Doomsday101
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An English mayor is seeking to solve one of the biggest mysteries in American history: what happened to the settlers who were part of the so-called Lost Colony, Britain's The Guardian reported Friday.
Andy Powell, mayor of Bideford, on England's southwestern coast, is convinced the English settlers who mysteriously disappeared from modern-day North Carolina's Roanoke Island joined the local Native American tribe, an assertion he says can be verified with DNA evidence in both America and Britain.
Tales about blue-eyed Croatoans and white men spotted in the tribe seem to support Powell's hypothesis, but historians have never been able to verify what really happened.
"What we now need is to establish if there are any living family descendants of those lost colonists living here in the U.K., and from them produce a reference library of DNA to match the American results against," Powell told the newspaper.
"If we are right and there are descendants of those lost colonists alive in America today, then Bideford will become known for having played a pivotal role in the founding of America 33 years before the Mayflower set sail."
The settlers of the Lost Colony reportedly departed from England in 1587 and set up a colony that was known to be friendly with the local Croatoan tribe. In 1590, however, subsequent colonists arrived to find the settlement completely deserted, the only trace of the original settlement was the word "Croatoan" etched in a post.
Andy Powell, mayor of Bideford, on England's southwestern coast, is convinced the English settlers who mysteriously disappeared from modern-day North Carolina's Roanoke Island joined the local Native American tribe, an assertion he says can be verified with DNA evidence in both America and Britain.
Tales about blue-eyed Croatoans and white men spotted in the tribe seem to support Powell's hypothesis, but historians have never been able to verify what really happened.
"What we now need is to establish if there are any living family descendants of those lost colonists living here in the U.K., and from them produce a reference library of DNA to match the American results against," Powell told the newspaper.
"If we are right and there are descendants of those lost colonists alive in America today, then Bideford will become known for having played a pivotal role in the founding of America 33 years before the Mayflower set sail."
The settlers of the Lost Colony reportedly departed from England in 1587 and set up a colony that was known to be friendly with the local Croatoan tribe. In 1590, however, subsequent colonists arrived to find the settlement completely deserted, the only trace of the original settlement was the word "Croatoan" etched in a post.
