The Lost Colony of Roanoke Roanoke, founded by Sir Walter Raleigh, was the first English settlement in what would become the United States of America. John White, the governor of the colony, left his family on the island while he ventured back to England in 1587 for more supplies. He returned roughly three years later on August 18,1590 only to find that all of the colonists had disappeared. There is a lot of speculation surrounding what happened the Roanoke Island colonists. The only trace to as what happened was the word “Croatoan” etched into a post and the letter “CRO” engraved in the trunk of a tree.
