 Spanish attempts to settle the interior, with several forts built by the Jose Pardo expedition in the 1560s, ended when the Indians destroyed the forts and killed most of the garrisons.Nearly two decades later, English colonists began to settle the coastal areas, starting with a charter in 1584.Sir Walter Raleigh (namesake of the city of Raleigh) began two small settlements in the late 1580s, but they failed.