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♪

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Tonight, one of America's
oldest mysteries.

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They're gone.
The entire colony

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is just gone.

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A group of English settlers
vanish without a trace,

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leaving behind
only cryptic clues.

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The houses had been
dismantled, taken down...

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And the letters C-R-O
carved into a tree.

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Now, we'll reveal
the top theories

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behind their potential fate.

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He admits that he had

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a group of English colonists
killed many years ago.

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They could've perished
on the small boat.

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The colonists survive
and they're in Georgia,

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taken in by natives.

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Can advanced technology
finally provide answers?

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Something was
covered up here.

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A small detail that may be
hiding a big secret.

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What really happened
to the Lost Colony of Roanoke?

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♪♪

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July 25th, 1587...

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just off the coast
of present-day North Carolina,

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three ships

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carrying English settlers

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land on Roanoke Island.

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About 115 men, women,
and children,

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along with John White,
the governor,

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arrived off the coast
of North Carolina.

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Their goal was to create

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the first permanent
English settlement

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in the New World.

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Two years earlier,
the English sent

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a group of mostly soldiers

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to try and colonize Roanoke.

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But it ends in disaster.

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With severe food shortages,

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attacks from the hostile

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Native American
population there,

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many die,
and they barely escape

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just getting back to England.

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Governor White is determined
to do better this time,

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and he has more than
just his life on the line.

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On this expedition was
John White's

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very pregnant daughter Eleanor

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and her husband
Ananias Dare,

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among other colonists
who are there who are

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also ready to start
their families and settle

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in the New World.

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On August 18th, 1587,

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Eleanor Dare gives birth

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to her daughter, Virginia.

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The first English child born
in North America.

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Unfortunately,
there's no time to celebrate,

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because the colony is
running dangerously low

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on supplies.

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You'd think they would've
learned from their last

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expedition, but as they start
to take inventory,

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they realize they're not
gonna have enough provisions

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- to last through the winter.
- The plan had been:

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start growing their own crops

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and farming livestock,

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but there's just
not enough time.

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So, someone has to go
back to England

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and secure
more provisions.

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On August 27th,

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barely a week after
his granddaughter is born,

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White volunteers to make

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the transatlantic
crossing himself.

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It was quite a journey,
took him two and a half months

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to get back.

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When they finally arrived
back on English soil,

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it was November.

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Governor White quickly loads
five ships with supplies.

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They are pretty much
ready to sail.

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But the problem with this is,

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there is a stay
of all shipping

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commanded by Queen Elizabeth I,

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because the Spanish Armada
are making

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the most untimely arrival.

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England is on the brink
of war with Spain.

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That means that
Queen Elizabeth's hands

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are tied and her money is
more focused on war efforts

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than a failing colony.

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White has no choice
but to stay in England

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indefinitely.

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Meanwhile, at the colony,
they expect White

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to return in six months,
and, of course,

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they don't know
about the war news,

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but you can imagine
their sinking feeling

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as six months go by

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and then a year
and then two years.

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Ultimately, it takes White
three full years

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to return to the coast
of North Carolina.

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When he does,
it's August 18th, 1590,

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the third birthday
of his granddaughter,

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Virginia Dare.

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But Governor White doesn't
return to his family.

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He returns to a mystery.

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They're gone.
The entire colony

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is just gone.

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At some point
in the previous three years,

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everything and everyone

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had just disappeared.

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There's no evidence
that there was

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any kind of battle,
there's no evidence

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of bones or bodies

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that might indicate
an altercation

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between the colonists
and the indigenous people.

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What's weird is that there's
basically nothing left behind,

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and the town isn't
so much abandoned,

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it's been dismantled.
All of the buildings have

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been carefully taken apart.

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The tools, the boats,
the provisions,

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it's all been taken away.

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The big mystery is
where did they all go?

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White and a few men spend hours
searching the site.

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They turn up only two clues.

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Carved into a fencepost,

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White and the English see
this word, "Croatoan."

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And then carved into a tree,

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three letters, C-R-O.

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When White sees
the word "Croatoan,"

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he was actually
quite jubilant.

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He knows exactly
where the colonists have gone.

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The Croatoans are
a tribe located

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just directly south of Roanoke.

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John White assumes
this was a full-scale

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relocation by the colonists

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to live with the tribe.

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Now, you might think,
based on those carvings,

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that there's
another option.

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That the colonists were
attacked by the Croatoans.

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But John White
doesn't think so.

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First of all,
there's the careful

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dismantling of the town,
and you don't do that

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if you're under attack,
and secondly,

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White and the colonists have
a plan for what to do

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if they are under attack.

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Prior to leaving,
John White gave

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explicit instructions
to the colony.

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If they were in distress
or if they were in danger,

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to carve a Maltese cross
on a tree.

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But there's
no Maltese cross.

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White returns to his ships,

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intending to sail south,
to Croatoan.

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White has come with two boats,

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the Moonlight
and the Hopewell.

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But the crews are very antsy,
and they don't wanna spend

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any more time in this hostile
territory than they have to.

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Imagine it
from their perspective.

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These are people
who'd signed up

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on a resupply ship
to come over to a place

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that they thought was
going to be safe.

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These people had
not been hired

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to go in search
of Lost Colonists

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who, as far as they knew,
might've been held captive,

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might've been
in the midst of a war,

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so they had much less enthusiasm
than John White.

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At first, they're
willing to give White

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another day or two.

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They plan to head to Croatoan

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the next morning,
August 19th.

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But they run into problems.

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The Hopewell's
anchor cable breaks,

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and there's no way
that they can risk

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going out into
the treacherous waters

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of the North Carolina
inner banks.

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The waters are very shallow.

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The ship could be
shipwrecked

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and cause an extreme danger
for the crew

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and others
on board the ship.

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A desperate White
appeals to the crew

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of the Moonlight.

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The crew of the second ship,
the Moonlight,

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are not willing
to risk their lives

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in order to find
the Lost Colonists.

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They don't have as much invested
in this as John White does.

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Certainly he's thinking
of his family.

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They're just thinking about
making it back to England safely

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before the brutal
Atlantic winter sets in.

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So the Moonlight goes
back to England,

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but White is able to get
a small team to agree

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to repair the Hopewell,

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sail to the Caribbean

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for the winter and then return

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to North Carolina in the spring

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to resume the search.

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But it's as if
this guy was cursed.

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After White and the crew
repair the Hopewell,

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they set sail
for the Caribbean,

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but then a freak storm comes up,

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they get blown way off course,

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and they're forced
to return to England.

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White attempts
to raise the funds

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for another search
and rescue mission but fails.

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One can imagine how devastated
John White must've felt.

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He's so close
to finding his family.

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He's only 40 miles away,

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but he can't
make it to them,

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and after three years,
he passes away,

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never to return,
and never to know the fate

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of what happened
to the colony.

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News of the Lost Colony spreads
throughout Europe,

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and while White is never able
to find out what happened,

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ships begin to visit
the area again

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some seven years
after his death.

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Occasionally,
other European ships

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visit the outer banks
during the 1600s.

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But once we reach the 1700s,

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it's a pretty
heavily-traveled area.

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And no one ever actually sees
the missing colonists.

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But they do find evidence
that perhaps

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they have blended in
with the local tribes,

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just as White believed.

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One expedition reports
Native tribespeople

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with European features.

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Fair complexions,
light-colored hair and eyes,

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and some even claimed
to have European relatives.

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Additional proof can be found
in architecture.

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One expedition reports
a Native village

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with timber houses built
in the English style.

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It seems likely
that these tribes had

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English settlers living
amongst them,

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working together, inter-
marrying, having offspring.

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Now, all of this is hearsay,
but it is potential evidence

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that the Lost Colony moved in
with the Croatoans.

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The Croatoan
Archaeological Society,

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led by historian Scott Dawson,

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has been excavating the area
since 2009.

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So, the archaeologists
who have dug

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on what is now
Hatteras Island have found

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fascinating artifacts
that definitely are made

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in the time
of the Lost Colonists.

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They found the hilt
of a rapier that is

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a kind of sword that was used
during Elizabethan times.

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They found fragments
of pottery and dishes,

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a copper ring,
a brass gun,

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and European coins.

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But can we say
that's absolute proof

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that the colonists moved in

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with the local
indigenous people?

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Genealogist Roberta Estes
thinks it's possible

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and is using
cutting-edge technology

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to try and prove it.

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What she's doing is tracing

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Y-chromosome DNA,

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analyzing people
in the area of Hatteras Island

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who may have mixed
Native / European ancestry.

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And who share surnames
with the Roanoke colonists.

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Estes has turned up a number
of intriguing candidates.

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These people may just have
the right background

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to be descended
from the Lost Colony,

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living proof that
the colonists survived

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and mixed
with the Croatoans.

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But the problem with this is

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that an absolute match would

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have to identify
a matching family

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back in England.

259
00:10:33,542 --> 00:10:35,042
If Estes can find a match--

260
00:10:35,167 --> 00:10:37,000
a confirmed descendant
of a Lost Colonist

261
00:10:37,125 --> 00:10:39,708
and a Croatoan native,
that'll be it.

