Speaker 1: August fifteen ninety, less than ten miles off the mid
Speaker 1: east coast of America, a bright full moon, the color
Speaker 1: of bone, rises steadily into the sky down below the
Speaker 1: towering hulks of two ships on route from England, the
Speaker 1: Hopewell and Moonlight, plow headlong through the waves as they
Speaker 1: edge ever closer to the northern ridge of the Outer Bank,
Speaker 1: a two hundred mile stretch of barrier islands and spits
Speaker 1: located roughly six hundred miles north of Florida. Between the
Speaker 1: bank and the mainland lay a body of water known
Speaker 1: as the Pamlico Sound, at the top of which was
Speaker 1: the ship's target destination, an island named Roanoak. On the
Speaker 1: Hopewell's deck, Governor John White, who has waited desperately for
Speaker 1: almost three years for this moment, strains his eyes in
Speaker 1: the darkening twilight for any sign of his people coming
Speaker 1: from the island. It was back in August fifteen eighty
Speaker 1: seven that due to a series of calamitous events, White
Speaker 1: had been forced to leave Roanoke and the colony of women,
Speaker 1: men and children he had been charged with establishing there.
Speaker 1: There had been a hundred and seventeen of them in total,
Speaker 1: his own daughter and granddaughter among them, and every day
Speaker 1: since leaving them he had been consumed with despair, not
Speaker 1: only out of fear for their safety, but for his
Speaker 1: own future too, for all of it had been dependent
Speaker 1: on his successful return to the island. Now finally he
Speaker 1: was on the brink of reuniting with them. It is
Speaker 1: hard to articulate the sheer's sense of relief that washed
Speaker 1: over Governor White that early August evening, when, as he
Speaker 1: cast his eyes beyond the outer bank he spotted the
Speaker 1: telltale sign of campfire smoke rising high above Roanoake's trees.
Speaker 1: How his legs threatened to give way from underneath him
Speaker 1: at the thought of what it might signify that, somehow
Speaker 1: they had managed to survive after all that time. The
Speaker 1: rest of those on board, however, were a little less infused,
Speaker 1: for no doubt they had heard all the stories about
Speaker 1: just what exactly lurked beyond those distant trees. For most
Speaker 1: of them, who had only signed up to the trip
Speaker 1: for the chance to plunder treasure from Spanish merchants, they
Speaker 1: would sooner sail headlong into cannon fire than take one
Speaker 1: step onto that god forsaken continent. You're listening to unexplained
Speaker 1: and I'm Richard McClane smith. It had all begun, as
Speaker 1: such things do, with an unbridled thirst for glory followed
Speaker 1: by a magnificent overreach. On this occasion, it was Sir
Speaker 1: Humphrey Gilbert, English soldier and member of Parliament, who, in
Speaker 1: fifteen eighty three, with a fleet of six ships, set
Speaker 1: a course for the Americas. On August fifth, Gilbert landed
Speaker 1: at the port of Saint John in Newfoundland, despite finding
Speaker 1: it populated by vessels from France, Portugal, and Spain, not
Speaker 1: to mention already inhabited by a number of indigenous communities,
Speaker 1: he declared it and all the land a thousand miles
Speaker 1: to the north and south of it, the property of
Speaker 1: England by order of Queen Elizabeth. However, due to their
Speaker 1: fast diminishing supply, Gilbert and his cohorts were unable to
Speaker 1: form a settlement to officiate his declaration, and were eventually
Speaker 1: forced to return to England after getting caught up in
Speaker 1: a violent storm just off the coast of the Azores,
Speaker 1: Gilbert rejected the advice of his fellow sailors to evacuate
Speaker 1: his vessel. Hours later, his ship had sunk taking Gilbert
Speaker 1: with it. The following year, Gilbert's half brother, Walter Raleigh,
Speaker 1: a young courtier who had become a close confidant of
Speaker 1: Queen Elizabeth, decided to take up the mantle. Raleigh, who
Speaker 1: had captained one of the vessels when Gilbert's original trip,
Speaker 1: persuaded Elizabeth to transfer Gilbert's original agreement to him, entitling
Speaker 1: him to all lands he could settle in the New
Speaker 1: World and any subsequent riches discovered Therein learning from his
Speaker 1: half brother's mistakes, Raleigh realized it would be vital to
Speaker 1: first find a suitable location before making any attempt to
Speaker 1: settle a colony there, and so in fifteen eighty four,
Speaker 1: two Captains Philip Amadas and Arthur barlow were sent on
Speaker 1: a reconnaissance mission to do just that. When Amadas and
Speaker 1: Barlowe returned to England, Raleigh was surprised to find them
Speaker 1: accompanied by two Native Americans named Manteo and one chiefs.
