The Early Native American Mystery

Spruce Tree House Mesa Verde Colorado Built 1278 AD by Anasazi Indians

Time-worn pueblos and dramatic "cliff towns," set amid the stark, rugged mesas & canyons of Colorado & New Mexico, mark the settlements of some of the earliest inhabitants of North America, the Anasazi (a Navajo word meaning "ancient ones").

By 500 A.D. the Anasazi had established some of the first identifiable villages in the American Southwest, where they hunted & grew crops of corn, squash & beans. The Anasazi flourished over the centuries, developing sophisticated dams & irrigation systems; creating a masterful, distinctive pottery tradition; & carving intricate, multi-room dwellings into the sheer sides of cliffs that remain among the most striking archaeological sites in the United States today.

Yet by the year 1300, they had abandoned their settlements, leaving their pottery, implements, even clothing -- as though they intended to return -- & seemingly disappeared into history. Their homeland remained empty of human beings for more than a century -- until the arrival of new tribes, such as the Navajo & the Ute, followed by the Spanish & other European settlers.

The story of the Anasazi is tied inextricably to the beautiful but harsh environment in which they chose to live. Early settlements, consisting of simple pithouses scooped out of the ground, evolved into sunken kivas that served as meeting & religious sites. Later generations developed the masonry techniques for building square, stone pueblos. But the most dramatic change in Anasazi living -- for reasons that are still unclear -- was the move to the cliff sides below the flat-topped mesas, where the Anasazi carved their amazing, multilevel dwellings.

The Anasazi lived in a communal society that evolved very slowly over the centuries. They traded with other peoples in the region, but signs of warfare are few & isolated. & although the Anasazi certainly had religious & other leaders, as well as skilled artisans, social or class distinctions were virtually nonexistent.

Religious & social motives undoubtedly played a part in the building of the cliff communities & their final abandonment. But the struggle to raise food in an increasingly difficult environment was probably the paramount factor. As populations grew, farmers planted larger areas on the mesas, causing some communities to farm marginal lands, while others left the mesa tops for the cliffs. But the Anasazi couldn't halt the steady loss of the land's fertility from constant use, nor withstand the region's cyclical droughts. Analysis of tree rings, for example, shows that a final drought lasting 23 years, from 1276 to 1299, finally forced the last groups of Anasazi to leave permanently.

Although the Anasazi dispersed from their ancestral homeland, they did not disappear. Their legacy remains in the remarkable archaeological record that they left behind, & in the Hopi, Zuni & other Pueblo peoples who are their descendants.

Eyewitness John White 1585 - Cooking in a Pot

Watercolor drawing Cooking in a Pot by John White (created 1585-1586)

A large cylindrical earthenware pot with conical base, the sides near the base somewhat concave, with horizontal parallel lines on the walls, is resting on a small fire made of stout trimmed pieces of timber. It contains liquid of a bluish color in which ears of maize and other foodstuffs are cooking.

Inscribed in dark brown ink, to the left and right of the pot, in the centre, "The seething of their meate. | in Potts of earth. "

John White (c 1540-1593) was an English artist & early pioneer of English efforts to settle North America. He was among those who sailed with Richard Grenville to the shore of present-day North Carolina in 1585, acting as artist & mapmaker to the expedition. During his time at Roanoke Island he made a number of watercolor sketches of the surrounding landscape & the native Algonkin peoples. White had been commissioned to "draw to life" the inhabitants of the New World & their surroundings.  During White's time at Roanoke Island, he completed numerous watercolor drawings of the surrounding landscape & native peoples. These works are significant as they are the most informative illustrations of a Native American society of the Eastern seaboard.  They represent the sole-surviving visual record of the native inhabitants of America encountered by England's first settlers.

Norse Invaders & Native Americans

The Landing of the Vikings in North America. Wood engraving, American, 19C.

The Norse colonization of North America began in the late 10C AD, when Norsemen explored & settled areas of the North Atlantic including the northeastern fringes of North America. At this time, it was believed that the 1st European contact was made with the indigenous Native Americans. Continental North American settlements were small & did not develop into permanent colonies. While voyages, for example to collect timber, are likely to have occurred for some time, there is no evidence of any lasting Norse settlements on mainland North America.

For centuries it remained unclear whether the Icelandic stories represented real voyages by the Norse to North America. The sagas first gained serious consideration when, in 1837, the Danish antiquarian Carl Christian Rafn pointed out the possibility of a Norse settlement in, or voyages to, North America. North America, by the name Winland, 1st appeared in written sources in a work by Adam of Bremen from approximately 1075. The most important works about North America & early Norse invasions there, The Sagas of Icelanders, appeared written form only in the 13C & 14C. According to the Sagas of Icelanders, Norsemen from Iceland settled Greenland in the 980s. 

Landing Of Norsemen The Northmen Inhabitants Of Norway & Sweden Claim To Have Been The Discoverers Of America from A Brief History Of The United States Published By A S Barnes And Company

There is evidence of Norse trade with the Native Americans, called Skraelings by the Vikings. Some translate Skraelings as “skin wearers,” which may be true as to how they described them. The Norse generally wore woolen or linen clothing, & North American Natives generally wore animal skins. The Skræling & Thule people were commonly referred to by the Norse. The island of Thule, which is now called Qaanaaq, is located in northwest Greenland towards Canada and is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is believed the Thule people are the ancestors of the modern Inuit (Eskimo), linked biologically, culturally, & linguistically. The Norse would have encountered both Native Americans (the Beothuk, related to the Algonquin) & the Thule, the ancestors of the Inuit. Items such as comb fragments, pieces of iron cooking utensils & chisels, chess pieces, ship rivets, carpenter's planes, & oaken ship fragments used in Inuit boats have been found far beyond the traditional range of Norse colonization.

In 1004, the storey goes that Leif's brother Thorvald Eiriksson sailed with a crew of 30 men to Vinland & spent the following winter at Leif's camp. In the spring, Thorvald attacked 9 of the local people who were sleeping under 3 skin-covered canoes. The 9th victim escaped & soon came back to the Norse camp with a force of local Natives. Thorvald was killed by an arrow. Although brief hostilities ensued, the Norse explorers stayed another winter & left the following spring. 

Norsemen & Native Americans meet 1900 print.

In 1009 Thorfinn Karlsefni, or "Thorfinn the Valiant", supplied 3 ships with livestock & 160 men & women (although another source sets the number of settlers at 250). After a cruel winter, he headed south & landed at Straumfjord. A sign of peaceful relations between the Native Americans & the Norse invaders seemed to occur here. The 2 sides bartered with furs & gray squirrel skins for milk & red cloth, which the Native Americans tied around their heads as a sort of headdress. There are conflicting stories, but one account relates that a bull belonging to Karlsefni came storming out of the wood, so frightening the Native Americans, that they ran to their skin-boats & rowed away. They returned 3 days later, in force to confront the European interlopers. 

Norsemen in North America John Clark Ridpath. History of the United States. 1891, American Book Company.

These European settlements in continental North America aimed to exploit natural resources such as furs & in particular lumber, which was in short supply in Greenland. It is unclear why the short-term settlements did not become permanent, though it was likely due to the harsh winters & to hostile relations with the Native Americans. Nevertheless, it appears that sporadic voyages to Markland for timber & trade with Native Americans could have lasted as long as 400 years. Evidence of continuing trips includes the Maine Penny, a Norwegian coin from King Olaf Kyrre's reign (1067–1093) allegedly found in a Native American archaeological site in the U.S. state of Maine, suggesting an exchange between the Norse & the Native Americans late in or after the 11th century.  An entry in the Icelandic Annals from 1347 refers to a small Greenlandic vessel with a crew of 18 that arrived in Iceland while attempting to return to Greenland from Markland with a load of timber presumably from the Native Americans.

