Roanoke: An Unsolved Mystery Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sir Richard Grenville

Richard Grenville, commander of the Roanoke expedition, arrived there in 1585 (with approximately 107 men) the aim of the settlers was to build a fort, and establish a foothold in the Americas this would be used to expand the British Empire. Grenville returned to England, to replenish food supplies leaving Ralph Lane, in command: the Algonquian Indians at first helped the settlers.

They showed them how to catch fish and to farm their land. As winter came the settlers found it hard to find food and relations soured with them and the Algonquian Indians, and colonists started to steal their food.

When Francis Drake came to Roanoke he offered the settlers food or passage home to England. Not surprisingly they choose to go home.

Answer: Ralph Lane

Ralph Lane, born 1528, was a professional soldier who had served Elizabeth I. He was Governor of Roanoke for only eight months before he and his men returned home. Lane had no idea how to deal or trade with the Indians and this led to shortages of food: he decided to look for a better location to farm land and build a settlement because storms were battering the original site.

He thought going further inland would be more beneficial, unfortunate that idea failed. On his return to England he settled in Ireland, where he remained for the rest of his life, he died in October 1603 in Dublin, Ireland.

Answer: Sir Walter Raleigh

Although Sir Walter Raleigh funded the expeditions he did not actually lead them: he placed that responsibility in the hands of Richard Grenville. He did however report the discovery of Roanoke to Elizabeth 1, and named the territory Virginia in honour of the virgin Queen.

Although a one-time favourite of Elizabeth I he fell out of favour when he married Bessy Throckmorton, in 1592. He tried to redeem himself when he led an expedition to find "El Dorado", the legendary city of gold: this was unsuccessful.

After Elizabeth I died his many enemies plotted against him and he was arrested for treason against the new King, James I and was beheaded on 29th October 1618.

Answer: Virginia Dare

The only things known about Virginia Dare was that she was born August 18th 1587: and named after the territory of Virginia. She was born less than a month after the settlers arrived on Roanoke, and like the other colonists, including her parents, she disappeared. Virginia was the first English baby born in the New World.

Another baby was born not long after her but is virtually unknown. John White did record the baby's birth, and his/her parents. White did not record the sex of the baby, referring to it as 'Baby Harvie'.

The parents are believed to have been Dyonis and Margery Harvie.

Answer: Wingina

When Grenville arrived at Roanoke in 1585 Wingina (who later changed his name to Pemisapan), was King of the Sectoa tribe and the first Native American chief to welcome the settlers. Grenville and his party of men visited a few of the Indian tribes situated near Roanoke: the Secotan tribe, the Pomeiooc tribe and finally the Aquascogoc.

It was the next day the colonists realised a silver cup was missing. The cup had last been used at the Aquascogoc Village and Grenville sent some of his men to retrieve it.

When the cup was not returned Grenville ordered the Aquascogoc Village burnt to the ground along with the corn fields. Not surprisingly this did not sit well with the Indians and when Grenville returned to England, leaving approximately 100 men to set up the colony, they refused to help the settlers.

When the colonists sent out a scouting party word reached them that Wingina was planning to attack the settlement. The settlers decided to attack them first, this resulted in Wingina, being shot and killed by Thomas Hariot and Edward Nugent.

They returned to the settlement with the Wingina's severed head.

Answer: John White

John White was an English artist who sailed with Richard Grenville to the New World in 1585. It was the first attempt to set up a colony and White acted as the expedition's artist and mapmaker. Some of his work still survives and it is stored in the print room of the British Museum.

He returned to Roanoke in 1587: to set up the second colony bringing with him his wife and daughter (who was pregnant at the time) and son-in-law. His granddaughter, Virginia Dare, was only nine weeks old when he returned to England and unfortunately he never saw any of his family again.

He died in 1593, in County Cork: Ireland.

Answer: One of the colonists was killed by the Indians

On July 28th 1587 the body of George Howe, assistant to Governor John White, was found in the woods about two miles from the settlement. He had been badly beaten and eventually shot with over ten arrows protruding from his body. The settlers understandably became nervous and White called a meeting with the leaders of the tribes, his aim being to stop hostilities between the Indians and the settlers.

However, the meeting didn't go to plan and the next day White led an attack against the village of Dasamonquepeio. Unfortunately a number of women and children were killed and the leaders of the other tribes refused the settlers any more help.

The colonists, afraid of reprisals, asked John White, upon his return to England to ask for help in defending their colony against the Indians, but he was never to see any of them again.

Answer: Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe

Captains Phillip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe left Plymouth on April 27th, 1584. Their objective was to sail across the ocean to explore the North American coast looking for suitable locations to build a settlement. The captains were to report their findings to Sir Walter Raleigh.

After spending a few days on the Island they were visited by Granganimeo, of the Roanoke Island Indians (Granganimeo was the brother Chief Wingina). The explores were invited to the Indian village and offered food and trading was done between both parties. In their report back to Raleigh, they described the land as pleasant with good fertile ground for growing corn, lots of game to hunt and rivers to fish in. However, Amadas and Barlowe arrived there in midsummer the Indians had plenty of food to share but it was a different story when the first settlers arrived in August 1585. The weather was changing quickly, they soon realized it was not the utopia Amadas and Barlowe had described (especially as the winter months aapproached).

Answer: The approaching war with Spain made it almost impossible to secure a ship

Unfortunately for John white, he picked the wrong time to return to England. Philip II of Spain, was putting together an Armada of ships to attack England. With the help of Sir Walter Raleigh, White put together a fleet of small ships, but was not allowed to set sail as Spain could attack England at any time. Two of the smaller ships given to White - the Brave and the Roe but they were not equipped for battle and White was allowed to take these. Unfortunately for White and the settlers back on Roanoke, the Brave was attacked by a larger French ship and had to return to England, and a short time later the Roe also returned.

Answer: "Croatoan" and "CRO"

When John White arrived back on Roanoke, on 18th Aug 1590 he had been away three years. He found the settlement deserted; the cabins had been dismantled, which indicated that the colonists did not leave in a hurry, there was no livestock in the pens, and the colony showed no sign of violence.
Searching the settlement for any clues as to the whereabouts of the colonists, John White found the word "Croatoan" carved into a wooden post, and three letters carved into a tree, these were "Cro". Before he left for England, White told his family if they were in any danger to carve a cross into the gate post, for when he returned, no cross was found.
The mystery of the settlers' fate has never been known, did they leave and integrate with the Croatan tribe? That seems the most likely scenario: but why didn't White find them when he and his men searched the island. Some people believe the colonists used logs from the dismantled cabins to make rafts and tried to reach Chesapeake Bay, but drowned in rough seas, or if they made it to the island they were killed by other Indian tribes, however no graves have been found even to this day. The fate of the colonists may never be known. You just have to come up with your own conclusions.