Roanoke.... The Lost Colony 

By P.J.

     In 1594 Queen Elizabeth gave Sir Walter Raleigh a patent which gave him the right to claim land. He got a big part of the east coast. He called the land Virginia.

        A cousin of Sir Walter Raleigh was sent to find a new place for the colonist to live. They picked Roanoke Island. Roanoke Island is on the coast of North Carolina. They sent one hundred men including artist, John White. John White was to start an English colony at the island.

        The island settlers were all soldiers not farmers. It was hard for them to grow food so they had to struggle to survive. Some tribes nearby didn’t trust the settlers. When the English navigator visited Roanoke soldiers went back with him. The first colony failed.

        Still some people in England thought America would be a great place for a  colony so they tried again. John White went back to England for food and supplies. He couldn’t come back to Roanoke because of war. When he finally came back to Roanoke everyone was gone. The clue that they found was the word CROATOAN carved on a tree. No one will ever know what happened to the lost colony of Roanoke.

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