 Norsemen Trading with Native Americans

Recent research noted in a book by Njord Kane, “Chapter 14 – The Skræling.” The Vikings:The Story of a People. 2nd ed. Yukon: Spangenhelm notes DNA evidence has led scientists to identify more than 80 living Icelanders with a genetic variation similar to one found mostly in Native Americans. One theory is that this mother-to-child DNA probably entered Icelandic bloodlines around 1000 AD, when the 1st Viking-American Indian child may have been born. Possibly a Native American female was transported from Vinland to Iceland on one of the Viking voyages, as the Norse were known to capture inhabitants on their raids. Further new archaeological & DNA research has revealed, that Europeans probably had visited North American shores far earlier than the Vikings. These findings date arrivals to approximately 17,000 years before Columbus was born. This was a time when the 2 geographical regions were connected by land-ice bridges.  Read more here.   

16C ‘Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus’ ‘The History of the Northern Peoples’ by Olaus Magnus,  Norsemen transporting their longship on land. 

 Busy Vikings -

789AD Vikings begin attacks on England

840AD Viking settlers found Dublin in Ireland

844AD Vikings raid Seville but are repulsed

860AD Rus Vikings attack Constantinople

866AD York is captured by a Viking army

870AD Vikings colonise Iceland

981AD Erik the Red discovers Greenland

986AD Bjarni Herjolfsson sights North America after being blown off course

1002AD Leif Ericsson, son of Erik the Red, explores the coast of North America, named them Karland, Helluland and Vinland

Eyewitness John White 1585 - Conjuror

 Watercolor drawing Indian Conjuror by John White (created 1585-1586)

The man, facing half-right, is shown in a dancing posture with the left leg raised behind, the right arm lifted, and the left arm above his head. He has a girdle of skin (or string) around the waist from which hang his breech-clout and bag. The former is a reddish skin reaching nearly to the knees and folded over the girdle to leave the animal's mask hanging down in front. The bag of greyish-white colour at his right side is also made of pieces of skin sewn together, the ends of which make a long fringe hanging down below his knee. Little of his hair is visible but a small roach can be seen. To the right of his head is attached a bird, seen from beneath, with wings outspread, a long bill and plumage of dark brownish-grey, possibly a small woodpecker.

Inscribed in dark brown ink, in the upper left-hand corner, "The flyer. "

John White (c 1540-1593) was an English artist & early pioneer of English efforts to settle North America. He was among those who sailed with Richard Grenville to the shore of present-day North Carolina in 1585, acting as artist & mapmaker to the expedition. During his time at Roanoke Island he made a number of watercolor sketches of the surrounding landscape & the native Algonkin peoples. White had been commissioned to "draw to life" the inhabitants of the New World & their surroundings.  During White's time at Roanoke Island, he completed numerous watercolor drawings of the surrounding landscape & native peoples. These works are significant as they are the most informative illustrations of a Native American society of the Eastern seaboard.  They represent the sole-surviving visual record of the native inhabitants of America encountered by England's first settlers.

1590 Croatoan The Native American Mystery - John White's Return to Roanoke - All Had Vanished -

Return To Ronoake of John White (1590)

Theodor de Bry included this plate made from a drawing by John White in his volume America, published in 1590.

Text from Richard Hakluyt, Principal Navigations, Voyages of the English Nation, III (1600).

The 15 of August towards Euening we came to an anker at Hatorask, in 36 degr. and one third, in fiue fadom water, three leagues from the shore. At our first comming to anker on this shore we saw a great smoke rise in the Ile Roanoak neere the place where I left our Colony in the yeere 1587, which smoake put vs in good hope that some of the Colony were there expecting my returne out of England.

The 16 and next morning our 2 boates went a shore, & Captaine Cooke, & Captain Spicer, & their company with me, with intent to passe to the place at Roanoak where our countreymen were left. At our putting from the ship we commanded our Master gunner to make readie 2 Minions and a Falkon well loden, and to shoot them off with reasonable space betweene euery shot, to the ende that their reportes might bee heard to the place where wee hoped to finde some of our people.

This was accordingly performed, & our twoe boats put off vnto the shore, in the Admirals boat we sounded all the way and found from our shippe vntill we came within a mile of the shore nine, eight, and seuen fadome: but before we were halfe way betweene our ships and the shore we saw another great smoke to the Southwest of Kindrikers mountes: we therefore thought good to goe to that second smoke first: but it was much further from the harbour where we landed, then we supposed it to be, so that we were very sore tired before wee came to the smoke.

But that which grieved us more was that when we came to the smoke, we found no man nor signe that any had bene there lately, nor yet any fresh water in all this way to drinke. Being thus wearied with this iourney we returned to the harbour where we left our boates, who in our absence had brought their caske a shore for fresh water, so we deferred our going to Roanoak vntill the next morning, and caused some of those saylers to digge in those sandie hilles for fresh water whereof we found very sufficient. That night wee returned aboord with our boates and our whole company in safety.

The next morning being the 17 of August, our boates and company were prepared againe to goe vp to Roanoak, but Captaine Spicer had then sent his boat ashore for fresh water, by meanes whereof it was ten of the clocke aforenoone before we put from our ships which were then come to an anker within two miles of the shore. The Admirals boat was halfe way toward the shore, when Captaine Spicer put off from his ship.

The Admirals boat first passed the breach, but not without some danger of sinking, for we had a sea brake into our boat which filled vs halfe full of water, but by the will of God and carefull styrage of Captaine Cooke we came safe ashore, sauing onely that our furniture, victuals match and powder were much wet and spoyled. For at this time the winde blue at Northeast and direct into the harbour so great a gale, that the Sea brake extremely on the barre, and the tide went very forcibly at the entrance. By that time our Admirals boate was halled ashore, and most of our things taken out to dry, Captaine Spicer came to the entrance of the breach with his mast standing vp, and was halfe passed ouer, but by the rash and vndiscreet styrage of Ralph Skinner his Masters mate, a very dangerous Sea brake into their boate and ouerset them quite, the men kept the boat some in it, and some hanging on it, but the next sea set the boat on ground, where it beat so, that some of them were forced to let goe their hold, hoping to wade ashore, but the Sea still beat them downe, so that they could neither stand nor swimme, and the boat twise or thrise was turned the keele vpward; whereon Captaine Spicer and Skinner hung vntill they sunke, & seene no more.

But foure that could swimme a litle kept themselues in deeper water and were saued by Captain Cookes meanes, who so soone as he saw their ouersetting, stripped himselfe, and foure other that could swimme very well, & with all haste possible rowed vnto them, & saued foure. They were a 11 in all, & 7 of the chiefest were drowned, whose names were Edward Spicer, Ralph Skinner, Edward Kelley, Thomas Beuis, Hance the Surgion, Edward Kelborne, Robert Coleman. This mischance did so much discomfort the saylers, that they were all of one mind not to goe any further to seeke the planters. But in the end by the commandement & perswasion of me and Captaine Cooke, they prepared the boates: and seeing the Captaine and me so resolute, they seemed much more willing.