Speaker 1: As the captains would go on to explain, the men
Speaker 1: were both members of the Sikhatan tribe led by a
Speaker 1: man named Winjina, with whom they had struck up a
Speaker 1: relationship shortly after reaching America. Having made it to the
Speaker 1: top of the Outer Bank on the east coast. They
Speaker 1: had disembarked at an encouraging looking island, where they were
Speaker 1: later met by members of the tribe, including its head
Speaker 1: chief's brother, Granganameo. The man had invited them to visit
Speaker 1: his home on an island they called Roanoke. The island,
Speaker 1: said Barlow and Amadas, was exactly what Raleigh was looking for.
Speaker 1: It isn't known under what circumstances exactly Manteo and one
Speaker 1: Cheese had been brought back to England, and quite what
Speaker 1: they would have made of London at the time is
Speaker 1: impossible to comprehend. None the less, both were given living
Speaker 1: quarters in Raleigh's London home, while renowned scholar of the
Speaker 1: day Thomas Harriet was drafted in to help learn their
Speaker 1: language and teach them English in return. Though Harriet's intentions
Speaker 1: had been scholarly hugely excited at the prospect of learning
Speaker 1: the Secotan's native tongue, what Raleigh really wanted to know
Speaker 1: was whether the tribe would pose any threat to his
Speaker 1: colonial ambitions. As Harriet assured him soon after, there would
Speaker 1: only be one winner if it came to a fight
Speaker 1: between them and the English. Encouraged by Barlowe and Amadas's
Speaker 1: findings and with the opportunity for plundering Spanish vessels en route,
Speaker 1: Raleigh had little difficulty raising the finance to take the
Speaker 1: project to its next stage. All he needed to complete
Speaker 1: it were some colonists. John White had been scratching a
Speaker 1: living as an expert watercolorist when he first learned that
Speaker 1: Walter Raleigh, now Sir Walter, having been rewarded by the
Speaker 1: Queen for his imminent venture, was looking for an artist
Speaker 1: to help document his mission to the New World, borne
Speaker 1: some time in the fifteen forties. By fifteen eighty four,
Speaker 1: White had endured the death of both his baby's son
Speaker 1: and his wife, With his teenage daughter Eleanor having left
Speaker 1: the family home after recently becoming engaged, White saw little
Speaker 1: reason not to put himself forward for the trip. White
Speaker 1: had watched patiently as Raleigh perused his handiwork, admiring especially
Speaker 1: the realist images of Esquimau's paddling through ice floes in kayaks.
Speaker 1: White had painted them on an earlier voyage he'd taken
Speaker 1: to the Arctic in fifteen seventy seven. Pleased with what
Speaker 1: he saw, Raleigh offered White the job. He would be
Speaker 1: joined by an army of roughly sixty soldiers, along with
Speaker 1: various construction workers and artisans, livestock hunting, docks, and all
Speaker 1: other provisions necessary to sustain the colony until they could
Speaker 1: become self sufficient. Thomas Harriot, Manteo, and one cheese would
Speaker 1: also be joining them. No women were to be taken
Speaker 1: on the first excursion. For leader of the expedition, Rawleigh
Speaker 1: chose his cousin, Richard Grenville, though he had only ever
Speaker 1: sailed as far as France and had no experience in
Speaker 1: diploma see whatsoever, he nonetheless had the requisite hatred of
Speaker 1: Spain that Rawly considered essential for the job. After delivering
Speaker 1: the colonists to Roanoke Island, Grenville was to return straight home,
Speaker 1: leaving the group in the hands of Korea soldier Master
Speaker 1: Ralph Lane. Master Lane was a particular favorite of Queen Elizabeth's,
Speaker 1: having been instrumental in the English Crown's ongoing efforts to
Speaker 1: colonize Ireland. With everything ready to go, in the early
Speaker 1: hours of April fourth, fifteen eighty five, four vessels laden
Speaker 1: with the first genuine attempt to establish an English colony
Speaker 1: in North America set sail for the New World. A
Speaker 1: few days later, three and a half thousand miles away,
Speaker 1: members of the Secotan tribe gather around the dying embers
Speaker 1: of a village fire as dawn breaks above the surrounding
Speaker 1: tree tops. Much discussion had been given to the strange
Speaker 1: men with whom they had communed so many moons ago,
Speaker 1: not least in wondering when, if ever they might return.
