The “lost colony”

By the 1584 the English had taken a large interest in North America.
Queen Elizabeth encouraged exploration and was interested in building colonies in North America.
A colony is a settlement ruled by another country.
In 1584 Queen Elizabeth said Sir Walter Raleigh could set up England’s first colony in North America.

1584 Raleigh commissioned expedition to scout locations for settlement
Arrived North Carolina coast in July where explorers Phillip Amada and Arthur Barlow encountered friendly tribe.
April 1585, Raleigh dispatched seven ships containing 100 male colonists, led by veteran of Irish campaign Ralph Lane
Lane’s idea of diplomatic relations was to kidnap the son of Chief Menatonon which alienated the tribe and caused the colonist to rely on their own labors.
Within months the colony was starving and would have perished if Raleigh had not arrived in the spring of 1586.
Raleigh had to take the colonists home to England, but
left 15 men behind at the fort.
The colonists get to Roanoke at the wrong time. It's July, 1587, and they've missed the growing season completely. Now they're dependent on their food stores to get through the harsh winter

This time Raleigh chose John White, an artist to lead the expedition
Raleigh also chose colonists well versed in farming rather than soldiers
May 1587, 117 men, women and children set out for the Chesapeake Bay but were forced to disembark at same site as failed Roanoke colony
Efforts began immediately to repair the dilapidated fort, and there was no sign of the 15 men left behind from the first attempt
White attempted friendly relations with local Indian nations, he sent out a message of peace to neighboring Indian settlements which bore fruit in friendly relations with the nation known as Croatoan – located on an island just south of Roanoke.
John White

Turns out the colonists picked the WRONG year to come over- the driest winter in the past 800 years.
So White left Roanoke in August 1587 to return to England for supplies.
He instructed colonists to leave him a sign should they have to remove themselves, including a cross on a tree to indicate they were in distress.

White returned to England to get supplies and help for the colony.
He planned to return quickly.
Due to problems beyond his control he was not able to return to Roanoke until three years later.
It was too late. Their supplies ran out.

In 1590 when White was finally able to return to Roanoke, there was no one to be found. Everyone had vanished. All he found in Roanoke was the words “CROATOAN” carved into a tree without a cross.