Our boates and all things fitted againe, we put off from Hatorask, being the number of 19 persons in both boates: but before we could get to the place, where our planters were left, it was so exceeding darke, that we ouershot the place a quarter of a mile: there we espied towards the North end of the Iland ye light of a great fire thorow the woods, to the which we presently rowed: when wee came right ouer against it, we let fall our Grapnel neere the shore, & sounded with a trumpet a Call, & afterwardes many familiar English tunes of Songs, and called to them friendly; but we had no answere, we therefore landed at day-breake, and comming to the fire, we found the grasse & sundry rotten trees burning about the place. From hence we went thorow the woods to that part of the Iland directly ouer against Dasamongwepeuk, & from thence we returned by the water side, round about the Northpoint of the Iland, vntill we came to the place where I left our Colony in the yeere 1586.

In all this way we saw in the sand the print of the Saluages feet of 2 or 3 sorts troaden yt night, and as we entred vp the sandy banke vpon a tree, in the very browe thereof were curiously carued these faire Romane letters C R O: which letters presently we knew to signifie the place, where I should find the planters seated, according to a secret token agreed vpon betweene them & me at my last departure from them, which was, that in any wayes they should not faile to write or carue on the trees or posts of the dores the name of the place where they should be seated; for at my comming away they were prepared to remoue from Roanoak 50 miles into the maine. Therefore at my departure from them in Anno 1587 I willed them, that if they should happen to be distressed in any of those places, that then they should carue ouer the letters or name, a Crosse in this forme, but we found no such signe of distresse. And hauing well considered of this, we passed toward the place where they were left in sundry houses, but we found the houses taken downe, and the place very strongly enclosed with a high palisado of great trees, with cortynes and flankers very Fort-like, and one of the chiefe trees or postes at the right side of the entrance had the barke taken off, and 5. foote from the ground in fayre Capitall letters was grauen CROATOAN without any crosse or signe of distresse; this done, we entred into the palisado, where we found many barres of Iron, two pigges of Lead, foure yron fowlers, Iron sacker-shotte, and such like heauie things, throwen here and there, almost ouergrowen with grasse and weedes. From thence wee went along by the water side, towards the poynt of the Creeke to see if we could find any of their botes or Pinnisse, but we could perceiue no signe of them, nor any of the last Falkons and small Ordinance which were left with them, at my departure from them.

At our returne from the Creeke, some of our Saylers meeting vs, tolde vs that they had found where diuers chests had bene hidden, and long sithence digged vp againe and broken vp, and much of the goods in them spoyled and scattered about, but nothing left, of such things as the Sauages knew any vse of, vndefaced. Presently Captaine Cooke and I went to the place, which was in the ende of an olde trench, made two yeeres past by Captaine Amadas: wheere wee found fiue Chests, that had been carefully hidden of the Planters, and of the same chests three were my owne, and about the place many of my things spoyled and broken, and my bookes torne from the couers, the frames of some of my pictures and Mappes rotten and spoyled with rayne, and my armour almost eaten through with rust; this could bee no other but the deede of the Sauages our enemies at Dasamongwepeuk, who had watched the departure of our men to Croatoan; and assoone as they were departed, digged vp euery place where they suspected any thing to be buried: but although it much grieued me to see such spoyle of my goods, yet on the other side I greatly ioyed that I had safely found a certaine token of their safe being at Croatoan, which is the place where Manteo was borne, and the Sauages of the Iland our friends.

When we had seene in this place so much as we could, we returned to our Boates, and departed from the shoare towards our Shippes, with as much speede as we could: For the weather beganne to ouercast, and very likely that a foule and stormie night would ensue. Therefore the same Euening with much danger and labour, we got our selues aboard, by which time the winde and seas were so greatly risen, that wee doubted our Cables and Anchors would scarcely holde vntill Morning; wherefore the Captaine caused the Boate to be manned with fiue lusty men, who could swimme all well, and sent them to the little Iland on the right hand of the Harbour, to bring aboard sixe of our men, who had filled our caske with fresh water: the Boate the same night returned aboard with our men, but all our Caske ready filled they left behinde, vnpossible to bee had aboard without danger of casting away both men and Boates; for this night prooued very stormie and foule.

The next Morning it was agreed by the Captaine and my selfe, with the Master and others, to wey anchor, and goe for the place at Croatoan, where our planters were: for that then the winde was good for that place, and also to leaue that Caske with fresh water on shoare in the Il and vntill our returne. So then they brought the cable to the Capston, but when the anchor was almost apecke, the Cable broke, by meanes whereof we lost another Anchor, wherewith we droue so fast into the shoare, that wee were forced to let fall a third Anchor; which came so fast home that the Shippe was almost aground by Kenricks mounts: so that wee were forced to let slippe the Cable ende for ende.

And if it had not chanced that wee had fallen into a chanell of deeper water, closer by the shoare then wee accompted of, wee could neuer have gone cleare of the poynt that lyeth to the Southwardes of Kenricks mounts. Being thus cleare of some dangers, and gotten into deeper waters, but not without some losse; for wee had but one Cable and Anchor left vs of foure, and the weather grew to be fouler and fouler; our victuals scarse, and our caske and fresh water lost: it was therefore determined that we should goe for Saint Iohn or some other Iland to the Southward for fresh water. And it was further purposed, that if wee could any wayes supply our wants of victuals and other necessaries, either at Hispaniola, Sant Iohn, or Trynidad, that then wee should continue in the Indies all the Winter following, with hope to make 2. rich voyages of one, and at our returne to visit our countrymen at Virginia. The captaine and the whole company in the Admirall (with my earnest petitions) thereunto agreed, so that it rested onely to knowe what the Master of the Moonelight our consort would doe herein. But when we demanded them if they would accompany vs in that new determination, they alleged that their weake and leake Shippe was not able to continue it; wherefore the same night we parted, leauing the Moone-light to goe directly for England, and the Admirall set his course for Trynidad, which course we kept two dayes.

On the 28. the winde changed, and it was sette on foule weather euery way: but this storme brought the winde West and Northwest, and blewe so forcibly, that wee were able to beare no sayle, but our forecourse halfe mast high, wherewith wee ranne vpon the winde perforce, the due course for England, for that wee were dryuen to change our first determination for Trynidad, and stoode for the Ilands of Acores, where wee purposed to take in fresh water, and also there hoped to meete with some English men of warre about those Ilands, at whose hands wee might obtaine some supply of our wants. . . .

The 2. of October in the Morning we saw S. Michaels Iland on our Starre board quarter.

The 23. at 10. of the clocke afore noone, we saw Vshant in Britaigne.

On Saturday the 24. we came in safetie, God be thanked, to an anker at Plymmouth.

Eyewitness John White 1585 - Fishing

Watercolor drawing Indians Fishing by John White (created 1585-1586)

A wide stretch of water is represented as a channel between two shore-lines, one in the immediate foreground, one in the distance. On the former sand and turf are shown with sea-shells, grasses and a number of flowering plants which are not depicted sufficiently clearly for identification. Close to the edge of the sand are shown, on the right, a King Crab and part of another at the right-hand edge, and between them a small fish. To the left of the King Crab are two shells, the one on the right apparently containing a Hermit Crab.  Beyond the King Crab is a Hammerhead Shark to the right and a largish fish to the left. An Indian dug-out canoe occupies the center of the drawing. It is stoutly constructed with the stern and bows curved, the latter slightly more sharply. An Indian is standing at the bows wielding a long shovel-bladed paddle to starboard and another Indian stands at the stern holding in the water to port an implement with a long handle and a fan-shaped end-piece, formed by six sticks held flaring apart by two crosswise sticks or rows of twining, the distal end being hidden in the water. In the middle of the canoe two Indians are crouching over a small fire surrounded by piles of large fish (Shad ?).  A small dip-net hangs over the stern to starboard. The two standing Indians are wearing longish breech-clouts secured by strings round the waist, hanging down between their thighs, their hair short at the sides and caught up at the back with a roach in the middle (the right standing figure has reddish hair). The hair of the crouching Indians is similarly dressed and the one on the left is wearing a skin mantle over his left shoulder, while the one on his right may be wearing an apron-skirt. The head of a Catfish is visible to the left of the canoe, beyond the bows; towards the center are three small fish and, beyond, a Bluefish; in the center is a Hammerhead Shark, and towards the right a large fish. From the middle of the left-hand edge a fish-weir extends obliquely right to the farther shore. At the nearer end a rectangular fish-trap protrudes from it in which a number of fish can be distinguished including a Skate or Ray. To the right, in the center, a naked Indian, in water up to his calves, is about to throw a long fish spear held in his right hand. In front of him are two jacks (?) and, beyond, a large fish (a Sturgeon (?) and two smaller fish to the right. Another Indian, similarly posed, is shown on the right facing left, while behind him part of another fisher is visible at the right-hand edge. In the distance, near the far shore, is another canoe containing two figures. On the shore are low undulating sand-hills with a few trees or large bushes. The sky is washed with pink and blue to indicate light clouds. On the left, above the land, two swans are flying towards the left and, on the right, nine ducks(?). In the top left corner flies a Brown Pelican.