262
00:10:39,833 --> 00:10:41,000
It won't be
the Lost Colony anymore.

263
00:10:41,125 --> 00:10:43,875
But for now
it remains just a theory.

264
00:10:46,792 --> 00:10:49,208
When 115 colonists go missing

265
00:10:49,333 --> 00:10:52,042
from Roanoke Island in 1590,

266
00:10:52,208 --> 00:10:54,208
the English are eager
to re-establish

267
00:10:54,375 --> 00:10:56,208
a presence
in the New World,

268
00:10:56,375 --> 00:10:59,875
but it takes them
nearly 20 years to try again.

269
00:11:00,042 --> 00:11:01,667
In 1607,

270
00:11:01,750 --> 00:11:03,208
England finally manages

271
00:11:03,375 --> 00:11:05,417
to establish a settlement
on the James River

272
00:11:05,542 --> 00:11:07,083
in Virginia.

273
00:11:07,208 --> 00:11:08,500
They call it Jamestown.

274
00:11:08,625 --> 00:11:10,500
Like its predecessor,

275
00:11:10,625 --> 00:11:13,500
Jamestown is also plagued
by misfortune.

276
00:11:13,667 --> 00:11:16,417
The English can't seem
to catch a break.

277
00:11:16,542 --> 00:11:19,708
Once again, they don't have
enough to eat early on.

278
00:11:19,875 --> 00:11:23,750
They arrive too late in the year
to plant crops.

279
00:11:23,875 --> 00:11:25,708
The English are starving.

280
00:11:25,875 --> 00:11:29,042
Food shortages get worse
and worse and worse.

281
00:11:29,167 --> 00:11:30,500
The English resort

282
00:11:30,625 --> 00:11:32,208
to some fairly...

283
00:11:32,333 --> 00:11:34,083
terrible behavior.

284
00:11:34,208 --> 00:11:37,083
First they slaughter
and kill their own animals.

285
00:11:37,208 --> 00:11:39,708
This is not a very good
strategy for long term,

286
00:11:39,875 --> 00:11:41,958
since they need
those animals to survive.

287
00:11:42,042 --> 00:11:44,500
And when those run out,
they turn to eating

288
00:11:44,583 --> 00:11:46,708
rats, mice, and snakes.

289
00:11:46,875 --> 00:11:48,833
Then they boil and eat
their shoe leather

290
00:11:48,917 --> 00:11:51,375
for sustenance.
There is even some evidence

291
00:11:51,500 --> 00:11:54,167
they may have resorted
to cannibalism to survive.

292
00:11:54,292 --> 00:11:55,875
Within three years,

293
00:11:56,042 --> 00:11:59,958
only 60 of the original
214 Jamestown settlers

294
00:12:00,083 --> 00:12:01,917
are still alive,

295
00:12:02,042 --> 00:12:05,167
including a well-known figure
in American history,

296
00:12:05,292 --> 00:12:07,083
Captain John Smith.

297
00:12:07,208 --> 00:12:09,292
John Smith was
such a fascinating guy.

298
00:12:09,417 --> 00:12:11,000
He served as a mercenary,

299
00:12:11,125 --> 00:12:12,958
he was captured by the Turks,

300
00:12:13,042 --> 00:12:14,917
sold into slavery,
and then eventually

301
00:12:15,042 --> 00:12:17,875
made his way to England
by way of Russia.

302
00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,000
Then he ends up
in the New World

303
00:12:20,083 --> 00:12:23,500
and becomes the leader
of the new colony at Jamestown.

304
00:12:23,625 --> 00:12:26,875
He is the first English explorer
to map the Chesapeake Bay.

305
00:12:27,042 --> 00:12:29,000
He then explores
the coast of New England

306
00:12:29,167 --> 00:12:30,917
and gives the region its name.

307
00:12:31,042 --> 00:12:33,833
His books and maps aid
English colonization efforts

308
00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:35,958
for decades to come.

309
00:12:36,083 --> 00:12:39,042
While he's struggling
to keep his colony afloat

310
00:12:39,208 --> 00:12:42,667
in Virginia, he's also got
a burning curiosity

311
00:12:42,792 --> 00:12:45,958
to solve the mystery
of the Roanoke colonists.

312
00:12:46,083 --> 00:12:49,500
And it doesn't hurt
that England's King James has

313
00:12:49,667 --> 00:12:52,417
issued an order to launch
an investigation.

314
00:12:52,542 --> 00:12:55,500
Smith works with the Jamestown
colony's secretary,

315
00:12:55,583 --> 00:12:57,333
William Strachey.

316
00:12:57,417 --> 00:12:58,917
In his journals,
we can see

317
00:12:59,042 --> 00:13:01,000
William Strachey's research
into the case.

318
00:13:01,167 --> 00:13:04,167
Operating on the assumption
that Native American tribes

319
00:13:04,250 --> 00:13:06,500
might be the only people left
who know what happened,

320
00:13:06,625 --> 00:13:08,917
Strachey dives deep
into a nearby

321
00:13:09,042 --> 00:13:11,833
local indigenous population
called the Powhatan.

322
00:13:11,917 --> 00:13:15,875
The Powhatan are led by a man
named Wahunsenacawh,

323
00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:18,292
more commonly known
as Chief Powhatan.

324
00:13:19,667 --> 00:13:21,625
Chief Powhatan has

325
00:13:21,708 --> 00:13:24,208
a love-hate relationship
with the English.

326
00:13:24,375 --> 00:13:27,125
On one hand,
he views them as a threat

327
00:13:27,250 --> 00:13:30,375
to his people
and their way of life.

328
00:13:30,500 --> 00:13:31,667
[gunshot]

329
00:13:31,750 --> 00:13:33,542
But he also thinks

330
00:13:33,667 --> 00:13:35,750
the English would be
useful allies

331
00:13:35,875 --> 00:13:37,667
in the ongoing conflict

332
00:13:37,833 --> 00:13:41,625
between himself
and the other tribes.

333
00:13:41,708 --> 00:13:43,667
Today, Chief Powhatan is
best remembered

334
00:13:43,792 --> 00:13:47,500
as the father of Pocahontas.

335
00:13:47,625 --> 00:13:49,708
As the legend goes,
Powhatan's men

336
00:13:49,875 --> 00:13:52,667
capture John Smith
and order him put to death.

337
00:13:52,750 --> 00:13:55,000
But the quite
extraordinary thing

338
00:13:55,167 --> 00:13:56,875
about Pocahontas was
she does seem to have been

339
00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:58,333
quite smitten
with John Smith,

340
00:13:58,458 --> 00:14:00,625
and she actually pleads
with Powhatan

341
00:14:00,708 --> 00:14:02,542
to spare his life.

342
00:14:02,667 --> 00:14:04,625
And so consequently he did.

343
00:14:04,750 --> 00:14:08,542
But Chief Powhatan may not have
always been so lenient.

344
00:14:08,708 --> 00:14:11,792
Because, according to Smith
and Strachey's investigation,

345
00:14:11,875 --> 00:14:13,875
he might be responsible

346
00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:18,917
for the destruction...
of the Roanoke colony.

347
00:14:19,042 --> 00:14:21,667
Chief Powhatan speaks
to William Strachey,

348
00:14:21,750 --> 00:14:23,167
and he admits that he had

349
00:14:23,292 --> 00:14:25,333
a group of English
colonists killed

350
00:14:25,417 --> 00:14:26,750
many years ago.

351
00:14:26,875 --> 00:14:28,500
According to him,

352
00:14:28,625 --> 00:14:31,542
instead of migrating south
to live with the Croatoan,

353
00:14:31,667 --> 00:14:33,667
the Roanoke colonists
head north,

354
00:14:33,792 --> 00:14:35,833
and they stay
with a different tribe

355
00:14:35,958 --> 00:14:37,750
called the Chesapeake.

356
00:14:37,875 --> 00:14:39,667
The Chesapeake are rivals
with the Powhatan,

357
00:14:39,750 --> 00:14:41,167
because they refuse
to bend the knee

358
00:14:41,292 --> 00:14:42,500
to Chief Powhatan's authority

359
00:14:42,625 --> 00:14:44,125
and join
the Confederation.

360
00:14:44,208 --> 00:14:46,333
So, when he gets word
that the colonists

361
00:14:46,417 --> 00:14:49,000
are possibly allying
with the Chesapeake,

362
00:14:49,083 --> 00:14:51,583
he claims that this fulfills
a prophecy he's received.

363
00:14:51,708 --> 00:14:55,042
He's been warned that
a great nation from the East

364
00:14:55,167 --> 00:14:58,000
is coming to overthrow
his empire.

365
00:14:58,125 --> 00:15:00,583
Unless he kills them first.

366
00:15:00,708 --> 00:15:03,875
So that's exactly
what he does.

