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The Lost Colony of Roanoke
Aloha and welcome to the final installment of our mini saga on Pilgrim Paranormality. In this episode, we drift back to the late 1500s and drop anchor at one of history’s most haunting loose ends: the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Over 100 settlers vanish from North Carolina’s Outer Banks, no bodies, no struggle, no answers—just the word CROATOAN carved into a post like a cryptic mic drop from the past.
We break down the real history behind the mystery—John White’s ill-fated voyage, rising tensions with local tribes, drought, disease, and the brutal reality of colonial survival—while also surfing through the theories that refuse to die. Assimilation? Massacre? Relocation gone wrong? Or something stranger lurking in the fog of the Atlantic?
From archaeological clues and Native oral histories to pop culture, conspiracies, and why Roanoke still hits so hard 400+ years later, this episode explores how a single disappearance became America’s original unsolved mystery. Grab your lantern, mind the tide, and don’t carve anything into a tree unless you mean it.
Sources and Links
Hakluyt, Richard. *Principall Navigations* - https://archive.org/details/principalnavigat1and2hakl
Quinn, David Beers. *Set Fair for Roanoke* (1985) - https://uncpress.org/9780807841235/set-fair-for-roanoke
Stahle et al. “The Lost Colony and Jamestown Droughts,” *Science* (1998) - https://www.academia.edu/86767774/The_Lost_Colony_and_Jamestown_Droughts
Kupperman, Karen Ordahl. *Roanoke: The Abandoned Colony* (2007) - https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/roanoke-9780742552630/
Lawler, Andrew. *The Secret Token* (2018) - https://www.andrewlawler.com/the-secret-token-2/
First Colony Foundation Archaeological Reports (2006–2025) - https://www.firstcolonyfoundation.org/archaeology
Horn, James. *A Kingdom Strange* (2010) - https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/james-horn/a-kingdom-strange/9780465024902/?lens=basic-books
Miller, Lee. *Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony* (2000) - https://www.amazon.com/Roanoke-Solving-Mystery-Lost-Colony/dp/1611453313
National Park Service Fort Raleigh Historic Site Files - https://npshistory.com/publications/fora/hrs.pdf
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By Strange TidesAloha and welcome to the final installment of our mini saga on Pilgrim Paranormality. In this episode, we drift back to the late 1500s and drop anchor at one of history’s most haunting loose ends: the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Over 100 settlers vanish from North Carolina’s Outer Banks, no bodies, no struggle, no answers—just the word CROATOAN carved into a post like a cryptic mic drop from the past.
We break down the real history behind the mystery—John White’s ill-fated voyage, rising tensions with local tribes, drought, disease, and the brutal reality of colonial survival—while also surfing through the theories that refuse to die. Assimilation? Massacre? Relocation gone wrong? Or something stranger lurking in the fog of the Atlantic?
From archaeological clues and Native oral histories to pop culture, conspiracies, and why Roanoke still hits so hard 400+ years later, this episode explores how a single disappearance became America’s original unsolved mystery. Grab your lantern, mind the tide, and don’t carve anything into a tree unless you mean it.
Sources and Links
Hakluyt, Richard. *Principall Navigations* - https://archive.org/details/principalnavigat1and2hakl
Quinn, David Beers. *Set Fair for Roanoke* (1985) - https://uncpress.org/9780807841235/set-fair-for-roanoke
Stahle et al. “The Lost Colony and Jamestown Droughts,” *Science* (1998) - https://www.academia.edu/86767774/The_Lost_Colony_and_Jamestown_Droughts
Kupperman, Karen Ordahl. *Roanoke: The Abandoned Colony* (2007) - https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/roanoke-9780742552630/
Lawler, Andrew. *The Secret Token* (2018) - https://www.andrewlawler.com/the-secret-token-2/
First Colony Foundation Archaeological Reports (2006–2025) - https://www.firstcolonyfoundation.org/archaeology
Horn, James. *A Kingdom Strange* (2010) - https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/james-horn/a-kingdom-strange/9780465024902/?lens=basic-books
Miller, Lee. *Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony* (2000) - https://www.amazon.com/Roanoke-Solving-Mystery-Lost-Colony/dp/1611453313
National Park Service Fort Raleigh Historic Site Files - https://npshistory.com/publications/fora/hrs.pdf