The legend of the Lost Colony of Roanoke has haunted American
history for centuries. In July 1587, a British colonist named
John White accompanied 117 people to settle a small island
sheltered within the barrier islands of what would become North
Carolina’s Outer Banks. When conditions proved harsher than
anticipated, White agreed to sail back to Britain to shore up
the settlement’s supplies—a trip that should have lasted a few
months. When White belatedly returned in 1590, the colonists had
vanished—more than 100 men, women, and young children, their
shelters and belongings, all gone. According to White’s
writings, the only trace they left behind was a structure of
tree trunks, with a single word carved into one post: CROATOAN.
The creepiness of the Lost Colonists’ disappearance didn’t
discourage future American settlement. Nor has the lack of clues
about their fate discouraged professional and amateur historians
from trying to figure out what happened to them. Archaeological
digs, weather records, historica