367
00:15:05,167 --> 00:15:07,792
After John Smith hears
Chief Powhatan's confession,

368
00:15:07,875 --> 00:15:10,458
he digs deeper.

369
00:15:10,583 --> 00:15:12,375
Smith asks Chief Powhatan

370
00:15:12,500 --> 00:15:14,833
to prove his bold claim,
to essentially,

371
00:15:14,958 --> 00:15:16,458
"Show me where the bodies are."

372
00:15:16,583 --> 00:15:18,292
But Chief Powhatan can't.

373
00:15:18,375 --> 00:15:20,333
Powhatan couldn't show him
where the bodies were.

374
00:15:20,500 --> 00:15:22,750
But what he did do is
show him items

375
00:15:22,875 --> 00:15:24,750
from previous colonies.

376
00:15:24,875 --> 00:15:26,667
And he showed them
a mortar and pestle,

377
00:15:26,792 --> 00:15:28,208
and a couple of other objects,

378
00:15:28,375 --> 00:15:30,667
but again, these could
not be confirmed

379
00:15:30,833 --> 00:15:33,083
as coming directly
from the Lost Colony.

380
00:15:33,208 --> 00:15:36,875
But when Smith sends back
his report to King James,

381
00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:39,500
the evidence is enough
to convince him

382
00:15:39,583 --> 00:15:40,917
that this is what happened,

383
00:15:41,042 --> 00:15:42,708
and if that's
what the king believes,

384
00:15:42,875 --> 00:15:45,000
then case closed, right?

385
00:15:45,167 --> 00:15:48,833
The Powhatan theory becomes
the official version of events

386
00:15:48,917 --> 00:15:51,500
for the next 200-plus years,

387
00:15:51,625 --> 00:15:55,458
but today's historians
question its accuracy.

388
00:15:55,542 --> 00:15:58,542
Some argue that the settlers
that Chief Powhatan

389
00:15:58,708 --> 00:16:01,542
boasts of killing aren't
the Roanoke colonists at all.

390
00:16:01,667 --> 00:16:04,458
Instead, he's referring
to a different set of people,

391
00:16:04,542 --> 00:16:07,458
and the confusion happens
because of the language barrier.

392
00:16:07,542 --> 00:16:10,000
Smith was specifically
talking about the colony

393
00:16:10,083 --> 00:16:11,875
of the 115...

394
00:16:12,042 --> 00:16:13,875
the last Roanoke colony
that was established.

395
00:16:14,042 --> 00:16:16,708
But Powhatan could've
easily been talking about

396
00:16:16,875 --> 00:16:18,083
the previous colonies
that had come

397
00:16:18,208 --> 00:16:19,875
a couple of years earlier.

398
00:16:20,042 --> 00:16:23,292
Remember, there was
a 1584 expedition too.

399
00:16:23,375 --> 00:16:25,875
Just male soldiers,
15 of whom

400
00:16:26,042 --> 00:16:28,292
were left behind
when that expedition failed,

401
00:16:28,417 --> 00:16:30,458
and that might be
who Powhatan killed.

402
00:16:30,542 --> 00:16:32,500
It's certainly true that

403
00:16:32,583 --> 00:16:34,000
a lot of blood was spilled

404
00:16:34,125 --> 00:16:36,375
in this particular chapter
of history,

405
00:16:36,542 --> 00:16:39,000
both Native American
and English.

406
00:16:39,167 --> 00:16:41,042
But despite
Chief Powhatan's account,

407
00:16:41,167 --> 00:16:43,208
we still can't prove
that any of it belonged

408
00:16:43,333 --> 00:16:45,250
to the Roanoke colonists.

409
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:53,833
North Carolina's
island-dotted coast

410
00:16:53,958 --> 00:16:56,000
is now an idyllic

411
00:16:56,125 --> 00:16:58,000
and popular
tourist destination.

412
00:16:58,083 --> 00:17:00,167
But 400 years ago,

413
00:17:00,292 --> 00:17:01,958
it was largely inhospitable,

414
00:17:02,042 --> 00:17:05,250
as Roanoke's
colonists discover.

415
00:17:07,708 --> 00:17:09,750
When John White leaves
in 1587,

416
00:17:09,875 --> 00:17:12,000
conditions among
the colony were dire.

417
00:17:12,125 --> 00:17:14,333
Food was limited,
and the farming was

418
00:17:14,458 --> 00:17:16,167
not taking hold
as they had hoped.

419
00:17:16,250 --> 00:17:18,000
There was a famine going on.

420
00:17:18,167 --> 00:17:19,667
There was clearly a great deal

421
00:17:19,750 --> 00:17:21,083
of bad weather, and they're

422
00:17:21,208 --> 00:17:22,833
struggling with skirmishes

423
00:17:22,958 --> 00:17:25,042
with Native American Indians.

424
00:17:25,167 --> 00:17:26,875
We know they're not there

425
00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,292
when White returns
three years later.

426
00:17:29,417 --> 00:17:31,667
So pretty much every theory
about what happened to them

427
00:17:31,750 --> 00:17:34,833
starts with a relocation;
they have to go somewhere else.

428
00:17:34,917 --> 00:17:37,500
But Roanoke is an island.

429
00:17:37,583 --> 00:17:38,917
So, if they want to flee,

430
00:17:39,042 --> 00:17:41,125
they'll have to cross
a body of water.

431
00:17:41,208 --> 00:17:44,500
Luckily, while they don't have
enough food to eat,

432
00:17:44,583 --> 00:17:46,333
they do have a boat.

433
00:17:46,500 --> 00:17:50,208
The colonists originally arrive
with three ships.

434
00:17:50,333 --> 00:17:52,958
One returns to England
immediately.

435
00:17:53,083 --> 00:17:55,042
One is taken by John White,

436
00:17:55,167 --> 00:17:57,458
and one still remains.

437
00:17:57,542 --> 00:18:00,125
The boat they have left is
called a pinnace,

438
00:18:00,250 --> 00:18:03,292
which is a small, nimble,
flat-bottomed boat,

439
00:18:03,375 --> 00:18:06,000
mostly used for short trips
and errands.

440
00:18:06,083 --> 00:18:08,500
You use it
when your main vessel is

441
00:18:08,667 --> 00:18:11,750
too cumbersome,
or the water's too shallow.

442
00:18:11,875 --> 00:18:14,375
When White finally
arrives in 1590,

443
00:18:14,500 --> 00:18:16,875
in addition to finding
the community dismantled,

444
00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:18,833
the pinnace is gone.

445
00:18:18,917 --> 00:18:21,042
He presumably would've thought

446
00:18:21,167 --> 00:18:22,750
the colonists had gotten on it

447
00:18:22,875 --> 00:18:24,250
and went somewhere.

448
00:18:24,375 --> 00:18:26,500
Where, he wouldn't've known.

449
00:18:26,625 --> 00:18:28,792
The point of them
having this boat is

450
00:18:28,875 --> 00:18:31,000
for fishing
or island-hopping.

451
00:18:31,083 --> 00:18:34,000
Foraging or small-scale
exploration.

452
00:18:34,083 --> 00:18:35,875
It's not meant to be
a long-haul ship.

453
00:18:36,042 --> 00:18:38,667
But in a dire emergency,

454
00:18:38,792 --> 00:18:40,667
with no other options,

455
00:18:40,792 --> 00:18:43,250
this has to be their Plan A.

456
00:18:43,375 --> 00:18:46,167
It's either get on the boat,
or die.

457
00:18:46,292 --> 00:18:49,292
And this is where the theorists
really start speculating,

458
00:18:49,375 --> 00:18:52,458
about where they may have gone
on this small boat,

459
00:18:52,542 --> 00:18:53,917
but this fails
to take into account

460
00:18:54,042 --> 00:18:55,542
one other possibility,

461
00:18:55,667 --> 00:18:57,333
that I think is
definitely an option,

462
00:18:57,417 --> 00:18:59,625
that they could've perished on
this small boat.

463
00:19:02,042 --> 00:19:03,958
This is very noteworthy.

464
00:19:04,042 --> 00:19:06,667
So far, throughout
history, really,

465
00:19:06,833 --> 00:19:09,500
all 400-plus years,

466
00:19:09,583 --> 00:19:12,000
searching for
the Lost Colonists

467
00:19:12,125 --> 00:19:16,167
has been largely
limited to land.

468
00:19:16,292 --> 00:19:19,042
But I think
it's just as likely

469
00:19:19,167 --> 00:19:21,125
that the answers are
in the water.

470
00:19:21,208 --> 00:19:23,167
Unfortunately,
this theory makes

471
00:19:23,292 --> 00:19:26,458
finding evidence
almost impossible.

472
00:19:26,542 --> 00:19:28,167
First of all,
you're not gonna see

473
00:19:28,250 --> 00:19:29,583
any trace of what happened,

474
00:19:29,708 --> 00:19:32,500
unless somebody's
randomly diving

475
00:19:32,583 --> 00:19:35,292
or scanning the bottom
of some body of water,

476
00:19:35,375 --> 00:19:37,375
and lucks into...