Inscribed in brown ink, above the far shore, in the center, "The manner of their fishing." and across the canoe, "A Cannow."

John White (c 1540-1593) was an English artist & early pioneer of English efforts to settle North America. He was among those who sailed with Richard Grenville to the shore of present-day North Carolina in 1585, acting as artist & mapmaker to the expedition. During his time at Roanoke Island he made a number of watercolor sketches of the surrounding landscape & the native Algonkin peoples. White had been commissioned to "draw to life" the inhabitants of the New World & their surroundings.  During White's time at Roanoke Island, he completed numerous watercolor drawings of the surrounding landscape & native peoples. These works are significant as they are the most informative illustrations of a Native American society of the Eastern seaboard.  They represent the sole-surviving visual record of the native inhabitants of America encountered by England's first settlers.

Timeline of Native Americans Along The Mississippi River Delta

1590 North American Atlantic Coast Natives by John White (c1540 – c1593). The village of Pomeiooc (Pomeiock) was a Native America settlement, designated on de Bry’s map of Virginia, Americae Pars Nunc Virginia Dicta, between today’s Wyesocking Bay & Lake Landing, North Carolina. John White designates the settlement as Pomeyoo.

European explorers 1st arrived in North America at the end of the 15C. Thinking they had reached the Indies in Asia, they labeled the native people “Indians.” While this was a “New World” to the Europeans, it was certainly not new to these original inhabitants who had lived on the continent for more than 10,000 years. Because the Native Americans did not use a formal system of writing, the vast majority of their history is a part of North America’s prehistory before the advent of written records.

The first mounds in the Southeast, used mainly to bury the dead, were probably constructed between 8000 & 1000 BC. The designs of these mounds were influenced by their function. Mounds in America can be broadly classified into:  Agricultural mounds were mostly landscape modifications that are believed to have improved production. These mounds often were raised in places which were more prone to flooding or to tackle extreme temperatures.  Burial mounds either contained one individual or many depending on the ritual or ones standing in the society. Sometimes these mounds had the cremated remains of the deceased. Mostly the dead were buried in the ground & mounds were built on top of the body. The body usually was accompanied by many personal items in preparation for the journey after life.  Ceremonial mounds were mostly religious in nature & included functions like sacrifices or religious activities. Often they were either altar for a particular god or temples. Effigy mounds could also be classified under this type.

By around 800 AD, a distinct way of life was developing in the lower Delta.  The mound sites slowly expanded into hubs of commerce & politics. The earlier era's rounded burial mounds, mostly cone-shaped, were supplanted by massive platforms where the elite built their homes, staged events, & laid ancestors to rest. Most residents, however, lived in settlements huddled around the periphery of the platforms.

During the prehistoric period that began some 12,000 years ago in present-day Mississippi, Native Americans were the only inhabitants in the area. There are over 19,000 prehistoric archaeological sites recorded in Mississippi, & one section of the state, the Yazoo Basin (Mississippi Delta), boasts one of the highest concentrations of prehistoric archaeological sites in the world.

The earliest period is named the Paleo-Indian period, which dates from approximately 10,000 B.C. to 8,000 B.C. During this period, the landscape & accompanying pattern of human occupation were considerably different from that of recent times. The colder & wetter climate supported vegetation & wildlife unlike that of today. Evergreen forests of spruce & fir were common. Mastodon & bison roamed open grasslands. People of this period organized in small bands & were nomadic, following the movements of the large animals that they hunted for food & shelter. Their major hunting weapon was a wooden spear shaft tipped with a medium- to fine-chipped stone point.

Paleo-Indian (circa 10,000 B.C. to 8,000 B.C.)
-Colder climate with associated vegetation, including spruce & fir trees.
-People organize in small, nomadic bands
-Lifestyle focuses on hunting of large mammals, many of which are now
 extinct, including the mastodon, saber-toothed tiger, giant beaver, and
 giant short-faced bear.
-Major hunting weapon is a wooden spear shaft tipped with a medium- to
 fine-chipped stone point.

As the climate warmed to one more characteristic of today’s climate, archaeological remains indicate a lifestyle among the Native Americans that became increasingly more sedentary & socially & culturally complex. This pattern began in what is named the Archaic period (circa 8,000 B.C. to 500 B.C.) & continued into the Woodland (circa 500 B.C. to A.D. 1000) & Mississippian (circa A.D. 1000 to 1550) periods.

Archaic (circa 8,000 B.C. to 500 B.C.)
-Gradual warming of climate. Environment becomes more similar to present.
-People make transition from nomadic to semi-sedentary living as group
 size increases from family bands. Seasonal aggregations of multiple bands occur.
-Hunting of smaller species, including white-tail deer, using spear and
 atlatl or spear thrower. Spear points include side-notched, corner-notched, and
stemmed varieties of medium-to-large size.
-Gathering of wild foods, including nuts & berries, & fishing complement hunting.
-Regional trade & exchange networks appear. Toward the end of the period earthen mounds & ceramic pottery occur.

Woodland Period (circa 500 B.C. to A.D. 1000)
-Large permanent villages develop.
-Hunting continues, with corn agriculture becoming increasingly important.
-Tribal organization arises based on multiple families or clans.
-Burial mounds become common.
-Pottery appears in many forms, functions, & decorative treatments.
-Toward the latter end of this period, the bow & arrow appears as
 indicated by very small chipped stone projectile points.
-Fortified villages & arrow points embedded in human skeletons reveal a
 tendency to warfare among native groups.

Mississippian Period (circa A.D. 1000 to 1550)
-Large temple mounds denoting ceremonial sites appear along with
 extensive villages.
-Multi-level societies called chiefdoms replace tribal organizations in many areas.
-Warfare increases.
-A wide variety of pottery occurs, characteristically including crushed shell as a
tempering agent.
-Agriculture incorporating corn, beans, & squash become the dietary mainstay,
although hunting, gathering, & fishing continue.
-Intensive regional & interregional trade is ongoing in both raw materials & finished products.

1000-1200 AD Early Mississippian Period
Trade burgeoned; goods arrived over land & water from as far away as the Southwest. Craftsmen adopted motifs from afar to embellish objects such as shell-tempered ceramics, an innovation that–by taking advantage of a range of clays–led to new uses.  New strains of corn with a short growing cycle yielded two harvests a season and–by lessening fear of frost–encouraged farming further up the valleys. Improved strains of beans & squash followed.  Wealth solidified the elite’s position at the top of the increasingly complex society that evolved to erect cities along the river.