Speaker 1: Friends and family of Manteo and One Cheese were especially
Speaker 1: anxious to see their sons and brothers again. As the
Speaker 1: rest of the villagers began to wake and prepare for
Speaker 1: the day ahead, it took a moment to realize that
Speaker 1: something wasn't quite right. The sky seemed darker than normal,
Speaker 1: and the dawn unusually slow to arrive. Then one of
Speaker 1: the tribe gasped and pointed toward the horizon at the
Speaker 1: strange sight of what appeared to be a bright white
Speaker 1: ring rising steadily into the sky. It was a total
Speaker 1: eclipse of the sun. As the tribe's leader, Wingina, gazed on,
Speaker 1: the message was loud and clear. Something ominous was heading
Speaker 1: their way. Roughly two new moons after Chief Winjina and
Speaker 1: his tribe witnessed the apparent portent of doom. Came the
Speaker 1: unsettling news that men matching the description of those they
Speaker 1: had met one summer ago, had arrived at the Aquascokog
Speaker 1: settlement another tribe of Secotan not far from Wingjina's people,
Speaker 1: and burned the entire village to the ground. Those men
Speaker 1: were now heading their way. When Master Lane and Richard
Speaker 1: Grenville finally arrived at the Secotan village with sixty armed
Speaker 1: men in tow, it is clear that news of their
Speaker 1: arrival had preceded them before long. With the help of
Speaker 1: Manteo and one cheese, it is quickly established that they
Speaker 1: mean the tribe no harm. However, when it has explained
Speaker 1: that Grenville had ordered the destruction of the aquascocok settlement
Speaker 1: because he believed one of the savages as he called them,
Speaker 1: had stolen a silver cup of his, it was clear
Speaker 1: to Winna that theirs would be a complicated relationship. Banteo
Speaker 1: went on to explain that the men had come to
Speaker 1: establish a settlement of their own and were intent on
Speaker 1: using Roanoke as their base. After setting up a meeting
Speaker 1: with Winjuner's brother Guanganimeo, the elders agreed not to stand
Speaker 1: in their way if they limited themselves to the north
Speaker 1: end of the island. With both parties seemingly relieved to
Speaker 1: have come to a diplomatic agreement, the English colonists promptly
Speaker 1: began unloading all their equipment and supplies onto the island.
Speaker 1: By the third week, they had constructed a fort complete
Speaker 1: with gun emplacements, a church, storehouses, a series of thatched
Speaker 1: roofed homes, as well as an armory and even a jail.
Speaker 1: By the end of August, the one hundred and seven
Speaker 1: settlers watched with no little apprehension as the last ship
Speaker 1: of their fleet weighed anchor and sailed off into the horizon.
Speaker 1: It wasn't long before their problems began to mount. Many
Speaker 1: of the more wealthy colonists had come merely to seek
Speaker 1: their fortune and had neither the skills nor the inclination
Speaker 1: to knuckle down with the rest. Having failed to include
Speaker 1: any alcohol with their provisions was also having a serious
Speaker 1: effect on morale. Of more pressing concern, however, was there
Speaker 1: faster pleating food store. On arrival in the New World.