477
00:19:37,542 --> 00:19:39,250
a one-in-a-billion
discovery.

478
00:19:40,375 --> 00:19:42,167
It's complicated
to even know where to begin

479
00:19:42,333 --> 00:19:44,042
to look for wreckage
for the colonists.

480
00:19:44,208 --> 00:19:45,875
We don't know
where they left from.

481
00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:47,583
We don't know
how far they sailed out.

482
00:19:47,708 --> 00:19:50,042
We don't even know
where they're going.

483
00:19:50,167 --> 00:19:51,917
If the colonists had decided

484
00:19:52,042 --> 00:19:53,500
that it was time
to sail somewhere,

485
00:19:53,625 --> 00:19:55,708
the most logical place
to go would be--

486
00:19:55,875 --> 00:19:57,833
to sail back to England.

487
00:19:59,125 --> 00:20:01,208
They could've taken a short trip

488
00:20:01,333 --> 00:20:03,333
to some other spot
in the New World,

489
00:20:03,458 --> 00:20:06,208
but the New World isn't
working out for them,

490
00:20:06,333 --> 00:20:09,750
so they valiantly try
to go home.

491
00:20:09,875 --> 00:20:11,000
Think about it.

492
00:20:11,125 --> 00:20:13,333
You are stranded with no food

493
00:20:13,417 --> 00:20:15,667
and no hope in a violent,
strange new land.

494
00:20:15,750 --> 00:20:17,333
What do you do?

495
00:20:17,458 --> 00:20:19,417
You try to make it
back home,

496
00:20:19,542 --> 00:20:21,083
to a place
you're familiar with.

497
00:20:21,208 --> 00:20:24,125
Even if it means risking death.

498
00:20:24,208 --> 00:20:27,083
They had survived
the crossing one way.

499
00:20:27,208 --> 00:20:29,292
Maybe they had what it took

500
00:20:29,417 --> 00:20:31,542
to make it the other way.

501
00:20:31,708 --> 00:20:35,792
Another European colony also
famously made the voyage home,

502
00:20:35,875 --> 00:20:38,000
against even worse odds.

503
00:20:38,167 --> 00:20:39,833
The Roanoke colonists

504
00:20:39,917 --> 00:20:42,667
might've been aware
of a very well-known story

505
00:20:42,750 --> 00:20:44,833
published in Europe
25 years prior.

506
00:20:44,917 --> 00:20:47,833
There was a group
of marooned French colonists

507
00:20:47,958 --> 00:20:50,750
that shares many similarities
to the Roanoke adventure.

508
00:20:50,875 --> 00:20:53,750
It's the kind of story
that would've gone viral today,

509
00:20:53,875 --> 00:20:56,500
but even back then, it managed
to spread far and wide.

510
00:20:56,625 --> 00:20:59,542
In 1562,
the French set out

511
00:20:59,708 --> 00:21:02,083
to establish
the Charlesfort settlement,

512
00:21:02,208 --> 00:21:04,417
in what would become
South Carolina,

513
00:21:04,542 --> 00:21:06,458
but by the following year,

514
00:21:06,542 --> 00:21:09,667
these colonists also
run out of supplies.

515
00:21:09,750 --> 00:21:12,958
Their leader,
Admiral Jean Ribault,

516
00:21:13,042 --> 00:21:14,917
sails home
for more provisions,

517
00:21:15,042 --> 00:21:17,375
leaving two dozen
people behind.

518
00:21:17,542 --> 00:21:20,958
Unfortunately,
upon returning to Europe,

519
00:21:21,042 --> 00:21:23,792
Ribault is
unexpectedly detained,

520
00:21:23,875 --> 00:21:27,000
leaving the settlers
to fend for themselves

521
00:21:27,083 --> 00:21:28,333
in a strange land.

522
00:21:28,500 --> 00:21:31,417
Just like Roanoke.

523
00:21:31,542 --> 00:21:34,750
But unlike Roanoke,
this colony has

524
00:21:34,875 --> 00:21:36,583
a much bigger obstacle.

525
00:21:36,708 --> 00:21:39,208
These French settlers don't
have access to a boat.

526
00:21:39,333 --> 00:21:42,000
So, in 1563,

527
00:21:42,125 --> 00:21:44,708
the Frenchmen build
their own boat.

528
00:21:44,875 --> 00:21:48,167
And against all odds,
logic, and reason,

529
00:21:48,250 --> 00:21:50,333
they make it back to Europe.

530
00:21:50,458 --> 00:21:53,167
Just barely,
but they do make it.

531
00:21:53,292 --> 00:21:55,042
The colonists are
probably thinking,

532
00:21:55,167 --> 00:21:57,750
"If the French can make it
on a boat they built themselves,

533
00:21:57,875 --> 00:22:00,458
then surely we can make it with
a boat that we have on hand."

534
00:22:00,542 --> 00:22:04,042
But the problem may lie
in their numbers.

535
00:22:04,208 --> 00:22:06,083
The population of the colony
starts off

536
00:22:06,208 --> 00:22:08,042
with just over 100 people.

537
00:22:08,167 --> 00:22:10,708
And because
the pinnace was so small,

538
00:22:10,833 --> 00:22:13,042
it's unlikely
that all the colonists

539
00:22:13,167 --> 00:22:14,833
were onboard that ship.

540
00:22:14,917 --> 00:22:16,708
But depending
on when the colonists flee,

541
00:22:16,833 --> 00:22:19,208
some months have passed
without supplies.

542
00:22:19,375 --> 00:22:22,417
Between starvation, disease,
and native attacks,

543
00:22:22,542 --> 00:22:24,875
there may be far less
than 100 survivors

544
00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:26,625
to board the boat.

545
00:22:26,708 --> 00:22:29,667
Capacity might not have
been an issue.

546
00:22:29,750 --> 00:22:32,125
But stability is.

547
00:22:32,250 --> 00:22:34,167
For any crew crossing
the Atlantic,

548
00:22:34,333 --> 00:22:35,708
it was challenging at best.

549
00:22:35,875 --> 00:22:38,167
These colonists didn't
have instruments,

550
00:22:38,292 --> 00:22:40,292
they were facing rough waters,

551
00:22:40,375 --> 00:22:42,792
and they also were facing
challenging weather.

552
00:22:42,917 --> 00:22:45,917
In addition to that,
this is not a seafaring boat,

553
00:22:46,042 --> 00:22:47,583
this is a shoreline boat,

554
00:22:47,708 --> 00:22:50,208
and with rough seas
and the complications

555
00:22:50,333 --> 00:22:52,333
of the water surrounding
the outer banks,

556
00:22:52,458 --> 00:22:55,167
it would've proved to be
very difficult and very hard.

557
00:22:55,333 --> 00:22:56,958
If they made it back,

558
00:22:57,042 --> 00:22:58,417
surely they would've
returned to their families.

559
00:22:58,542 --> 00:23:00,292
There would've been
some evidence,

560
00:23:00,417 --> 00:23:02,125
but there's nothing to say
that they made it home.

561
00:23:02,208 --> 00:23:04,500
Could the remains
of the Lost Colony be

562
00:23:04,625 --> 00:23:07,417
buried underwater?

563
00:23:07,542 --> 00:23:11,292
So far, no such shipwreck
has been found.

564
00:23:11,375 --> 00:23:14,500
But some researchers
remain optimistic.

565
00:23:14,625 --> 00:23:16,500
To date, scientists have
only been able

566
00:23:16,583 --> 00:23:19,833
to explore about 35%
of the U.S. coastal sea floor.

567
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:21,708
So there's a lot to go.

568
00:23:21,875 --> 00:23:25,333
Maybe someday,
with advances in technology,

569
00:23:25,417 --> 00:23:27,458
we'll find the remains
of the Lost Colonists

570
00:23:27,542 --> 00:23:29,625
who make it off the island

571
00:23:29,708 --> 00:23:31,750
but don't survive
the journey home.

572
00:23:35,750 --> 00:23:37,667
For centuries the search for the
lost colony of Roanoke

573
00:23:37,833 --> 00:23:40,125
turns up nothing
but tantalizing clues

574
00:23:40,208 --> 00:23:42,167
and dead ends.

575
00:23:42,292 --> 00:23:44,542
Then, in the late 1930s,

576
00:23:44,667 --> 00:23:47,500
a treasure trove
of new evidence is unearthed,

577
00:23:47,625 --> 00:23:51,458
and, if authentic,
it could rewrite history.

578
00:23:51,583 --> 00:23:53,958
By the 20th century,
the leading theories

579
00:23:54,042 --> 00:23:56,667
as to what happened
to the colonists were that,

580
00:23:56,750 --> 00:23:59,958
number one, they joined
with the Croatoans to the south,

581
00:24:00,042 --> 00:24:02,333
and number two, they had
gone north to the Chesapeake,

582
00:24:02,458 --> 00:24:04,708
where they were murdered
by Powhatan's people.

583
00:24:04,875 --> 00:24:06,917
Another possibility is
quite simple.

