The Lost Colony of Roanoke

Finally, in August 1590, the war had cooled. John White secured passage on a private

ship. Three years had passed since he left. As he approached

the Carolina coast, fog clung low over the water. The shoreline was eerily quiet.

No smoke from cooking fires, no movement from the fort, no sound but wind.

When the crew reached the island, they found ruins. The colony was gone. Every house had

been carefully dismantled — not destroyed, not burned — but taken apart, piece by piece.

No tools, no weapons, no signs of struggle. No bones. Just emptiness.

And then they found the carving. On a sturdy wooden post — a single word: CROATOAN.