The fate of the settlers who founded the "Lost Colony of Roanoke" in what is now North Carolina remains unknown.

An illustration depicting John White and others finding a tree carved with the words “Croatoan” on Roanoke Island, North Carolina, in 1590. Getty Images Their whereabouts baffled historians ...

As the men climbed a sandy bank, they encountered a tree with the carved letters ... post on which “in fair capital letters was graven CROATOAN without any cross or sign of distress.” ...