584
00:24:07,042 --> 00:24:09,625
That they tried
to sail back to England.

585
00:24:09,708 --> 00:24:11,458
There is just
so little evidence.

586
00:24:11,583 --> 00:24:13,792
There's almost nothing
that has survived,

587
00:24:13,917 --> 00:24:16,792
and we haven't even located
the site of the colony.

588
00:24:16,875 --> 00:24:19,500
Roanoke Island is
about the size of Manhattan,

589
00:24:19,667 --> 00:24:21,417
and we don't even know

590
00:24:21,542 --> 00:24:23,333
where they lived
on that island.

591
00:24:23,500 --> 00:24:25,292
The primary surviving
written source

592
00:24:25,375 --> 00:24:28,042
for the bulk of the information
that we have on the colony

593
00:24:28,167 --> 00:24:29,833
is from John White's diary,

594
00:24:29,917 --> 00:24:32,417
and, of course, he wasn't there
for the disappearance.

595
00:24:33,375 --> 00:24:34,667
But in 1937,

596
00:24:34,833 --> 00:24:37,000
a new written account is found,

597
00:24:37,167 --> 00:24:39,333
and it's a bombshell.

598
00:24:39,417 --> 00:24:42,167
November of 1937,

599
00:24:42,250 --> 00:24:43,833
near Edenton,
North Carolina,

600
00:24:43,958 --> 00:24:47,042
about 60 miles
west of Roanoke Island,

601
00:24:47,208 --> 00:24:48,708
a man named Louis Hammond

602
00:24:48,833 --> 00:24:50,833
is hunting
for hickory nuts

603
00:24:50,917 --> 00:24:54,458
along the Chowan River,
when he finds a large rock

604
00:24:54,542 --> 00:24:57,042
that's covered
in strange inscriptions

605
00:24:57,208 --> 00:24:59,542
that appear to be
Old English.

606
00:24:59,667 --> 00:25:02,667
Hammond brings the rock
to Emory University

607
00:25:02,792 --> 00:25:05,458
in Atlanta
to have a history professor

608
00:25:05,583 --> 00:25:07,333
named Haywood J. Pearce

609
00:25:07,417 --> 00:25:09,000
help him decipher
what it says.

610
00:25:09,167 --> 00:25:10,500
Pearce takes one look,

611
00:25:10,625 --> 00:25:12,500
and he can't believe his eyes.

612
00:25:12,583 --> 00:25:15,417
The carved stone purports
to be a message

613
00:25:15,542 --> 00:25:19,208
from Eleanor Dare,
John White's daughter.

614
00:25:19,375 --> 00:25:21,500
On one side of the stone,

615
00:25:21,583 --> 00:25:24,042
Dare reports the sad fate
of her husband,

616
00:25:24,208 --> 00:25:26,000
Ananias Dare,

617
00:25:26,083 --> 00:25:28,458
and their four-year-old
daughter, Virginia.

618
00:25:28,542 --> 00:25:32,500
They apparently both die
in the year 1591.

619
00:25:32,583 --> 00:25:35,500
Below that, Dare instructs
whoever finds the stone

620
00:25:35,667 --> 00:25:37,792
to bring it
to Governor White.

621
00:25:37,917 --> 00:25:40,708
She wants her father to know
what happened to her family,

622
00:25:40,833 --> 00:25:42,542
and making the stone carving

623
00:25:42,708 --> 00:25:44,667
is the best way she knows
how to do that.

624
00:25:44,750 --> 00:25:48,625
On the reverse side,
there's an even longer message.

625
00:25:48,750 --> 00:25:50,667
Eleanor describes

626
00:25:50,750 --> 00:25:53,458
the initial departure
from Roanoke

627
00:25:53,583 --> 00:25:55,417
and the route
they've taken so far.

628
00:25:55,542 --> 00:25:57,833
They travel west,
about 50 miles,

629
00:25:57,958 --> 00:25:59,958
and end up
close to the spot

630
00:26:00,083 --> 00:26:01,208
where the stone is found.

631
00:26:01,375 --> 00:26:02,833
Next, she writes that,

632
00:26:02,958 --> 00:26:04,625
after a miserable period
of illness,

633
00:26:04,708 --> 00:26:06,500
starvation,
and violent attacks

634
00:26:06,625 --> 00:26:09,000
from local tribes,
the population of the colony,

635
00:26:09,167 --> 00:26:11,708
which starts off
with just over 100 people,

636
00:26:11,833 --> 00:26:14,000
dwindles down
to just seven souls.

637
00:26:14,125 --> 00:26:16,833
I've looked at this stone
in great detail.

638
00:26:16,917 --> 00:26:18,500
It makes for a great story,

639
00:26:18,625 --> 00:26:20,000
it makes for
a very plausible story.

640
00:26:20,125 --> 00:26:21,667
The problem is,
is there's no record

641
00:26:21,833 --> 00:26:23,333
of where they went.

642
00:26:23,500 --> 00:26:25,958
But she does provide
a hint of a clue.

643
00:26:26,083 --> 00:26:29,417
After the seven colonists bury
the remains of their peers,

644
00:26:29,542 --> 00:26:31,667
Dare writes that
she's inscribed their names

645
00:26:31,792 --> 00:26:34,375
on a grave marker somewhere,
along with further details

646
00:26:34,542 --> 00:26:36,417
of recent events.

647
00:26:36,542 --> 00:26:38,042
In other words,
there may be

648
00:26:38,208 --> 00:26:41,708
a second hand-carved message
with more answers.

649
00:26:41,875 --> 00:26:45,333
After reviewing it,
Haywood J. Pearce,

650
00:26:45,500 --> 00:26:47,625
the history professor,
knows exactly

651
00:26:47,708 --> 00:26:49,500
how important this rock is,

652
00:26:49,625 --> 00:26:52,333
so he buys it
from Louis Hammond

653
00:26:52,458 --> 00:26:54,542
and launches
this obsessive search

654
00:26:54,708 --> 00:26:56,583
for the second stone.

655
00:26:56,708 --> 00:26:58,917
Pearce believes finding
the second stone

656
00:26:59,042 --> 00:27:00,917
will authenticate
the first stone,

657
00:27:01,042 --> 00:27:03,333
effectively solving
the Roanoke mystery

658
00:27:03,417 --> 00:27:05,208
and earning himself
a permanent spot

659
00:27:05,375 --> 00:27:07,458
in the history books as well.

660
00:27:07,542 --> 00:27:11,000
Professor Pearce offers
a $500 reward

661
00:27:11,125 --> 00:27:14,708
to anyone who can find
the second Dare stone.

662
00:27:14,833 --> 00:27:17,833
By today's inflation,
that's $10,000.

663
00:27:17,958 --> 00:27:19,542
During that time,
the country was still

664
00:27:19,708 --> 00:27:21,333
in the Great Depression,

665
00:27:21,458 --> 00:27:23,375
so we know the hunt was on.

666
00:27:23,542 --> 00:27:26,542
Soon enough,
Pearce's plan works.

667
00:27:26,708 --> 00:27:29,833
The next stone is found
by Bill Eberhardt,

668
00:27:29,958 --> 00:27:33,000
a backwoodsman
from northern Georgia.

669
00:27:33,083 --> 00:27:35,792
He brings a 21-pound rock
to Emory University

670
00:27:35,917 --> 00:27:38,500
that he claim he found
in South Carolina.

671
00:27:38,583 --> 00:27:40,333
Sure enough, it has
the names of the dead

672
00:27:40,417 --> 00:27:43,875
that Eleanor Dare mentioned
that she carved into it.

673
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:47,250
But Eberhardt's find
doesn't end there.

674
00:27:47,375 --> 00:27:49,917
In total,
within less than a year,

675
00:27:50,042 --> 00:27:52,292
Eberhardt finds
several dozen more stones.

676
00:27:52,375 --> 00:27:56,375
Taken together, they finally
paint a clear picture

677
00:27:56,542 --> 00:27:59,333
of what happened
to the Roanoke survivors.

678
00:27:59,500 --> 00:28:01,500
It's an incredible tale.

679
00:28:01,583 --> 00:28:03,667
They eventually make it
to safety,

680
00:28:03,792 --> 00:28:06,708
after a 500-mile journey...

681
00:28:06,833 --> 00:28:08,792
...to Georgia.

682
00:28:11,042 --> 00:28:13,208
Together, this evidence
has become known

683
00:28:13,375 --> 00:28:15,375
as the Dare Stones.

684
00:28:15,542 --> 00:28:17,167
According to the Dare Stones,

685
00:28:17,292 --> 00:28:19,708
the colonists survive
and they're in Georgia,

686
00:28:19,833 --> 00:28:22,708
taken in by natives, and
Eleanor's husband passes away.

687
00:28:22,833 --> 00:28:25,667
Eventually Eleanor Dare
is married

688
00:28:25,792 --> 00:28:28,208
to a Native American man
in 1593.

689
00:28:28,333 --> 00:28:30,792
Together, they have
a daughter named Agnes,

690
00:28:30,917 --> 00:28:33,708
and Eleanor dies in 1599.

