The Mysterious Findings of “CROATOAN”

Posted July 3, 2025

In Culture & Events, Editor's PIcks, Summer 2025

By Jojo M. Tilley

Photo above: This 1590 map by Flemish engraver Theodor de Bry, known as Americae pars, Nunc Virginia dicta (That part of America, now called Virginia) was based on earlier works created by English artist and cartographer John White. White accompanied the first English expedition to Roanoke Island in 1585, where he created numerous watercolors of the native inhabitants, their customs, and the surrounding environment. Though the original John White maps were oriented on a north/south axis, de Bry reoriented this version, as indicated by the compass rose, so that west is at top. Many early maps were oriented in that direction as it showed how the area looked when approached by ship from western Europe.

Since the discovery of the Lost Colony, “CROATOAN” has always been a word associated with mystery. Found carved on a palisade by John White in 1590, the word was the only thing left of the 117 colonists that had settled on what is now Roanoke Island. White, who had left his family behind in the colony while he returned to England, was desperate to find what remained of them. What remained, however, was very little. White was only able to discover the word “CROATOAN” carved on one tree, and a similarly carved “CRO” on another one of the trees bordering the settlement. The winter before White had left was severe, depleting the colonists of their supplies and spirits. White was supposed to have returned within months of his voyage, promising to bring back the materials and food they so desperately needed, but his return was continually postponed due to French pirate attacks and England’s war with Spain. Before he could look into the disappearance of the colony any further, a storm hit the island, forcing White and his crew to evacuate back to England.

One popular theory was that the colonists left to live on Croatoan Island—which has since been renamed Hatteras Island. The indigenous peoples of the Croatoan tribe were living on the island when the colonists founded their settlement, offering kinship and knowledge of the land. The theory states that, after rations and materials began to dwindle, they migrated southward and began to live amongst the indigenous peoples, being taught the ways of the land. Historians believed they had solved the mystery of the Lost Colony when they found carvings, made by Eleanor Dare, John White’s daughter—but these messages were quickly found to be a hoax. The fabrication of the stones meant that there were no longer any leads towards the whereabouts of the Lost Colony, shrouding the missing colonists in even more mystery—their only clue remaining to be the word “CROATOAN”. Several other instances of the word “CROATOAN” have appeared throughout history, though, which makes the disappearance of the colony even more unsettling.

One such instance involved Edgar Allan Poe, a famous American author, poet, and literary critic. Known for his works like The Cask of Amontillado, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher, Poe was noted to be strange and off putting for the majority of his life. Two years prior, Poe had suffered the death of his wife, Virginia Eliza Poe, who had a long and difficult fight with tuberculosis. It is rumored that the two of them were not actually married, but rather that he was protecting her and cared for her as an older brother would. His last published poem, Annabel Lee, is highly rumored to be about her. This poem was published two days after his death and depicts the death of a young woman who is mourned severely by the narrator. Poe had been found wandering the streets of Baltimore, behaving in a way that was both strange and intensely disoriented. He was not coherent enough to explain how he’d ended up in his condition, and for the five days he was in the hospital, called out the name “Reynolds” alongside the fated word “CROATOAN”. It is said that it was the last word he uttered before he died. Any medical records of Poe’s death were lost, and thus his death—and his final words—remain a mystery.

Another usage of the word was found in relation to Amelia Earhart, the famous female American aviator who pioneered a solo flight across the Atlantic. Earhart had dreamed of being a pilot her entire life and advocated for other women who wanted to be pilots as well. She set and broke multiple records, one of which being the fastest transcontinental flight, from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey. She famously disappeared during her around-the-world flight, in which she lost contact with the U.S. Coast Guard after telling them that she was almost out of fuel. Her letters and journal, which she often sent back to her husband, were scrupulously maintained, dated, and written to track her progress and travels. The most bone-chilling part, perhaps, is the fact that Earhart is documented to have written the word “CROATOAN” in her journal before her final flight, which later proved fatal. The fact that she wrote something so closely associated with disappearances before she even crashed could possibly be a consideration of her foresight—or a terrible prediction of her own fate.

