible to that inlet across Pamlico Sound.
That same reasoning—the need for, and proximity to, an accessible inlet—further challenges the Lost Colony settlement theories discussed earlier. Both the Chowanoke and the fort symbol locations were not easily accessible. It would have been necessary to use the Hatorask inlet in order to attempt to re-supply a colony at either of those location. As mentioned, Trinety harbor, the closer of the two to the entrance to Albemarle Sound, was likely nothing more than a shoal and would have been virtually useless for resupplying a location far to the west of Roanoke. Hatorask inlet was deeper, but narrow, and was located just south of Roanoke, which would have required navigating some fifteen miles of shallows surrounding the island just to reach the entrance to Albemarle Sound. And then from there everything had to be ferried fifty to sixty miles farther westward across the sound, a lengthy effort requiring multiple trips and an inordinate amount of time. It would have made little sense for the colonists, who depended upon routine re-supply for their survival as a viable English colony, to select a mainland settlement location that would make that resupply extremely difficult, if not virtually impossible.
Likewise, any other theories that suggest a settlement site at places such as Weapemeoc, Dasamonguepeuk, or the Alligator River would be somewhat challenged. All of these locations, although not as distant from Roanoke as Chowanoke or the fort symbol site, would have been more difficult to re-supply than Roanoke, requiring the use of the same problematic Hatorask inlet and then necessitating, in multiple trips, navigating the same shallows surrounding Roanoke Island. Furthermore, as noted earlier, since White’s colony evidently planned to relocate at least fifty miles from Roanoke, these locations must be eliminated from consideration. Finally, a settlement site at any of these a
reas surrounding Roanoke would have been particularly vulnerable to attack by the existing hostile tribes.
As mentioned earlier, the threat posed by native Indian hostilities was another significant concern and must be factored in at this point. If White’s colony decided that the Wokokon inlet would provide the best access for re-supplying their settlement, it follows that the search for that settlement site should begin on the mainland areas of Pamlico Sound near the inlet. What is known from the early accounts about Indian-English relations, however, may help narrow down that mainland area somewhat.
During the span of the Roanoke voyages, between 1584 and 1587, the English had the most frequent contact with the Secotan tribal group, whose large territory, ruled by the weroance Wingina, extended from Albemarle Sound all the way to the Pamlico River. As reviewed previously, however, by 1587 the Secotans were openly hostile towards the English. A series of deadly plots had been hatched and violent clashes occurred during the 1585–86 Grenville/Lane colonization attempt which led to Lane’s attack at Dasamonguepeuk and the beheading Wingina/Pemisapan in 1586. On August 1, 1587, not long after White’s colony arrived, George Howe was killed by Wingina’s followers.
The map on the following page depicts the territories controlled by the various tribes at the time White’s colony was considering mainland settlement possibilities. For the reasons just mentioned, it would have been extremely dangerous and foolhardy to attempt to establish a settlement anywhere in the large hostile area marked “Secotan” on the map. It is evident that once the large hostile Secotan territory is eliminated as a possible settlement location, the remaining option is the area south of the Pamlico River where the Pomouik, Neuse and Coree dwelt. That area would include present-day Carteret and Pamlico counties, as well as the southern portions of Beaufort and Craven counties.
As will be seen in a later chapter, there is some evidence to suggest that by 1587–88 the Croatoans may have had an association with their neighbors, the Corees, who dwelt on the peninsula south of the Neuse River and along the coast. It is believed that the Corees, in turn, were allied with the Neusioks on the lower Neuse River particularly on the south side, in present-day Craven and Carteret Counties. It is known from the 1584 Amadas-Barlowe account that the Neusioks were allied with the Pomouiks in “mortall warre” with the Secotan tribes north of the Pamlico River.
Little is known about the Coree tribe, but they very likely had some contact with their coastal neighbors, the Croatoans, and may have been affiliated with them to some extent. If the Corees were related to the Neusioks, as many believe, and the Neusioks were allied with the Pomouiks, as seems certain, then by 1587–88 the opportunity may have existed for a beneficial partnership among those four tribes and the colonists. The Neusioks, Pomouiks, Corees, Croatoans, and the 1587 colony all would have shared a common enemy: the hostile Secotan tribes north of the Pamlico River. There is also some evidence, to be discussed later, indicating that the Corees had knowledge of, and possibly contact with, the Lost Colony. It is also worth mentioning here—and this too will be discussed in a later chapter—that in 1608 the Paspahegh chief reported to John Smith that at Panawicke (Pomouik on the map above) there had once been “many men … apparelled.”14
Tribal territories accessible via the Wokokon inlet in 1587–88 (courtesy Michael Gayle).
It seems possible that, with the help of Manteo, an arrangement could have been made for the colony to settle on one of the two peninsulas north or south of the Neuse River. Geographically that area would have been uniquely positioned to satisfy all of the colony’s concerns in 1587–88. It was shielded from Spanish ships in the Atlantic and also removed from the hostile Secotan tribes. It was also located more than fifty miles to the south of Roanoke, fulfilling the fifty-mile restriction discussed earlier. Most importantly, it was accessible for future re-supply via the Wokokon inlet, the only proven navigable channel in Pamlico Sound. The colonists very likely had already selected their settlement site on the mainland by the time John White finally arrived at England on November 5, 1587, after a more than two month voyage.