691
00:28:33,875 --> 00:28:36,542
After Eleanor's death,
Griffen Jones

692
00:28:36,708 --> 00:28:40,000
and Agnes Dare
leave behind obituaries

693
00:28:40,125 --> 00:28:42,667
for the other survivors
as they die off,

694
00:28:42,833 --> 00:28:45,542
but nobody knows
what happens

695
00:28:45,708 --> 00:28:48,042
to Agnes or Griffin.

696
00:28:48,167 --> 00:28:50,875
And it's easy to say
Professor Pearce was

697
00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:52,833
very excited
about these findings.

698
00:28:52,917 --> 00:28:54,750
He hosts
a scientific conference

699
00:28:54,875 --> 00:28:58,167
in October of 1940,
inviting 34 academic experts

700
00:28:58,292 --> 00:29:00,042
to examine the stones.

701
00:29:00,167 --> 00:29:02,667
A panel of these experts
issues a press release

702
00:29:02,792 --> 00:29:05,750
supporting
the stone's authenticity.

703
00:29:05,875 --> 00:29:08,708
Pearce submits an article
of his findings

704
00:29:08,875 --> 00:29:10,833
to the Saturday Evening Post.

705
00:29:10,958 --> 00:29:14,250
When the article comes out
on April 26th, 1941,

706
00:29:14,375 --> 00:29:16,667
it's quite shocking,
but not for the reason

707
00:29:16,792 --> 00:29:19,500
Pearce expected, because,
according to the article,

708
00:29:19,625 --> 00:29:23,000
the fact-checkers find all kinds
of problems with the story.

709
00:29:23,125 --> 00:29:25,375
The Dare Stones are a hoax.

710
00:29:26,875 --> 00:29:28,833
After examining the stones,

711
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:31,792
a linguist finds
several flaws.

712
00:29:31,875 --> 00:29:33,875
They used words which were

713
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:35,458
not in the English language

714
00:29:35,583 --> 00:29:37,167
at the time, like "trail"

715
00:29:37,250 --> 00:29:38,667
and "reconnoiter."

716
00:29:38,792 --> 00:29:40,333
One of these stones even
purports to list

717
00:29:40,458 --> 00:29:42,875
names of people,
but those names don't appear

718
00:29:43,042 --> 00:29:44,833
on the ship's manifest.

719
00:29:44,917 --> 00:29:46,875
They seem to be
just fabrications.

720
00:29:47,042 --> 00:29:49,000
Then there's the handwriting.

721
00:29:49,083 --> 00:29:51,458
The 47 stones
found by Eberhardt

722
00:29:51,542 --> 00:29:53,792
don't match the handwriting
on the initial stone

723
00:29:53,875 --> 00:29:55,708
found by Hammond.

724
00:29:55,875 --> 00:29:58,292
And they're carved
into a different kind of rock.

725
00:29:58,375 --> 00:30:01,042
It doesn't make
a whole lot of sense.

726
00:30:01,167 --> 00:30:03,875
The timing
of the 1937 find

727
00:30:04,042 --> 00:30:06,208
is also suspicious.

728
00:30:06,375 --> 00:30:10,292
In 1937,
it's the 350-year anniversary

729
00:30:10,375 --> 00:30:12,708
of the Lost Colony.
There's a lot of fanfare

730
00:30:12,875 --> 00:30:15,417
built up around this anniversary
and the celebration.

731
00:30:15,542 --> 00:30:17,208
It's also an interesting time
because the country

732
00:30:17,375 --> 00:30:19,167
is in the middle
of the Great Depression,

733
00:30:19,250 --> 00:30:21,042
so it's a wonderful way
to lift the spirits

734
00:30:21,208 --> 00:30:23,375
- of the population.
- In modern terms,

735
00:30:23,542 --> 00:30:27,083
Roanoke could be described
as having a moment.

736
00:30:27,208 --> 00:30:30,375
So, if somebody were
trying to make money

737
00:30:30,542 --> 00:30:32,917
off some bogus artifacts,

738
00:30:33,042 --> 00:30:35,375
this would be the time.

739
00:30:35,500 --> 00:30:39,000
Is it possible that
Eberhardt faked the Dare Stones?

740
00:30:39,083 --> 00:30:41,792
This never occurs
to Haywood Pearce.

741
00:30:41,875 --> 00:30:44,125
Eberhardt to him is
just some manual laborer

742
00:30:44,250 --> 00:30:45,833
with a third-grade education.

743
00:30:45,958 --> 00:30:47,542
There's no way
he could produce

744
00:30:47,708 --> 00:30:49,708
such authentic forgeries.

745
00:30:49,833 --> 00:30:51,625
Come to find out,
Eberhardt has a history

746
00:30:51,708 --> 00:30:55,333
of forging and selling
fake Native American artifacts.

747
00:30:55,458 --> 00:30:57,833
While the 47 Dare Stones

748
00:30:57,958 --> 00:30:59,750
forged by Eberhardt

749
00:30:59,875 --> 00:31:01,792
have been officially
declared fraudulent,

750
00:31:01,875 --> 00:31:05,792
some still believe
the original is genuine.

751
00:31:05,917 --> 00:31:08,458
There's still a chance
that the original stone

752
00:31:08,542 --> 00:31:10,042
brought in by Louis Hammond

753
00:31:10,208 --> 00:31:13,167
could be the 400-year-old work
of Eleanor Dare.

754
00:31:13,292 --> 00:31:15,250
Then again, Hammond may have
just been looking

755
00:31:15,375 --> 00:31:17,708
to make a quick buck
and earn 15 minutes of fame

756
00:31:17,875 --> 00:31:19,708
through a scam of his own,

757
00:31:19,875 --> 00:31:21,792
which Eberhardt then took
to an extreme.

758
00:31:21,917 --> 00:31:25,958
Either way, apart from
the Dare Stones themselves,

759
00:31:26,042 --> 00:31:28,583
there's no evidence
that the Lost Colonists

760
00:31:28,708 --> 00:31:34,125
ever ended up in Georgia.

761
00:31:34,208 --> 00:31:36,667
Across four centuries the
writings

762
00:31:36,750 --> 00:31:37,833
of Governor John White are
the only clue

763
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:39,708
as to the final destination

764
00:31:39,833 --> 00:31:42,333
of the Lost Colony
of Roanoke.

765
00:31:42,458 --> 00:31:44,000
John White leaves behind

766
00:31:44,167 --> 00:31:46,333
a journal that's very extensive,

767
00:31:46,458 --> 00:31:48,625
but just like the rest of us,
he's in the dark

768
00:31:48,750 --> 00:31:51,667
about what happened to
the colonists after they leave.

769
00:31:51,792 --> 00:31:53,625
Although he was governor
of the colony,

770
00:31:53,708 --> 00:31:55,333
he was first and foremost

771
00:31:55,417 --> 00:31:56,750
a painter by trade,

772
00:31:56,875 --> 00:31:58,708
and it's because
of his drawings

773
00:31:58,875 --> 00:32:00,833
and his incredible paintings
that he produced

774
00:32:00,958 --> 00:32:03,000
during his time
on Roanoke Island,

775
00:32:03,083 --> 00:32:04,667
that we know
a great deal about

776
00:32:04,792 --> 00:32:06,292
what life was like amongst

777
00:32:06,375 --> 00:32:08,958
the Native American
Indian population.

778
00:32:09,042 --> 00:32:11,208
White also leaves behind

779
00:32:11,375 --> 00:32:13,667
one other potential piece
of evidence.

780
00:32:13,750 --> 00:32:16,000
A hand-drawn map.

781
00:32:16,125 --> 00:32:18,125
The Virginea Pars map is

782
00:32:18,208 --> 00:32:21,792
arguably the finest piece
of 16th-century

783
00:32:21,917 --> 00:32:25,083
North American cartography
there is.

784
00:32:25,208 --> 00:32:27,042
There were three expeditions
to Roanoke.

785
00:32:27,167 --> 00:32:30,667
White made this map
during the 1585-6

786
00:32:30,750 --> 00:32:32,333
Sir Walter Raleigh expedition

787
00:32:32,500 --> 00:32:34,875
a few years
before the Lost Colonists.

788
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:37,208
The map shows Roanoke Island,

789
00:32:37,375 --> 00:32:39,792
the colonists' eventual
landing spot

790
00:32:39,875 --> 00:32:42,542
and its surrounding areas
in great detail.

791
00:32:42,667 --> 00:32:44,333
It's incredibly accurate.

792
00:32:44,458 --> 00:32:46,667
You can still look
at that map today,

793
00:32:46,792 --> 00:32:48,417
over 400 years later,

794
00:32:48,542 --> 00:32:51,875
and define
all of the key estuaries,

795
00:32:52,042 --> 00:32:54,917
the lakes, the islands,
it's a remarkable map.