Speaker 1: A ship carrying the majority of their provisions had run aground,
Speaker 1: destroying much of its cargo in the process. Then, having
Speaker 1: made it to Roanoke much later than planned, there had
Speaker 1: been no chance to plant seeds in time for a
Speaker 1: harvest before winter. Their only hope was to convince Winjina
Speaker 1: to share some of his tribes upcoming harvest with them
Speaker 1: until they could fully support themselves. Their predicament was not
Speaker 1: helped by the fact that soon after their arrival, hundreds
Speaker 1: of Sikatan died unexpectedly. Winjinnah had little doubt that the
Speaker 1: settlers were to blame. However, it wasn't a supernatural power,
Speaker 1: as he'd suspected, but rather the smallpox and measles they'd
Speaker 1: brought with them from Europe. Thanks largely to Manteo's skills
Speaker 1: of diplomacy, Lane succeeded in convincing Winjina to help feed
Speaker 1: the colony. The tribe even go as far as constructing
Speaker 1: fishing traps for them, since the English so far had
Speaker 1: even struggled to catch any fish, and disaster was averted
Speaker 1: for the time being. You always taking care of your family?
Speaker 1: Do you often take care of others and not yourself.
Speaker 1: Now it's time to take care of yourself. To make
Speaker 1: time for you. You deserve it. Teledoc gives you access
Speaker 1: to a licensed therapist to help you get back to
Speaker 1: feeling your best to feeling like yourself again. With teledoc,
Speaker 1: you can speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video.
Speaker 1: Therapy appointments are available seven days a week from seven
Speaker 1: am to nine pm local time. If you feel overwhelmed
Speaker 1: sometimes maybe you feel stressed or anxious, depressed or lonely,
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Speaker 1: Download the app or visit teledoc dot com forward slash
Speaker 1: Unexplained podcast today to get started. That's t ladoc dot
Speaker 1: com slash Unexplained podcast. Concerned that win Joanna's patients was
Speaker 1: running out, Lane instructed John White and Thomas Harriot to
Speaker 1: travel deeper into the continent to create a map of
Speaker 1: what was still uncharted territory for them in the event
Speaker 1: they might need to resettle elsewhere. By the time White
Speaker 1: and Harriet returned a few months later, having struck up
Speaker 1: friendly relationships with a number of other tribes further up
Speaker 1: the coast, everything had changed. Fighting had broken out between
Speaker 1: a number of the colonists and the Secotan at the
Speaker 1: south end of the island. Lane was also by now
Speaker 1: in no doubt that Winna was planning to slaughter them all.
Speaker 1: In the spring of fifteen eighty six, Lane takes to
Speaker 1: the waters with forty men, and together they head north
Speaker 1: on the search for more tribes to form an aliance with.
Speaker 1: Back at the Secotan village on the mainland, with weeks
Speaker 1: having passed and Lane and his men yet to reappear,
Speaker 1: Chief Winjuna, believing they had died, demands the tribe cut
Speaker 1: all contact with the English settlers. But when Lane and
Speaker 1: his men return some weeks later, tired and famished but
Speaker 1: very much alive, winjan As people are reluctant to put
Speaker 1: his plan into action. When they receive word that Lane
Speaker 1: had made contact with the Choanoak with plans to pit
Speaker 1: the two tribes against each other, it was clear they
Speaker 1: had little choice but to act. One morning, two of
Speaker 1: the colonists in charge of collecting fish from the Secotan
Speaker 1: traps find that they have all been destroyed. When Lane
Speaker 1: demands to know what is going on, he is informed
Speaker 1: in no uncertain terms that the Secotan will no longer
Speaker 1: be providing food for his people. Over the next few weeks,
Speaker 1: the colonists slowly begin to starve. A captain's stafford is
Speaker 1: despatched with twenty men to seek help from Monteo's home,
Speaker 1: a tribe of Secotan located some forty miles further down
Speaker 1: the outer bank on another island named Crowetoen. Others were
Speaker 1: sent to the main land to forage whatever they could,
Speaker 1: but Lane knows it will not be enough. As his
Speaker 1: army steadily weakens, so too does his conviction grow that
Speaker 1: Wingina was about to attack them at any minute. It
Speaker 1: was just as the sun was disappearing below the horizon
Speaker 1: that a small group of Lane's men struck out and
Speaker 1: hijacked every secoat and canoe on the island they could find.
