Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, North CarolinaPorter, Charles W., III (Charles Wesley)
History
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, North Carolina
Porter, Charles W., III (Charles Wesley)
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (N.C.); Roanoke Colony; Roanoke Island (N.C.) -- History
An island south of Cape Hatteras, now known as Ocracoke, was reached on
June 26. The remainder of the month and most of July were spent in
exploring the coastal islands and the adjacent mainland. During one of
these expeditions, Grenville sought to strike terror into the hearts of
the Indians by burning the Indian village of Aquascogok in retaliation
for the theft of a silver cup stolen by one of the Indians. Not until
July 27 did Grenville anchor at Hatoraske, off the barrier island, a
short distance southeast of Roanoke Island. Here at a break in the
barrier reef, almost due east of the southern tip of Roanoke Island,
Simon Ferdinando discovered a port, named Port Ferdinando in his honor
and considered the best port along that stretch of coast.
A colony was established on the “North end” of Roanoke Island, and Ralph
Lane was made Governor. From Port Ferdinando, and later from Roanoke
Island, letters were written by Lane to Secretary Walsingham informing
him of the successful founding of the colony. Still another letter was
written to Sir Philip Sidney, son-in-law of Walsingham, who was
interested in western discovery. A letter to Richard Hakluyt, geographer
and historian, written by Lane from the settlement on Roanoke Island
indicated that the Governor of Virginia was impressed by the “huge and
unknowen greatnesse” of the American continent. He added that if
Virginia only had horses and cows in some reasonable proportion and were
inhabited by Englishmen, no realm in Christendom would be comparable to
it. The Indians, he said naively, were “courteous, and very desirous to
have clothes,” but valued red copper above everything else. Wingina,
chief of the Roanoke Island Indians, had received the white men
hospitably and had cooperated with them in the initial phases of the
founding of the settlement. This is clear from Grenville’s account as
well as Lane’s.
Grenville lingered a short while after the founding of the settlement,
then returned to England for supplies. On the way home he captured a
richly laden Spanish ship, which must have repaid him handsomely for his
western trip. On his arrival in England, he too reported to Walsingham,
thus acknowledging the interest of the Queen and emphasizing the
seminational character of the Virginian enterprise.
Lane built a fort called “The new Fort in Virginia,” where the present
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is situated and where the remains of
a fort were still visible as late as 1896. The fort was located near the
shore on the east side of Roanoke Island between the “North Point” of
the north end of the Island and a “creek.” The mouth of the so-called
creek was big enough to serve as the anchorage for small boats (Shallow
Bag Bay, known as late as 1716 as “Town Creek”).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account