6
Pivotal Events in England and Virginia
January–June 1588
Unfortunately for the colonists in Virginia, England’s war with Spain had reached a critical point by 1587, and an attack by Spain’s “Invincible Armada,” a term used derisively after the fact in English references, seemed imminent. Raleigh’s entire colonization effort had, in fact, been somewhat overshadowed by the Anglo-Spanish war which started two years earlier, when England joined the Protestant provinces of the Netherlands in their rebellion against Spain, and King Philip II ordered the seizure of all English ships in Spanish ports. A series of events followed which would deflect national focus from the Virginia colonists to the immediate threat from Spain. Queen Elizabeth had replied to the seizure of English ships with her letters of reprisal “to take and arrest all ships and merchandises they [English privateers] might find at sea or elsewhere, belonging to the subjects of that king [Philip II].”1 Elizabeth also “equipped a fleet of twenty-five sail of ships,” and employed them under command of Sir Francis Drake, “the fittest person in her dominions, by reason of his success and experience in sundry actions.”2 This was the previously mentioned “Great Expedition” during which Drake raided Santo Domingo, Cartagena, and St. Augustine, before sailing on to Roanoke and evacuating Lane and his colonists in 1586. Drake’s expedition did considerable damage to Spanish colonial holdings, but may have hastened Philip’s plans for an assault on England by the Armada.
Fearing an imminent invasion, Elizabeth again dispatched Drake in April of 1587—less than a month before White’s colony sailed for the Chesapeake—to conduct a raid on Spanish ships at Cádiz in an effort to stall the invasion. On April 19 Drake entered the harbor of Cádiz and engaged a number of ships so successfully that “The whole number of ships that we burnt, sunk or brought away, amounted to 30 at the least, and by our estimation to be the burden of 10,000 tons.” The entire raid “was achieved in one day and two nights, to the great astonishment of the king of Spain.”3 Drake’s raid not only destroyed and damaged many Spanish ships, but also much of the supplies, provisions, and equipment being readied in preparation for the Armada’s assault. This raid significantly delayed the launching of the Armada, giving the English time to prepare their own naval defenses, and on October 9 Elizabeth issued a general stay, prohibiting ships from leaving English ports.4
This was the state of affairs that John White encountered upon his return to England in November. Shortly thereafter, he informed Raleigh about the aborted Chesapeake plan and, according to White, Raleigh…
… forthwith appointed a Pinnesse to be sent thither with all such necessaries as he understood they stood in need of: and also wrote his letters unto them, wherein among other matters he comforted them with the promise, that with all convenient speed he would prepare a good supply of shipping and men with sufficient of all things needful, which he intended, God willing, should be with them to Summer following. Which Pinnesse and fleet were accordingly prepared in the West Country at Bideford under the charge of Sir Richard Grenville.5
This passage is somewhat unclear. White must have known about the general shipping prohibition issued by the queen on October 9, yet he claimed that both Raleigh and Grenville quickly went about preparing ships for a transatlantic voyage to resupply the colonists in Virginia. It has been supposed that both White and Grenville may have been under the impression that Raleigh’s influence with the queen would exempt them from the October 9 sailing prohibition, but that argument does not seem very persuasive. Both Raleigh and Grenville would have been preoccupied with the imminent invasion by Spain, and one wonders just how much attention they could have devoted to White and the colonists at that particular time.
Raleigh had been granted a vast estate of 42,000 acres in Ireland the previous year, and he was focused on business there, including “a commitment to settle the province with reliable
Englishmen.”6 In November, the same month White returned to England, Raleigh was appointed by the queen to her council of war, joining Grenville and Lane among others, in the preparations for the defense of the kingdom. Throughout 1588 and 1589 Raleigh’s attention was focused elsewhere than on the Virginia colony, and in early March of 1589, in fact, he assigned his interest in Virginia to a group of London merchants headed by Thomas Smythe, who would be instrumental in forming the Virginia Company nearly two decades later.7
Grenville, although he also apparently spent some time in Ireland, was preparing a fleet at Bideford. Given England’s war footing at that time, however, it seems highly unlikely that he could have been doing so for the exclusive benefit of the colonists in Virginia. Quinn suggested that the purpose of the Grenville fleet may have been a “diversionary attack across the Atlantic,” similar to Drake’s expedition in 1585–86, and thereby intended to forestall Spain’s invasion.8 A stopover at Virginia would have been possible afterwards, just as Drake had done. This scenario is also somewhat problematic, however, because the colonists would have departed from Roanoke to parts unknown long before the fleet arrived, and it is doubtful that Grenville would have been willing or able to spend much time searching for them. Regarding White’s reference to the pinnace Raleigh supposedly “forthwith appointed” to sail for Virginia, a solo transatlantic voyage in midwinter was rare, and there are no known documents indicating that such a voyage took place. Furthermore, author and former mayor of Bideford Andrew Powell confirms that the Bideford port books contain no listings of departures in late 1587 and early 1588.9
The Lost Colony of Roanoke Page 9