796
00:32:55,042 --> 00:32:57,833
In 2012, a research group

797
00:32:57,958 --> 00:33:00,000
called the First Colony
Foundation

798
00:33:00,125 --> 00:33:03,083
examines White's map
for new clues.

799
00:33:03,208 --> 00:33:05,333
The First Colony Foundation,
they don't even start

800
00:33:05,500 --> 00:33:07,208
by actually looking
at the original.

801
00:33:07,333 --> 00:33:10,417
They go over a high-quality
reproduction of the map,

802
00:33:10,542 --> 00:33:12,667
and something
jumps out at them.

803
00:33:12,750 --> 00:33:14,083
A small detail that

804
00:33:14,208 --> 00:33:16,000
may be hiding a big secret.

805
00:33:16,125 --> 00:33:18,292
They see a faint brown shadow,

806
00:33:18,417 --> 00:33:21,000
which seems to have
been overlooked.

807
00:33:21,167 --> 00:33:24,167
This could just be
a topographical outline,

808
00:33:24,292 --> 00:33:26,833
but the team thinks
it might instead be a patch.

809
00:33:26,958 --> 00:33:28,833
Something was covered up here.

810
00:33:28,958 --> 00:33:30,750
Maybe a spot
where John White

811
00:33:30,875 --> 00:33:33,000
accidentally spills
a blob of paint,

812
00:33:33,167 --> 00:33:35,333
makes an error,
and it's just covered up

813
00:33:35,458 --> 00:33:38,917
with a piece of parchment.
Or maybe it's something more.

814
00:33:39,042 --> 00:33:41,208
There's only one way
to find out.

815
00:33:41,375 --> 00:33:44,250
They notify the British Museum,

816
00:33:44,375 --> 00:33:47,917
which takes the original copy
of the Virginea Pars map

817
00:33:48,042 --> 00:33:49,750
and scans it

818
00:33:49,875 --> 00:33:52,333
using advanced
imaging technology.

819
00:33:52,417 --> 00:33:55,000
And sure enough,
under the patch is not

820
00:33:55,083 --> 00:33:57,167
an errant paint blob

821
00:33:57,292 --> 00:34:00,833
but what appears to be
a large X symbol.

822
00:34:00,958 --> 00:34:03,125
On maps of the era,

823
00:34:03,208 --> 00:34:08,000
an X is often used to mark
the location of a fort.

824
00:34:08,125 --> 00:34:11,417
The question is, what does
this image of a fort mean?

825
00:34:11,542 --> 00:34:13,125
Was it, in fact,
something that was built

826
00:34:13,208 --> 00:34:14,917
on a previous expedition?

827
00:34:15,042 --> 00:34:17,125
Or maybe it was an idea

828
00:34:17,208 --> 00:34:19,125
that simply never
came to fruition.

829
00:34:19,208 --> 00:34:22,250
- We don't know.
- But obviously John White

830
00:34:22,375 --> 00:34:24,458
knows about it,
and, in theory,

831
00:34:24,542 --> 00:34:27,083
when he comes back
with his Roanoke colony,

832
00:34:27,208 --> 00:34:29,208
as their governor,
he might've told

833
00:34:29,333 --> 00:34:30,958
the colonists
about the fort.

834
00:34:31,042 --> 00:34:33,333
Could this be
where they head

835
00:34:33,417 --> 00:34:37,000
when things turn ugly
on Roanoke Island?

836
00:34:37,125 --> 00:34:40,667
The X is about 50 miles
west of Roanoke inland,

837
00:34:40,750 --> 00:34:43,333
along the Albemarle Sound.

838
00:34:43,458 --> 00:34:45,292
This goes right along
with the passage

839
00:34:45,417 --> 00:34:47,333
in John White's journal
where he instructs the colonists

840
00:34:47,458 --> 00:34:50,125
to go west,
in case of an emergency.

841
00:34:50,250 --> 00:34:54,250
Did the colonists follow
White's instructions?

842
00:34:54,375 --> 00:34:57,083
A team is quickly sent
to excavate the area.

843
00:34:57,208 --> 00:34:59,917
The dig site gets
one of the coolest names

844
00:35:00,042 --> 00:35:01,958
you'll ever find
in archaeology.

845
00:35:02,083 --> 00:35:04,000
They call it Site X.

846
00:35:04,125 --> 00:35:06,833
A reference
to the pop culture idea

847
00:35:06,917 --> 00:35:09,375
of buried pirate treasure.

848
00:35:09,500 --> 00:35:12,792
And it's not long
before Site X unveils

849
00:35:12,875 --> 00:35:15,292
a treasure trove
of new clues.

850
00:35:15,417 --> 00:35:18,208
There are pottery shards
and pieces of weapons

851
00:35:18,333 --> 00:35:20,250
dating back
to the Tudor era,

852
00:35:20,375 --> 00:35:22,875
the exact period
when this mystery begins.

853
00:35:23,042 --> 00:35:25,458
English artifacts
from the period

854
00:35:25,583 --> 00:35:28,875
of the Roanoke colonists
definitely exist at this site.

855
00:35:29,042 --> 00:35:31,333
The problem is,
which English group

856
00:35:31,458 --> 00:35:33,458
did these artifacts belong to?

857
00:35:33,583 --> 00:35:36,167
They can't be dated
precisely enough to tell.

858
00:35:36,292 --> 00:35:37,833
They could be
from the Lost Colony

859
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:39,833
or the Walter Raleigh expedition

860
00:35:39,958 --> 00:35:42,042
or various other
smaller teams

861
00:35:42,167 --> 00:35:44,167
that have visited
the area before.

862
00:35:44,292 --> 00:35:46,667
Archaeologists expand
their search

863
00:35:46,833 --> 00:35:48,667
to a second location nearby.

864
00:35:48,792 --> 00:35:50,542
They name it Site Y.

865
00:35:50,708 --> 00:35:52,583
At Site Y,
there have also been finds

866
00:35:52,708 --> 00:35:55,292
of European artifacts,
but, again, the trouble is

867
00:35:55,417 --> 00:35:57,292
trying to tell
whether they belong

868
00:35:57,375 --> 00:36:00,250
to the Lost Colonists
or to later English settlers.

869
00:36:00,375 --> 00:36:02,792
They're not yet definitive.

870
00:36:02,875 --> 00:36:04,708
We need more evidence.

871
00:36:04,833 --> 00:36:07,417
The First Colony Foundation
continues their hunt

872
00:36:07,542 --> 00:36:10,083
through annual digs,
led by historians,

873
00:36:10,208 --> 00:36:12,167
scientists,
and archaeologists.

874
00:36:12,292 --> 00:36:14,792
And whatever they find is
fully analyzed

875
00:36:14,917 --> 00:36:18,125
in a nearby laboratory.
They're confident they know

876
00:36:18,208 --> 00:36:20,208
where the Lost Colony
of Roanoke ended up,

877
00:36:20,333 --> 00:36:22,917
and it's right here.
Now they just have to prove it

878
00:36:23,042 --> 00:36:26,208
with that one elusive artifact
that can establish the link.

879
00:36:26,333 --> 00:36:29,292
We will know that we have
a location for the Lost Colony

880
00:36:29,375 --> 00:36:32,750
when we find something
that is irrefutably

881
00:36:32,875 --> 00:36:35,875
a personal effect
of one of the Lost Colonists.

882
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:39,667
It has to be a necklace
or a ring that might have

883
00:36:39,792 --> 00:36:43,000
a name or note or something
that positively identifies it

884
00:36:43,125 --> 00:36:44,833
as a Lost Colonist's.

885
00:36:44,917 --> 00:36:47,042
But until we find
more evidence,

886
00:36:47,167 --> 00:36:49,458
more hard evidence,
we're essentially

887
00:36:49,583 --> 00:36:57,083
looking for a needle
in a haystack.

888
00:36:57,208 --> 00:36:58,750
" CROATOAN."

889
00:36:58,875 --> 00:37:00,708
A strange word
found in a strange place,

890
00:37:00,833 --> 00:37:02,917
carved into a tree
near the abandoned

891
00:37:03,042 --> 00:37:05,917
Roanoke colony in 1590.

892
00:37:06,042 --> 00:37:07,917
But it may not be
the only time

893
00:37:08,042 --> 00:37:10,333
this word is tied to tragedy.

894
00:37:10,458 --> 00:37:13,042
Believe it or not,
there's a theory out there

895
00:37:13,167 --> 00:37:15,083
that the word
"Croatoan" turns up

896
00:37:15,208 --> 00:37:17,500
in several desperate places
in history.

897
00:37:17,583 --> 00:37:19,333
Not just with the Lost Colony.

898
00:37:19,417 --> 00:37:21,333
Not by a long shot.

899
00:37:21,500 --> 00:37:23,667
The theory speculates that,
when the colonists

900
00:37:23,792 --> 00:37:27,083
carve that word,
it's not a simple message

901
00:37:27,208 --> 00:37:29,875
of their whereabouts;
it's a cry of fear.

