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New research by Mark Horton and Scott Dawson suggests Roanoke Colony settlers assimilated with Native Americans, supported by archaeological evidence of English iron-working on Hatteras Island.
The more famous second colony, known as the Lost Colony, began when a new group of settlers under John White arrived on the island in 1587; a relief ship in 1590 found the colony mysteriously abandoned.
Nevertheless, in April of 1587, the new group of colonists began their journey. Led by John White, the colonists arrived at Roanoke in July, but it was not their intended destination.
When he set foot on Roanoke Island again on August 18, 1590, he found traces of the colony, but no inhabitants.
An expedition of Roanoke colonists, likely led by Philip Amadas, departs for the Chesapeake Bay, eventually visiting the Chesapeakes' capital of Skicoak and several villages on the Eastern Shore.
Nobody has ever discovered the final fate of the Roanoke colonists but the most likely explanation is that they were killed, sooner or later, by Native Americans in revenge for Lane's aggression in 1585 CE.
Eventually, a year and a half later, meaning three years after White left, he convinced a group of privateers bound for the West Indies to take him to Roanoke. The group included Captain Spicer.
To make matters worse, Lane, a military captain, alienated the neighboring Roanoke Indians, and ultimately sealed the fate of English colonization on Roanoke Island by murdering their chief, Wingina.
If the colonists moved north to Chesapeake Bay in their ship, they agreed to leave a small party on Roanoke to direct White to the new settlement upon his return in six months.
White agreed that the colonists could stay in Roanoke, at least temporarily. After a month there, White then decided to leave with the ships rather than stay with the fledgling colony.