1200-1400 AD Middle Mississippian Period
The heyday of moundbuilding in the Delta. The arts flourished; finely wrought symbolic artifacts are a period hallmark.  With bountiful harvests & trade, social & religious customs grew more sophisticated. The moundbuilders expanded their earthworks to stage the elaborate rituals of a religion known to scholars as the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex.

1400-1500 AD Late Mississippian Period
Rulers began to lose their grip on the tightly organized societies of the lower Mississippi. Moundbuilding & public ceremony started to disappear. Chiefdoms factionalized; war, rather than political control, became the key to power.  With instability & drought, Native Americans vacated the Delta, leaving the mound cities empty for the Europeans to ponder in years to come. Farmers abandoned their fields for small plots inside walled enclosures.

Indians had established thousands of prehistoric Native American populationsettlements in Mississippi because of the area’s favorable environmental factors: abundant plant & animal life, warm climate, fertile soils, & navigable rivers & streams. Hernando DeSoto's Spanish army traversed the Mississippi Valley in the 1540s, when the Mississippian cultures were in decline. DeSoto landed near Tampa Bay, Florida, & for two years trekked across what are now the states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, & Louisiana.  During the Hernando de Soto expedition, approximately 200,000 Native Americans lived in the area known today as Mississippi. Primarily because of diseases introduced by the Spaniards, the Indian population declined drastically over the next two centuries. By the time the French arrived in Mississippi at the end of the 17C, only about 37,000 Indians remained. The Native American population fell to an all-time low of approximately 16,500 by 1750.

The information for this posting came from The National Park Service and from Prehistoric Mississippi by David Morgan For Mississippi History Now, An Online Publication of the Mississippi Historical Society HERE. At the time David Morgan wrote his article, he was an archaeologist &  historian at the Old Capitol Museum, Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Eyewitness John White 1585 - Women already on the Atlantic coast of America when the English arrived

1585 John White (English artist, c 1540-1593) Indian Woman of Florida

John White (English artist, c 1540-1593) was an English artist & early pioneer of English efforts to settle North America. He was among those who sailed with Richard Grenville to the shore of present-day North Carolina in 1585, acting as artist & mapmaker to the expedition. During his time at Roanoke Island he made a number of watercolor sketches of the surrounding landscape and the native Algonkin peoples. These works are significant as they are the most informative eyewitness illustrations of an early Native American society of the Eastern seaboard.

1587 Sir Walter Raleigh - Roanoke Island, North Carolina & Native Americans

From Europe to the Atlantic coast of America & on to the Pacific coast during the 17C-19C, settlers moved West encountering a variety of Indigenous Peoples who had lived on the land for centuries.

Unknown Artist Portrait of Sir Walter Raleigh

During Elizabeth's reign, Raleigh organized three major expeditions to America, including the first English settlement in America, in 1587—the ill-fated Roanoke settlement located in present-day North Carolina. In July 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh sent English colonists to an island off the coast of what is today North Carolina. The Indians called the island Roanoke Island. The English named the colony Virginia. In less than a year, the colony failed. The colonists did not know how to survive. When Sir Francis Drake visited the colony in 1586, he found the colonists starving. He rescued them & took them back to England. Raleigh’s first attempt had not worked. The Englishmen did not know how to survive in America.

This illustration is a detail from a map in the 1590 edition of Thomas Hariot’s Briefe and True Account of the New Found Land of Virginia.

In 1587, John White (1540- 1593) led 117 colonists to Roanoke. John White, hatched a plan to get people to go to Roanoke Island. It was to attract settlers who would bring their families with them & invest in the colony. Each settler would receive 500 acres of land & some view in the government of the colony. John White brought 91 men, 17 women, & 9 children. In the spring of 1587, they set sail. When they got there, they started repairing the old fort & the houses. It was clear that White would have to go back & get more supplies in order for the colony to survive the winter. So several weeks later he went back to England. He got delayed back in England for 3 years, because England was fighting a war with Spain. All of England’s sailors & ships were needed to defeat the Spanish Armada. (The Spanish armada was Spain’s attempt to invade England. There were 130 ships in the armada).

After 3 years, John White was able to return to Roanoke Island. When White & his men reached the shore they saw a fire blazing in the woods on the northern end of the island. White got excited because he thought the fire was a signal from the colonists. White & his men searched the island but could not find any of the people or his family, but there were clues. The men found no people but only the letters "CRO" carved on a tree & on another part of the island they found the word "Croatoan" carved on a wooden fence post. These carvings were the only clues they could find. White wanted to look for the lost people because he didn't see any signs of their deaths. He wanted to look for his family but fall was quickly coming. They knew it was the hurricane season & they could see a storm coming. White decided to return to England before the bad weather came. They left without ever finding the lost people.

Based on John White's original watercolor. (Illustration by Theodor de Bry)

John White’s Description of what he found, when he returned to Roanoke Island. August. On the 12 in the morning we departed from thence and toward night we came to an anker at the Northeast end of the Iland of Croatoan, by reason of a breach which we perceived to lie out two or three leagues into the Sea: here we road all that night...

The 15 of August towards evening we came to an anker at Hatorask, in 36 degr. and one third, in five fadom water, three leagues from the shore. At our first comming to anker on this shore we saw a great smoke rise in the Ile Roanoak neere the place where I left our Colony in the yeere 1587, which smoake put us in good hope that some of the colony were there expecting my returne out of England.

The 16 and next morning our two boates went a shore & Captaine Cooke, & Cap. Spicer, & their company with me, with intent to passe to the place at Raonoak, where our countreymen were left. At our putting from the ship we commanded our Master gunner to make readie two Minions and a Falkon well loden, and to shoot them off with reasonable space betweene every shot, to the ende that their reportes might bee heard to the place where wee hoped to finde some of our people. This was accordingly performed, & our twoe boats put off unto the shore, in the Admirals boat we sounded all the way and found from our shippe until we came within a mile of the shore nine, eight, and seven fadome: but before we were halfe way betweene our ships and the shore we saw another great smoke to the Southwest of Kindrikers mountes: we therefore thought good to goe to the second smoke first: but it was much further from the harbour where we landed, then we supposed it to be, so that we were very sore tired before wee came to the smoke. But that which grieved us more was that when we came to the smoke, we found no man nor signe that any had bene there lately, nor yet any fresh water in all this way to drinke. Being thus wearied with this journey we returned to the harbour where we left our boates, who in our absence had brought their caske a shore for fresh water, so we deferred our going to Roanoak until the next morning, and caused some of those saylers to digge in those sandie hills for fresh water whereof we found very sufficient. That night wee returned aboord with our boates and our whole company in safety.

