Why did John White lead 117 colonists to Roanoke Island?
In 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh outfitted a ship with 91 men, 17 women, and 9 children and sent them on their way to the shores of Chesapeake Bay. Strong winds blew the expedition off course and they landed on an island off the coast of what would become North Carolina. The island was Roanoke. The settlers attempted to establish a colony while the ship returned to England for supplies. Three years would go by before a supply ship could return to Roanoke. When Raleigh’s agents found the colony, all that was left were abandoned buildings and the word “CROATOAN” carved on one of the buildings. The men assumed the settlers had moved to Croatan Island near Cape Hatteras. But sailing there, they found no trace of the colonists. Some historians think the settlers could not survive on their own and they moved in with some local Indians, the Lumbee Tribe. The members of the Lumbee Tribe today claim that is what happened.