902
00:37:30,042 --> 00:37:31,500
Because, in this case,

903
00:37:31,625 --> 00:37:34,292
according to the theory,
Croatoan doesn't mean

904
00:37:34,375 --> 00:37:36,208
the friendly native tribe

905
00:37:36,333 --> 00:37:38,167
or the name
of an island.

906
00:37:38,292 --> 00:37:41,167
It refers to some kind of
supernatural force

907
00:37:41,333 --> 00:37:43,208
that is out for blood.

908
00:37:45,375 --> 00:37:48,125
John White assumes
that the carvings "Croatoan"

909
00:37:48,208 --> 00:37:50,000
and "C-R-O" means

910
00:37:50,083 --> 00:37:51,500
"we've gone 40 miles south

911
00:37:51,583 --> 00:37:53,042
to live with
our indigenous friends."

912
00:37:53,208 --> 00:37:54,833
He goes home devastated,

913
00:37:54,917 --> 00:37:57,417
unable to find his daughter
or granddaughter,

914
00:37:57,542 --> 00:37:59,375
but we can assume
that he has some degree of hope

915
00:37:59,500 --> 00:38:01,667
that maybe they were
able to survive

916
00:38:01,792 --> 00:38:05,833
and perhaps even thrive
with some help of the locals.

917
00:38:05,958 --> 00:38:09,000
But John White might be
very troubled to learn

918
00:38:09,167 --> 00:38:11,333
what allegedly unfolds
over the years,

919
00:38:11,458 --> 00:38:13,792
because, according
to some reports,

920
00:38:13,875 --> 00:38:17,042
the next time "Croatoan"
shows up in history,

921
00:38:17,167 --> 00:38:19,667
it appears to be
a dire warning.

922
00:38:19,792 --> 00:38:24,167
The word seems
to resurface in 1849.

923
00:38:24,292 --> 00:38:26,958
Shortly before his death,
the great author

924
00:38:27,083 --> 00:38:29,417
Edgar Allan Poe goes missing.

925
00:38:29,542 --> 00:38:32,667
He eventually shows up
in a state of total delirium,

926
00:38:32,792 --> 00:38:35,167
and what happened to Poe
remains another great

927
00:38:35,292 --> 00:38:38,125
historical mystery,
but something at that time

928
00:38:38,208 --> 00:38:40,333
causes him
incredible distress

929
00:38:40,458 --> 00:38:42,542
that may have even
driven him mad

930
00:38:42,708 --> 00:38:44,750
or may have contributed
to his death.

931
00:38:44,875 --> 00:38:48,167
Allegedly, one of the last
coherent things he says

932
00:38:48,250 --> 00:38:50,042
is the word "Croatoan."

933
00:38:50,167 --> 00:38:53,167
There's another story
about the word

934
00:38:53,250 --> 00:38:56,458
tied to an alleged incident
in 1888.

935
00:38:56,583 --> 00:38:59,958
The old west outlaw
Black Bart

936
00:39:00,083 --> 00:39:02,042
is a notorious
stagecoach robber,

937
00:39:02,208 --> 00:39:04,250
and he's eventually
brought to justice

938
00:39:04,375 --> 00:39:06,333
and serves four years.

939
00:39:06,417 --> 00:39:08,500
But before he gets out,

940
00:39:08,667 --> 00:39:11,083
it's rumored that he carves
the word "Croatoan"

941
00:39:11,208 --> 00:39:12,708
into the wall of his cell,

942
00:39:12,833 --> 00:39:15,500
and after his release
in early 1888,

943
00:39:15,583 --> 00:39:18,500
he's never seen
or heard from again.

944
00:39:18,583 --> 00:39:20,417
Is this word somehow
killing people?

945
00:39:20,542 --> 00:39:22,167
Making them disappear?

946
00:39:22,250 --> 00:39:24,042
What's going on?

947
00:39:24,167 --> 00:39:26,792
The parallels don't end there.

948
00:39:26,875 --> 00:39:30,417
In 1921, a ship called
the Carroll A. Deering

949
00:39:30,542 --> 00:39:32,292
crashes off the coast
of North Carolina.

950
00:39:32,417 --> 00:39:34,083
The entire crew goes missing.

951
00:39:34,208 --> 00:39:36,917
Not found dead.
Just totally missing.

952
00:39:37,042 --> 00:39:38,750
The ship was found abandoned,

953
00:39:38,875 --> 00:39:41,083
and the word "Croatoan"
was apparently

954
00:39:41,208 --> 00:39:42,667
written in the logbook.

955
00:39:42,792 --> 00:39:46,208
Ambrose Bierce is
a famous horror author

956
00:39:46,375 --> 00:39:48,875
who disappears
in 1913 or 1914,

957
00:39:49,042 --> 00:39:50,750
on his way to Mexico.

958
00:39:50,875 --> 00:39:53,583
But one rumor has it
that the last bed

959
00:39:53,708 --> 00:39:55,458
he was known
to have slept in

960
00:39:55,542 --> 00:39:57,083
had the word "Croatoan"

961
00:39:57,208 --> 00:39:59,500
carved into one of its posts.

962
00:39:59,583 --> 00:40:01,792
And this is a doozy.

963
00:40:01,917 --> 00:40:03,167
Amelia Earhart

964
00:40:03,250 --> 00:40:04,917
famously disappears during

965
00:40:05,042 --> 00:40:07,250
an ill-fated flight
over the Pacific Ocean

966
00:40:07,375 --> 00:40:08,667
in 1937.

967
00:40:08,750 --> 00:40:10,333
But the Croatoan theorists

968
00:40:10,500 --> 00:40:11,833
believe that
she leaves behind

969
00:40:11,958 --> 00:40:13,833
a journal with the word
scribbled in it.

970
00:40:13,958 --> 00:40:16,833
It's unclear how
or when this rumor started,

971
00:40:16,917 --> 00:40:19,125
but it continues to be
widely reported.

972
00:40:19,208 --> 00:40:23,458
could there be an ominous link
between these incidents?

973
00:40:23,542 --> 00:40:26,292
In the mythology
of the colonists'

974
00:40:26,417 --> 00:40:28,000
Native American neighbors,

975
00:40:28,125 --> 00:40:31,875
"Croatoan" is the name
of a vengeful spirit

976
00:40:32,042 --> 00:40:33,792
that inhabits their island

977
00:40:33,917 --> 00:40:36,208
and punishes those
who displease him.

978
00:40:36,375 --> 00:40:38,167
He can transform them

979
00:40:38,292 --> 00:40:41,042
into animals, trees,
or rocks,

980
00:40:41,167 --> 00:40:42,208
or just kill them.

981
00:40:42,375 --> 00:40:44,125
Is this what those other

982
00:40:44,208 --> 00:40:45,667
historical
references mean?

983
00:40:45,792 --> 00:40:47,917
Is there some vengeful spirit

984
00:40:48,042 --> 00:40:50,417
called Croatoan
that has been out there

985
00:40:50,542 --> 00:40:52,583
transforming
and killing people

986
00:40:52,708 --> 00:40:54,375
over these past 400 years?

987
00:40:54,542 --> 00:40:57,833
Of course, the idea
of an evil spirit

988
00:40:57,958 --> 00:41:00,208
associated with
the word "Croatoan,"

989
00:41:00,333 --> 00:41:01,667
causing all these problems,

990
00:41:01,792 --> 00:41:05,167
is regrettably still a legend.

991
00:41:05,292 --> 00:41:08,417
Besides, if the spirit
did transform

992
00:41:08,542 --> 00:41:10,917
the Lost Colonists,
why did it then bother

993
00:41:11,042 --> 00:41:12,667
to dismantle their houses?

994
00:41:12,750 --> 00:41:15,792
Much more likely the colonists
flee on their own.

995
00:41:15,917 --> 00:41:19,208
But what happens to them next
is still anyone's guess.

996
00:41:22,208 --> 00:41:23,542
It's the oldest

997
00:41:23,667 --> 00:41:26,125
missing persons case in America,

998
00:41:26,250 --> 00:41:27,375
and yet today,

999
00:41:27,542 --> 00:41:28,917
there are more people

1000
00:41:29,042 --> 00:41:30,458
dedicated to solving it

1001
00:41:30,542 --> 00:41:32,167
than ever before.

1002
00:41:32,250 --> 00:41:34,375
They're searching land, sea,

1003
00:41:34,542 --> 00:41:36,000
and even DNA

1004
00:41:36,125 --> 00:41:37,542
to find the answer.

1005
00:41:37,708 --> 00:41:39,250
Perhaps one day soon,

1006
00:41:39,375 --> 00:41:40,875
the lost colony of Roanoke

1007
00:41:41,042 --> 00:41:43,083
will finally be found.

1008
00:41:43,208 --> 00:41:44,542
I'm Laurence Fishburne.

1009
00:41:44,708 --> 00:41:46,042
Thank you for watching

1010
00:41:46,208 --> 00:41:49,083
"History's Greatest Mysteries."

1011
00:41:49,208 --> 00:41:49,308
♪♪

1012
00:41:49,375 --> 00:41:51,500
White's first mission is