THE LOST COLONY OF ROANOKE

In 1585, a group of pioneers led by Arthur Barlowe arrived on the island of Roanoke off the coast of present-day North Carolina, USA That colony was one of the first European settlements in North America, as settlers lived in a completely new natural environment for them.

It should be mentioned that those early colonies had a high failure rate, due to food shortages, and where fresh water was difficult to obtain. In addition, it was not easy to deal with the natives of those lands.
In 1586, due to a lack of basic resources and poor relationships with the natives, the group returned to England; although soon after Richard Grennville would return to Roanoke, leaving a group of 15 soldiers to maintain the garrison.

Queen Elizabeth I of England had the idea of establishing a permanent settlement on the island of Roanoke, so in 1587 a group led by John White and 117 settlers, including her pregnant daughter, men, women and children, arrived in Roanoke with the intention of carrying out a second attempt to colonize the island. However, upon arrival the 15 soldiers had disappeared, finding only a completely clean skeleton. This time the natives were kind to the settlers, but White had to return to England to report the disappearance of the 15 soldiers to the Queen. His idea was to return soon to Roanoke, but because of the war against Spain, he could not return until three years later.

Finally in 1590 White returned to the island of Roanoke, but upon his arrival the 117 settlers had mysteriously disappeared, and without leaving any trace. The houses were dismantled with no signs of battle or violence, and there were no reports that they had gone elsewhere; they only found the word "croatoan" written in a wood, and in the forest carved into a tree the letters "cro", as if they could not have finished writing that word. White had to return again to England, though he never heard from his daughter and granddaughter again. There are many theories that it was what really happened to people, or where they went, but historical evidence of what happened at the site has never been found.

CROATOAN: THE WORD CURSED

"Croatoan" is the term used to refer to a tribe of local natives of Roanoke Island, and is associated with the strange disappearances of that place; making reality and legend intersect. It is said that the Croatoans were a strongly spiritualist people, who carried out rituals for the dead to return from their graves and use them as slaves in the crops.

Nearby tribes said the Croatoan had liberated an evil and powerful spirit, which drove the settlers mad and killed each other.

Supposedly this word has been embroiled in several incidents, although it could be mere speculations. Some of them are that in 1849, shortly before his death and after his days gone, the writer Edgar Allan Poe, was found wandering the streets of Baltimore, whispering the word "Croatoan". In 1913, after journalist Ambrose Bierce disappeared, there was this word carved on the post of his bed. In 1921, it was written "Croatoan" on the last page of the newspaper aboard the ship Carroll A. Deering, when it was found with no one on board. In 1937, after the disappearance of the famous aviator Amelia Earhart, a magazine scribbled with the same word was found among her belongings.

Myth or reality?... No doubt this word is enigmatic, and its mysterious appearance still has no answers.