Speaker 1: Only one was still out on the water. Realizing they
Speaker 1: were under attack, its two occupants began paddling furiously toward
Speaker 1: the mainland. However, Lane's men were able to catch them
Speaker 1: before they could alert their compatriots there. From the banks
Speaker 1: of Roanoke, the remaining Sikotan watch as the English brought
Speaker 1: the two men back to the island and promptly cut
Speaker 1: off their heads. In response, the Sikoten turned immediately on
Speaker 1: the newcomers, but their weapons were no match for the
Speaker 1: firepower of the English soldiers and was soon sent scattering
Speaker 1: into the trees for shelter. Though Lane had managed to
Speaker 1: stop them from getting word to Winjanna, it was now
Speaker 1: or never. When Lane arrived at winjoun As settlement later
Speaker 1: that night, along with twenty seven armed men and Manteo
Speaker 1: at his side. He informed the chieftain that they were
Speaker 1: merely passing through before heading on to crow Aten. None
Speaker 1: the less, Win invited them in to rest for a while.
Speaker 1: The chief led Lane and the twenty seven men inside
Speaker 1: before taking a seat on the floor, where he was
Speaker 1: surrounded by eight of his most trusted advisers. When Lane
Speaker 1: and his men showed little sign of joining him, he
Speaker 1: knew exactly why they had really come. At the cry
Speaker 1: of Christ our victory, the English raised their muskets and
Speaker 1: fired a volley of shots into the circle of elders,
Speaker 1: stopping for a moment to give Manteo the chance to
Speaker 1: rescue any of his friends. Lane then ordered a second
Speaker 1: volley of gunfire. Miraculously, Wingina, having anticipated the attack, had
Speaker 1: managed to survive the first wave before getting shot in
Speaker 1: the back of the leg. As he ran into the
Speaker 1: surrounding forest, he was swiftly followed by two of Lane's men,
Speaker 1: who did their best to keep up with him in
Speaker 1: their cumbersome armor as he darted lithely between the trees.
Speaker 1: Sometime later, as Lane surveyed the damage, the bleeding corpses
Speaker 1: of the tribe's elders strung out on the floor before him,
Speaker 1: the two soldiers returned from out of the forest. Clutched
Speaker 1: in the hands of one of them was the severed
Speaker 1: head of Chieftain Wingina. It was the second week of
Speaker 1: June before Captain Stafford and his men arrived back at
Speaker 1: the English fort on Roanoke, completely exhausted and bearing unexpected news.
Speaker 1: Having set off back toward Roanoke some weeks before, his
Speaker 1: men had spotted ships approaching from out of the east,
Speaker 1: Fearing they might be Spanish vessels, that had been much
Speaker 1: rejoicing on discovering the English flags flying from their masts.
Speaker 1: The vast fleet, numbering twenty three ships in tow had
Speaker 1: sailed up from the Caribbean under the guidance of Sir
Speaker 1: Francis Drake. Drake had originally been sent to rescue a
Speaker 1: fleet of English grain ships that were being held captive
Speaker 1: by the Spanish crown. After completing the task, however, he
Speaker 1: took the opportunity to head to the Caribbean in search
Speaker 1: of Spanish merchants and colonial towns to plunder. Whilst there,
Speaker 1: he had caught wind of the King of Spain's plot
Speaker 1: to locate the English settlement at Roanoke and have it destroyed.
Speaker 1: Drake had considered it his duty to come to their rescue.
Speaker 1: A few weeks later, with Drake's fleet having made it
Speaker 1: to the other end of the Outer Bank, Master Lane
Speaker 1: was rode out to speak to them. Lane wasted no
Speaker 1: time in outlining the dire situation and requested supplies to
Speaker 1: last at least four months. Drake Dulie agreed, going even
Speaker 1: further by offering two captains and one of his ships,
Speaker 1: named the Francis, to help further secure the Roanoke settlement.
