Welcome to Historical Tidbit Thursdays. Once again, I'll be drifting off the usual Texas History research and exploring a fascinating piece of history - the Roanoke colony of Virginia. I hope you enjoy this peek into a mystery that so far is still largely unsolved.
The History Channel has several special programs spotlighting new finds in the Roanoke Colony mystery. This particular special had some interesting tidbits that other programs hadn't touched upon.
In 1607, The Virginia Company sent 3 ships to North America with the goal to colonize Virginia. They landed 120 miles from the Dare stone and founded Jamestown. The company also wanted to search for Roanoke survivors to gain their knowledge of the land and any metals they had found.
In the first year of Jamestown's founding, half of the colonists did not survive.
Captain John Smith, one of the members who landed, helped with the search for the lost colony (that had existed 20 years earlier). It had appeared their fort was disassembled and moved but there's no indication to where it had moved. John Smith was captured in an attack by the Powhatan Indians.
Friendly natives offered to guide the searchers down the river toward the lost colonists but would not touch the "foreign" land. John Smith had marked the lost colonists on a map called the Zuniga Map (above).
John Smith documented a lot of these events in his journals, but he greatly exaggerated his adventures making them not very reliable.
Next week we'll learn more about some of the artifacts that have been found and some of the people who'd lived here.
Source:
History Channel Special - Return to Roanoke: Search for the Seven (https://www.history.com/specials/return-to-roanoke-search-for-the-seven)
Photo Credits: Zuniga Map - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zuniga_map.jpg
Photo Credit: John Smith - http://www.history.com%2Ftopics%2Fjohn-smith&psig=AOvVaw3UMaMB57jA-FV3_IQTM_Ul&ust=1530297375655128
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