Ambrose Bierce was an American short story writer who specialized in horror. He served in the Civil War and, as a result, much of his writing was influenced by the battles he fought in and the brutality that he saw. He was also a journalist who specialized in writing during wartime efforts, documenting the lives of the soldiers and politics that he came across. S. T. Joshi, an American literary critic, said that Bierce was the best American satirist of his time—and Bierce’s war stories ended up influencing many important writers later on, like Ernest Hemingway and Stephen Crane. His death, however, was incredibly strange, with little to no literature being published on his disappearance after he told reporters that he was going to gain first-hand knowledge of the Mexican Revolution. The only thing that Ambrose Bierce left behind before leaving for Mexico was the word “CROATOAN”, carved on a post of the last bed he ever slept in. Nobody heard from Bierce ever again, marking another instance where the word signaled a mysterious disappearance.

Charles E. Boles, better known as Black Bart, was an American outlaw who came to notoriety due to his many successful stagecoach robberies. He was also known for the poetic messages that he would leave behind, earning him the name “the Gentleman Bandit”. He successfully robbed over twenty eight different stagecoaches, all belonging to the Wells Fargo company.

In 1587, over 100 English settlers established a colony on Roanoke Island, just inland from the Outer Banks. When supply ships returned three years later, the settlement had vanished without a trace. The only clue left behind was the word CROATAN carved into a tree. Historians believe this may have referred to Croatoan Island (now Hatteras Island), home to the Croatan tribe, suggesting the colonists may have sought refuge there. Despite centuries of speculation, the fate of the Lost Colony remains one of America’s oldest and most enduring mysteries. Courtesy of the Outer Banks History Center.

When he was caught, however, things quickly took a turn for the worse—the company was going to put him on trial, and he could be sentenced to hanging. Luckily, he got off with only six years for his crimes, and was able to be released from jail four years after his initial sentencing. He departed with one final message that, unlike his previous ones, was not poetic at all—simply the word “CROATOAN”. This word was found carved on the wall of his jail cell after he was released, with nothing else being left behind other than the lone note. To make things even creepier, after he was released from his jail cell, Black Bart was presumably never seen again.

Though the true meaning of the word “CROATOAN” has never been found out, people have come to associate it with mystery and disappearances. It’s no wonder that they have, with so many notorious individuals having the word involved so closely with their vanishings. After the settlers of the Lost Colony coined it in the 1500s, it has been written and used by multiple famous individuals who all have one thing in common—disappearing completely. Much like the Lost Colony, the ends of these individuals’ lives have never been discovered, linking them together in an intricate and terrifying chain. Perhaps the mysteries of their lives will be solved one day—or the word “CROATOAN” will instead keep them shrouded for a long, long time.

Amelia Earhart standing in front of the Lockheed Electra in which she disappeared in July 1937.

This mysterious word begs the question, though—if it is truly meant to symbolize disappearance, why would the biggest highway in the Outer Banks have the same name? Beach season has not just been an Outer Banks staple for the past few decades. Way back in 1957, it was already becoming a bustling place for tourists and locals alike, with restaurants and hotels popping up all along the Beach Road which was, at the time, the only highway that existed. But due to an influx of traffic, the travel time from Kitty Hawk to Manteo became too much to bear, and in 1957, construction for Highway 158 began. Finishing construction a few years later, the highway was able to withstand the torrential downpour of the 1962 Ash Wednesday Storm despite the criticisms from locals. Due to the bypass being built on a raised roadbed, it caused one side of the island to flood, but not the other—prompting outrage from home and business owners. As a result, the state government listened, providing a culvert beneath the highway to allow the flow of the tides should they rise so high again.

In the 1980s, a contest was held for the children of Kitty Hawk Elementary School to see who could come up with the best name for the highway. Amidst the staggering two hundred suggestions, only one was chosen, coming from a sixth-grade Heather Tolson—“Croatan Highway”. She said she felt inspired to do so because of the story of the Lost Colony, and the influence the story had on both the landscape and tourism of the Outer Banks. With a history almost as exciting as the Lost Colony’s beginnings, Highway 158 was aptly named, and remains a staple for everyone who has set foot or tire on the Outer Banks.