Speaker 1: With the Francis freshly loaded, Drake ordered its captain and
Speaker 1: crew to join Lane's group, but just as they were
Speaker 1: about to begin unloading the vessel, a violent storm ripped
Speaker 1: across the coast, scattering the Francis and a number of
Speaker 1: Drake's fleet back into the Atlantic. By the time the
Speaker 1: storm had abated, Lane and Drake realized that the Francis
Speaker 1: was nowhere to be seen, its crew having clearly not
Speaker 1: fancied its chances in the New World. With Drake only
Speaker 1: able to offer one other boat that was too cumbersome
Speaker 1: for navigating the shallows of the Pamlico Sound, and the
Speaker 1: additional supplies now gone, Lane realized their race was run.
Speaker 1: Calling all the colonists together with a heavy heart, Lane
Speaker 1: gave them their choices. Either stay there as they were
Speaker 1: and wait for the next supply ship to arrive, whenever
Speaker 1: that might be, or give up and return to England.
Speaker 1: The men didn't need asking twice. Before the month was out,
Speaker 1: the first English colony in America had packed up whatever
Speaker 1: possessions they had left and made their way onto one
Speaker 1: of the waiting ships. Terrified that he would be blamed
Speaker 1: for what the English had done, Manteo had little choice
Speaker 1: but to join them. Two one chiefs had long since
Speaker 1: made his escape back to his tribe to help make
Speaker 1: room for the new cargo. Drake is thought to have
Speaker 1: offloaded about five hundred slaves taken from North and West
Speaker 1: Africa and South America. The individuals are said to have
Speaker 1: been simply deposited on the Outer Bank and left for dead.
Speaker 1: When Lane conducted a head count of the colonists, it
Speaker 1: was discovered that three of them were with the weather
Speaker 1: beginning to take another turn for the worst, and the
Speaker 1: rest of the attempted settlers unwilling to spend another minute there,
Speaker 1: the decision was made to abandon them. Moments later, Drake's fleet,
Speaker 1: accompanied by Lane's failed colony, pulled up their sails and,
Speaker 1: on catching the first winds available, powered on toward England.
Speaker 1: Three days later, another vessel approached the northern edge of
Speaker 1: the Outer Bank. The boat, captained by Richard Grenville, unbeknownst
Speaker 1: to Master Lane and the recently vacated colonists, had been
Speaker 1: sent by Walter Raleigh, packed with supplies to assist them.
Speaker 1: Having made his way to the fort on Roanoke, Grenville
Speaker 1: was devastated to find the place had been completely abandoned
Speaker 1: and smashed up beyond recognition. After mounting a quick search
Speaker 1: on the mainland, Grenville's men capture a Secotan tribesman, who
Speaker 1: in broken English, explains that the colonists had been taken
Speaker 1: away by a large number of ships. Though relieved that
Speaker 1: the colony had not been murdered, Grenville is loath to
Speaker 1: give up on the settlement after Lane's men had occupied
Speaker 1: it for so long. Choosing fifteen men of his own
Speaker 1: and placing them under the order of a man named
Speaker 1: Master Coffin, Grenville demanded that they take up command of
Speaker 1: the Roanoke fort immediately. The men were given enough supplies
Speaker 1: for two years, as well as four cannons and some
Speaker 1: muskets to defend themselves, and with that Grenville was gone
Speaker 1: and the Roanoke Colony was reborn. For the moment at least.
Speaker 1: You've been listening to part one of Unexplained, Season four,
Speaker 1: episode thirteen, Lost in Stormy Visions. Part two will be
Speaker 1: released next Friday, August ninth. If you enjoy listening to
Speaker 1: Unexplained and would like to help support us, you can
Speaker 1: now go to Unexplained podcast dot com forward slash support.
Speaker 1: All donations, no matter how large or small, are massively appreciated.
Speaker 1: All elements of Unexplained are produced by me Richard McClain Smith.
Speaker 1: Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes, and feel
Speaker 1: free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas
Speaker 1: regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you
Speaker 1: have an explanation of your own you'd like to share.
Speaker 1: You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com,
Speaker 1: or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com.
Speaker 1: Forward slash Unexplained Now, it's time to take care of yourself.
Speaker 1: To make time for you. Teledoc gives you access to
Speaker 1: a licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling
Speaker 1: your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by phone or
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