I hope someone hear can fill in some details for me. I can remember reading in grade school history about a North American settlement(European) that was lost or abandoned. All that was found was some wierd word carved into a tree or rock. What are some of the facts and theories surrounding this?

I know it was one of Francis Drake's projects, to claim NA for England. Jamestown, the name of the colony I think it was. ;)

When the English returned to visit the colony the next year, they found the colony abandoned. I think it's probably wiped out by disease, or maybe native attacks...

It might be Westford, MA.:

http://www.renaissancemagazine.com/backissues/sinclair.html

I think you mean Roanoke Island, NC which was an English settlement dating to the 1580's.

http://www.apva.org/history/ and
http://muweb.millersville.edu/~columbus/papers/nixon-02.html

The first is a history of Jamestown, Va. and the second looks like a a term paper by someone from Millersville (Pa) University.

Hope it helps.

yup its Roanoke, creepy stuff was said about it when I lived in NC for a while....

It could be any of scores of colonies and settlements that were abandoned or were wiped out. You will need more info than just what you gave if you are to narrow it down.

If he read it in grade school, it's probably Roanoke. That's practically the most famous one, and just about the only one they teach about in lower grades (1st-6th).

The story behind that is that in 1585 (or some time around that) Roanoke was founded. In 1587 The captain of the ship that brought them there decided to return for supplies since they were a bit low. However, when he arrived, his ship was confiscated by the English government to use against the Spanish Armada, delaying his return a bit.

Now before the captain left, he had given instructions to carve a cross in a tree if they were attacked and had to leave the colony. When he returned to Roanoke around 1590, he found the colony deserted. He checked the trees for a cross, but couldn't find one. Instead, he found a word carved into one of the trunks (can't remember what the word was).

Supposedly, Virginia Dare was born in the Roanoke colony, making her the first English person to be born in what is now the USA. Seems she didn't have too many birthdays though...

Thanks, Roanoke is what I was thinking of. Does anyone know what the word was?

Yep...Virgirnia Dare was born there...and I believe the inscription carved into the tree was "Croatan"

Originally posted by andy80
Thanks, Roanoke is what I was thinking of. Does anyone know what the word was? Roanoke Colony was founded in 1587, the 90 men and about 20 women and a few kids turned up missing in 1590 when ships returned to England. The word "Croatan" was found carved on a wooden post.
The actual site of the colony is now under water due to shifting of the island. It's one of the outer banks barrier islands and not much more than a big sand bar. There are stories - unverified AFIK of legends among the native Americans of the region of white people living among them about that time.