The next morning being the 17 of August, or boates and company were prepared againe to goe up to Roanoak, but Captaine Spicer had then sent his boat ashore for fresh water, by meanes whereof it was ten of the clocke aforenoone before we put from our ships which were then come to an anker within two miles of the shore. The Admirals boat was halfe way toward the shore, when Captaine Spicer put off from his ship. The Admirals boat first passed the breach, but not without some danger of sinking, for we had a sea brake into our boat which filled us halfe full of water, but by the will of God and carefull styrage of Captaine Cooke we came safe ashore, saving onely that our furniture, victuals, match and powder were much wet and spoyled. For at this time the winde blue at Northeast and direct into the harbour so great a gale, that the Sea brake extremely on the barre, and the tide went very forcibly at the entrance. By that time our Admirals boate was halled ashore, and most of our things taken out to dry, Captaine Spicer came to the entrance of the breach with his mast standing up, and was halfe passed over, but by the rash and undiscreet styrage of Ralph Skinner his Masters mate, a very dangerous Sea brake into their boate and overset them quite, the men kept the boat some in it, and some hanging on it, but the next sea set the boat on ground, where it beat so, that some of them were forced to let goe their hold, hoping to wade ashore; but the Sea still beat them downe, so that they could neither stand nor swimme, and the boat twise or thrise was turned the keele upward, whereon Captaine Spicer and Skinner hung untill they sunke, & were seene no more. But foure that could swimme a litle kept themselves in deeper water and were saved by Captain Cookes meanes, who so soone as he saw their oversetting, stripped himselfe, and four other that could swimme very well, & with all haste possible rowed unto them, & saved foure. They were a 11 in all, & 7 of the chiefest were drowned, whose names were Edward Spicer, Ralph Skinner, Edward Kelley, Thomas Bevis, Hance the Surgion, Edward Kelborne, Robert Coleman. This mischance did so much discomfort the saylers, that they were all of one mind not to goe any further to seeke the planters. But in the end by the commandement & perswasion of me and Captaine Cooke, they prepared the boates: and seeing the Captaine and me so resolute, they seemed much more willing.

Our boates and all things fitted againe, we put off from Hatorask, being the number of 19 persons in both boates: but before we could get to the place, where our planters were left, it was so exceeding darke, that we overshot the place a quarter of a mile: there we espied towards the North end of the Iland ye light of a great fire thorow the woods, to the which we presently rowed: when wee came right over against it, we let fall our Grapnel neere the shore, & sounded with a trumpet a Call, & afterwardes many familiar English tunes of Songs, and called to them friendly; but we had no answere, we therefore landed at day- breake, and coming to the fire, we found the grasse & sundry rotten trees burning about the place. From hence we went thorow the woods to that part of the Iland directly over against Dasamongwepeuk, & from thence we returned by the water side, round about the North point of the Iland, untill we came to the place where I left our Colony in the yeere 1586.

In all this way we saw in the sand the print of the Salvages feet of 2 or 3 sorts troaden ye night, and as we entred up the sandy banke upon a tree, in the very browe thereof were curiously carved these fair Romane letters C R O: which letters presently we knew to signifie the place, where I should find the planters seated, according to a secret token agreed upon betweene them & me at my last departure from them, which was, that in any wayes they should not faile to write or carve on the trees or posts of the dores the name of the place where they should be seated; for at my comming away they were prepared to remove from Roanoak 50 miles into the maine. Therefore at my departure from them in An. 1587 I willed them, that if they should happen to be distressed in any of those places, that then they should carve over the letters or name, a Crosse in this forme, but we found no such signe of distresse. And having well considered of this, we passed toward the place where they were left in sundry houses, but we found the houses taken downe, and the place very strongly enclosed with a high palisado of great trees, with cortynes and flankers very Fort-like, and one of the chiefe trees or postes at the right side of the entrance had the barke taken off, and 5 foote from the ground in fayre Capitall letters was graven CROATOAN without any crosse or signe of distresse; this done, we entred into the palisado, where we found many barres of Iron, two pigges of Lead, foure yron fowlers, Iron sacker- shotte, and such like heavie things, throwen here and there, almost overgrowen with grasse and weedes. From thence wee went along by the water side, towards the point of the Creeke to see if we could find any of their botes or Pinnisse, but we could perceive no signe of them, nor any of the last Falkons and small Ordinance which were left with them, at my departure from them. At our returne from the Creeke, some of our Saylers meeting us, tolde that they had found where divers chests had bene hidden, and long sithence digged up againe and broken up, and much of the goods in them spoyled and scattered about, but nothing left, of such things as the Savages knew any use of, undefaced. Presently Captaine Cooke and I went to the place, which was in the ende of an olde trench, made two yeeres past by Captaine Amadas: where wee found five Chests, that had bene carefully hidden of the Planters, and of the same chests three were my owne, and about the place many of my things spoyled and broken, and my bookes torne from the covers, the frames of some of my pictures and Mappes rotten and spoyled with rayne, and my armour almost eaten through with rust; this could bee no other but the deede of the Savages our enemies at Dasamongwepeuk, who had watched the departure of our men to Croatoan; and assoone as they were departed, digged up every place where they suspected any thing to be buried: but although it much grieved me to see such spoyle of my goods, yet on the other side I greatly joyed that I had safely found a certaine token of their safe being at Croatoan, which is the place where Manteo was borne, and the Savages of the Iland our friends.

When we had seene in this place so much as we could, we returned to our Boates, and departed from the shoare towards our Shippes, with as much speede as wee could: For the weather beganne to overcast, and very likely that a foule and stormie night would ensue. Therefore the same Evening with much danger and labour, we got our selves aboard, by which time the winde and seas were so greatly risen, that wee doubted our Cables and Anchors would scarcely holde untill Morning: wherefore the Captaine caused the Boate to be manned with five lusty men, who could swimme all well, and sent them to the little Iland on the right hand of the Harbour, to bring aboard sixe of our men, who had filled our caske with fresh water: the Boate the same night returned aboard with our men, but all our Caske ready filled they left behinde, unpossible to bee had aboard without danger of casting away both men and Boates: for this night prooved very stormie and foule.

The next Morning it was agreed by the Captaine and my selfe, with the Master and others, to wey anchor, and goe for the place at Croatoan, where our planters were: for the place at Croatoan, where our planters were: for that then the winde was good for that place, and also to leave that Caske with fresh water on shoare in the Iland untill our returne. So then they brought the cable to the Capston, but when the anchor was almost apecke, the Cable broke, by meanes whereof we lost another Anchor, wherewith we drove so fast into the shoare, that wee were forced to let fall a third Anchor: which came so fast home that the Shippe was almost aground by Kenricks mounts: so that wee were forced to let slippe the Cable ende for ende. And if it had not chanced that wee had fallen into a channell of deeper water, closer by the shoare then wee accompted of, wee could never have gone cleare of the poynt that lyeth to the Southwardes of Kenricks mounts. Being thus cleare of some dangers, and gotten into deeper waters, but not without some losse: for wee had but one Cable and Anchor left us of foure, and the weather grew to be fouler and fouler; our victuals scarse, and our caske and fresh water lost: it was therefore determined that we should goe for Saint John or some other Iland to the Southward for fresh water. And it was further purposed, that if wee could any wayes supply our wants of victuals and other necessaries, either at Hispaniola, Sant John, or Trynidad, that then wee should continue in the Indies all the Winter following, with hope to make 2 rich voyages of one, and at our returne to visit our countreyman at Virginia.

A Cheiff Lorde of Roanoac based on John White's original watercolor. (Illustration by Theodor de Bry) 
The chief men of the island & town of Roanoac reace the hair of their crowns of their heads cut like a cockscomb, as the others do. The rest they wear long as women & truss them up in a knot in the nape of their necks. They hang pearls strung upon a thread at their ears, & wear bracelets on their arms of pearls, or small beads of copper or of smooth bone called minsal, neither painting nor pouncing of themselves, but in token of authority, & honor, they wear a chain of great pearls, or copper beads or smooth bones about their necks, & a plate of copper hinge upon a string, from the navel unto the middle of their thighs. They cover themselves before & behind as the women do with a deer skin handsomely dressed, & fringed, Moreover they fold their arms together as they walk, or as they talk one with another in sign of wisdom. The isle of Roanoac is very pleasant, & has plenty of fish by reason of the Water that environs the same.


In 1618, Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618), English adventurer to the new world, writer, & favorite courtier of Queen Elizabeth I, was beheaded in London, under a sentence brought against him 15 years earlier for conspiracy against King James I.  After Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, Raleigh was implicated as a foe of King James I & imprisoned with a death sentence. The death sentence was later commuted, & in 1616 Raleigh was freed to lead an expedition to the New World, this time to establish a gold mine in the Orinoco River region of South America. However, the expedition was a failure, & when Raleigh returned to England, the death sentence of 1603 was invoked against him. Apparently. failure was not an option.

Eyewitness John White 1585 - Charnal House

Watercolor drawing Indian Charnal House by John White (created 1585-1586) 

A rectangular building  of pole and mat construction with curved roof, is raised perhaps 6 feet above the ground on eleven timber posts. The front end is open and the mat covering thrown back over the roof. The raised floor is made of either narrow poles or cane. Below it, in front, is a border or pelmet of cane or mat, perhaps 18 inches deep. On the raised floor lies a row of ten pale, naked and emaciated bodies placed close together on their backs, their arms by their sides and their heads almost reaching the front edge of the floor. Their hair is shown drawn out from the scalp to a point or knot. At their feet, four large rectangular bundles of matting with curved tops lie two by two against the end wall of the building. The figure of an idol ('Kywash') is represented sitting slightly elevated, with legs flexed and hands on knees, close to the right-hand wall and some little way back. It appears to be dressed in black throughout with a white streak or opening on the chest (giving the effect almost of a jacket and trousers with a white undergarment showing in front). Its feet and hands are black and on its head is a large round hat, brownish in color, with a rolled brim, coming to a point at the top. The face is pale and looks to the front. Under the floor of the building, inside the wooden posts, are two reddish-brown skins spread out on the ground, one on top of the other. In front a small spoke-shaped wood fire is burning. The building stands on a leveled foundation a little wider than itself and extending to the front of the drawing.

Inscribed in dark brown ink, at the top, "The Tombe of their Cherounes or cheife personages, their flesh clene taken of from the bones saue | the skynn and heare of theire heads, wch flesh is dried and enfolded in matts laide at theire | feete. their bones also being made dry, ar couered wth deare skynns not altering | their forme or proportion. With theire Kywash, which is an | Image of woode keeping the deade. "

John White (c 1540-1593) was an English artist & early pioneer of English efforts to settle North America. He was among those who sailed with Richard Grenville to the shore of present-day North Carolina in 1585, acting as artist & mapmaker to the expedition. During his time at Roanoke Island he made a number of watercolor sketches of the surrounding landscape & the native Algonkin peoples. White had been commissioned to "draw to life" the inhabitants of the New World & their surroundings.  During White's time at Roanoke Island, he completed numerous watercolor drawings of the surrounding landscape & native peoples. These works are significant as they are the most informative illustrations of a Native American society of the Eastern seaboard.  They represent the sole-surviving visual record of the native inhabitants of America encountered by England's first settlers.

1586 Ralph Lane's Report on the Colony at Roanoke & Native Americans

From Europe to the Atlantic coast of America & on to the Pacific coast during the 17C-19C, settlers moved West encountering a variety of Indigenous Peoples who had lived on the land for centuries.

Brent Lane with the First Colony Foundation spotted an anomaly on John White’s map drawn of “Virginia” in 1585-1586. The British Museum analyzed the map, shown below, & discovered the hidden icon locating a fort at the confluence of the Roanoke & Chowan Rivers under a patch.

The first English Colony of Roanoke, originally consisting of 100 householders, was founded in 1585, 22 years before Jamestown and 37 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, under the ultimate authority of Sir Walter Raleigh. In 1584 Raleigh had been granted a patent by Queen Elizabeth I to colonize America.

This Colony was run by Ralph Lane c 1530-1603 after Sir Richard Grenville, who had transported the colonists to Virginia, returned to Britain for supplies. These colonists were ill-prepared and not particularly clever, because, although they depended upon the local Indians for food, they also antagonized the Indians by such tactics as kidnapping them and holding them hostage in exchange for information. Unfortunately for the colonists, who were desperately in need of supplies, Grenville's return was delayed. As a result, when Sir Francis Drake put in at Roanoke after destroying the Spanish colony of St. Augustine, the entire colony returned with Drake to England.

John White’s map drawn during 1585-1586

When Drake picked up these colonists, he left behind 15 of his own men, who were never heard from again. This foreshadowed one of the great mysteries of North America, Roanoke's so-called "Lost Colony" of 90 men, 17 women and 9 children, founded in 1587 and discovered to be missing in 1590, but for the word "Croatan" carved on a post. Although both the English and the Spanish searched for clues to the colony's disappearance for many years, the mystery has never been solved.

The first Roanoke colony lasted a total of ten months. This account, a fascinating description of America before European intrusion & settlement, is taken from Lane's report on the adventure to Sir Walter Raleigh.

To the Northwest the farthest place of our discovery was to Chawanook distant from Roanoak about 130 miles. Our passage thither lies through a broad sound, but all fresh water, and the channel of a great depth, navigable for good shipping, but out of the channel full of shoals...

Chawanook itself is the greatest province and Seigniorie lying upon that river, and that the town itself is able to put 700 fighting men into the field, besides the force of the province itself.

The king of the said province is called Menatonon, a man impotent in his limbs, but otherwise for a savage, a very grave and wise man, and of a very singular good discourse in matters concerning the state, not only of his own country, and the disposition of his own men, but also of his neighbors round about him as well far as near, and of the commodities that each country yields.

When I had him prisoner with me, for two days that we were together, he gave me more understanding and light of the country than I had received by all the searches and savages that before I or any of my company had had conference with: it was in March last past 1586. Among other things he told me, that going three days' journey in a canoe up his river of Chawanook, and then descending to the land, you are within four days' journey to pass over land Northeast to a certain king's country, whose province lies upon the Sea, but his place of greatest strength is an island situated, as he described unto me, in a bay, the water round about the island very deep.

Out of this bay he signified unto me, that this King had so great quantity of pearls, and does so ordinarily take the same, as that not only his own skins that he wears, and the better sort of his gentlemen and followers are full set with the said pearls, but also his beds, and houses are garnished with them, and that he has such quantity of them, that it is a wonder to see...

The king of Chawanook promised to give me guides to go overland into that king's country whensoever I would: but he advised me to take good store of men with me, and good store of victual, for he said, that king would be loth to suffer any strangers to enter into his country, and especially to meddle with the fishing for any pearls there, and that he was able to make a great many of men in to the field, which he said would fight very well...

And for that not only Menatonon, but also the savages of Moratoc themselves do report strange things of the head of that river, it is thirty days, as some of them say, and some say forty days' voyage to the head thereof, which head they say springs out of a main rock in that abundance, that forthwith it makes a most violent stream: and further, that this huge rock stands so near unto a Sea, that many times in storms (the wind coming outwardly from the sea) the waves thereof are beaten into the said fresh stream, so that the fresh water for a certain space, grows salt and brackish: I took a resolution with myself, having dismissed Menatonon upon a ransom agreed for, and sent his son into the pinnace to Roanoak, to enter presently so far into that river with two double whirries, and forty persons one or other, as I could have victual to carry us, until we could meet with more either of the Moraroks, or of the Mangoaks, which is another kind of savages, dwelling more to the westward of the said river: but the hope of recovering more victual from the savages made me and my company as narrowly to escape starving in that discovery before our return, as ever men did, that missed the same...

And that which made me most desirous to have some doings with the Mangoaks either in friendship or otherwise to have had one or two of them prisoners, was, for that it is a thing most notorious to all the country, that there is a province to the which the said Mangoaks have resource and traffic up that river of Moratoc, which has a marvelous and most strange mineral. This mine is so notorious among them, as not only to the savages dwelling up the said river, and also to the savages of Chawanook, and all them to the westward, but also to all them of the main: the country's name is of fame, and is called Chaunis Temoatan.

The mineral they say is Wassador, which is copper, but they call by the name of Wassador every metal whatsoever: they say it is of the color of our copper, but our copper is better than theirs: and the reason is for that it is redder and harder, whereas that of Chaunis Temoatan is very soft, and pale: they say that they take the said metal out of a river that falls very swift from high rocks and hills, and they take it in shallow water: the manner is this.

They take a great bowl by their description as great as one of our targets, and wrap a skin over the hollow part thereof, leaving one part open to receive in the mineral: that done, they watch the coming down of the current, and the change of the color of the water, and then suddenly chop down the said bowl with the skin, and receive into the same as much ore as will come in, which is ever as much as their bowl will hold, which presently they cast into a fire, and forthwith it melts, and does yield in five parts at the first melting, two parts of metal for three parts of ore.

Of this metal the Mangoaks have so great store, by report of all the savages adjoining, that they beautify their houses with great plates of the same: and this to be true, I received by report of all the country, and particularly by young Skiko, the King of Chawanooks son of my prisoner, who also himself had been prisoner with the Mangoaks, and set down all the particulars to me before mentioned: but he had not been at Chaunis Temoatan himself: for he said it was twenty days' journey overland from the Mangoaks, to the said mineral country, and that they passed through certain other territories between them and the Mangoaks, before they came to the said country.

Upon report of the premises, which I was very inquisitive in all places where I came to take very particular information of by all the savages that dwelt towards these parts, and especially of Menatonon himself, who in everything did very particularly inform me, and promised me guides of his own men, who should pass over with me, even to the said country of Chaunis Temoatan, for overland from Chawanook to the Mangoaks is but one day's journey from sun rising to sun setting, whereas by water it is seven days with the soonest: These things, I say, made me very desirous by all means possible to recover the Mangoaks, and to get some of that their copper for an assay, and therefore I willingly yielded to their resolution: But it fell out very contrary to all expectation, and likelihood: for after two days' travel, and our whole victual spent, lying on shore all night, we could never see man, only fires we might perceive made along the shore where we were to pass, and up into the country, until the very last day.

In the evening whereof, about three of the clock we heard certain savages call as we thought, Manteo, who was also at that time with me in the boat, whereof we all being very glad, hoping of some friendly conference with them, and making him to answer them, they presently began a song, as we thought, in token of our welcome to them: but Manteo presently betook him to his piece, and told me that they meant to fight with us: which word was not so soon spoken by him, and the light horseman ready to put to shore, but there lighted a volley of their arrows among them in the boat, but did no hurt to any man...

Choosing a convenient ground in safety to lodge in for the night, making a strong corps of guard, and putting out good sentinels, I determined the next morning before the rising of the sun to be going back again, if possibly we might recover the mouth of the river, into the broad sound, which at my first motion I found my whole company ready to assent unto: for they were now come to their dog's porridge, that they had bespoken for themselves if that befell them which did, and I before did mistrust we should hardly escape.

The end was, we came the next day by night to the river's mouth within four or five miles of the same, having rowed in one day down the current, much as in four days we had done against the same: we lodged upon an island, where we had nothing in the world to eat but pottage of sassafras leaves, the like whereof for a meat was never used before as I think. The broad sound we had to pass the next day all fresh and fasting: that day the wind blew so strongly and the billow so great, that there was no possibility of passage without sinking of our boats. This was upon Easter eve, which was fasted very truly. Upon Easter day in the morning the wind coming very calm, we entered the sound, and by four of the clock we were at Chipanum, whence all the savages that we had left there were left, but their wares did yield us some fish, as God was pleased not utterly to suffer us to be lost: for some of our company of the light horsemen were far spent. The next morning we arrived at our home Roanoak...

This fell out the first of June 1586, and the eight of the same came advertisement to me from captain Stafford, lying at my lord Admiral's Island, that he had discovered a great fleet of three and twenty sails: but whether they were friends or foes, he could not yet discern. He advised me to stand upon as good guard as I could.

The ninth of the said month he himself came unto me, having that night before, and that same day traveled by land twenty miles: and I must truly report of him from the first to the last; he was the gentleman that never spared labor or peril either by land or water, fair weather or foul, to perform any service committed unto him.

He brought me a letter from the General Sir Francis Drake, with a most bountiful and honorable offer for the supply of our necessities to the performance of the action we were entered into; and that not only of victuals, munition, and clothing, but also of barks, pinnaces, and boats; they also by him to be victualed, manned and furnished to my contentation.

The tenth day he arrived in the road of our bad harbor: and coming there to an anchor, the eleventh day I came to him, whom I found in deeds most honorably to perform that which in writing and message he had most courteously offered, he having aforehand propounded the matter to all the captains of his fleet, and got their liking and consent thereto.

With such thanks unto him and his captains for his care both of us and of our action, not as the matter deserved, but as I could both for my company and myself, I (being aforehand prepared what I would desire) craved at his hands that it would please him to take with him into England a number of weak and unfit men for any good action, which I would deliver to him; and in place of them to supply me of his company with oar-men, artificers, and others.

That he would leave us so much shipping and victual, as about August then next following would carry me and all my company into England, when we had discovered somewhat, that for lack of needful provision in time left with us as yet remained undone.

That it would please him withal to leave some sufficient Masters not only to carry us into England, when time should be, but also to search the coast for some better harbor, if there were any, and especially to help us to some small boats and oar-men...

While these things were in hand, the provision aforesaid being brought, and in bringing aboard, my said masters being also gone aboard, my said barks having accepted of their charge, and my own officers, with others in like sort of my company with them (all which was dispatched by the said general the 12 of the said month) the 13 of the same there arose such an unwonted storm, and continued four days...

This storm having continued from the 13 to the 16 of the month, and thus my bark put away as aforesaid, the general coming ashore made a new proffer unto me; which was a ship of 170 tons, called the bark Bonner, with a sufficient master and guide to tarry with me the time appointed, and victualed sufficiently to carry me and my company into England, with all provisions as before: but he told me that he would not for anything undertake to have her brought into our harbor, and therefore he was to leave her in the road, and to leave the care of the rest unto myself, and advised me to consider with my company of our case, and to deliver presently unto him in writing what I would require him to do for us; which being within his power, he did assure me as well for his captains as for himself, should be most willingly performed.

Hereupon calling such captains and gentlemen of my company as then were at hand, who were all as privy as myself to the general's offer; their whole request was to me, that considering the case that we stood in, the weakness of our company, the small number of the same, the carrying away of our first appointed bark, with those two special masters, with our principal provisions in the same, by the very hand of God as it seemed, stretched out to take us from thence; considering also, that his second offer, though most honorable of his part, yet of ours not to be taken, insomuch as there was no possibility for her with any safety to be brought into the harbor: seeing furthermore, our hope for supply with Sir Richard Grenville, so undoubtedly promised us before Easter, not yet come, neither then likely to come this year, considering the doings in England for Flanders, and also for America, that therefore I would resolve myself with my company to go into England in that fleet, and accordingly to make request to the general in all our names, that he would be pleased to give us present passage with him...

From whence the general in the name of the Almighty, weighing his anchors (having bestowed us among his fleet) for the relief of whom he had in that storm sustained more peril of wreck than in all his former most honorable actions against the Spaniards, with praises unto God for all, set sail the nineteenth of June 1596, and arrived in Portsmouth the seven and twentieth of July the same year.