Book Bingo 2026: Set in America
The Lost Colony and Hatteras Island by Scott Dawson
For over 400 years, the mystery of Roanoke’s “Lost Colony” has puzzled historians and spawned conspiracies—until now. New discoveries link the lost colony of Roanoke to Hatteras Island The legend of the Lost Colony has been captivating imaginations for nearly a century. When they left Roanoke Island, where did they go? What is the meaning of the mysterious word Croatoan?
In the sixteenth century, Croatoan was the name of an island to the south now known as Hatteras. Scholars have long considered the island as one of the colonists’ possible destinations, but only recently has anyone set out to prove it. Archaeologists from the University of Bristol, working with local residents through the Croatoan Archaeological Society, have uncovered tantalizing clues to the fate of the colony. Hatteras native and amateur archaeologist Scott Dawson compiles what scholars know about the Lost Colony along with what scholars have found beneath the soil of Hatteras.
The mystery of “The Lost Colony” is one I’d read very little about during the first 55+ years of my life. Then, over fifteen years ago, I moved to North Carolina. Roanoke Island is part of a two hundred mile long chain of barrier islands off the North Carolina coast. These islands, collectively called The Outer Banks, are home to numerous archeological and historical sites. Living here has periodically peaked my interest in the Lost Colony. So, when this book appeared recently on my list of Amazon “daily deals,” I thought it would be an interesting break from fictional mysteries.
Just as background, the Lost Colony was a group of one hundred seventeen men, women and children who sailed from England to America in 1587. Theirs was the fourth English voyage to “the New World” and the first that included women and children. The first three voyages had been military (well, military and pirating) in nature and had been male-only.
The colonists on this fourth voyage intended to establish a port village in the Chesapeake area, but instead landed and remained on Roanoke Island about a hundred miles south of their original destination. When a supply ship arrived on Roanoke Island three years later, the colonists were gone. There was evidence they might have packed up and gone to neighboring (although fifty mile distant) Hattaras Island (then known as Croatoan) where there was a friendly native tribe.
Scott Dawson believes the colonists stayed on Hattaras (Croatoan) Island and assimilated with the natives, which could be true. Other theories include that they never reached Hattaras, that they reached Hattaras but left again to travel inland or north to Chesapeake (their original destination), or that they tried to return to England. No one knows for sure, and there’s very little physical evidence, thus the mystery.
On the plus side, this book contained a great deal of information I didn’t previously know about early European expeditions to the Americas and about the Native Americans those early expeditions encountered. One thing I found especially enlightening was that one of the biggest differences between European society and Native American society in the late sixteenth century was that Native Americans didn’t have access to iron. Without iron, they couldn’t — despite advanced social, political and religious elements in their societies — make the physical tools necessary for modern (at the time) agriculture, building (houses, sailing vessels, etc.), or weapons. When Native Americans first encountered and began trading with early European arrivals, both sides quickly learned that iron tools were among the most valuable items that Europeans could offer in trade. The book also provided some interesting details of twenty first century archeological finds on the North Carolina barrier islands.
On the negative side, the book wasn’t the least bit “scientific” about its evidence and conclusions. It started with a preface that showed Dawson wasn’t exsctly objective and professional in his approach to his investigation of the Lost Colony. The preface was a long rant about how he had been lied to in school about the Lost Colony, about how important evidence of the colony’s fate had been covered up, and how he now knew THE TRUTH! Unfortunately, most of the evidence he presents in the book, despite his insistence that it proves his theory correct, is open to interpretation and really doesn’t prove anything. Yes, much of it is interesting, and his theory could be correct, but this book doesn’t prove it.
Just as an example, Dawson uses, as one major piece of evidence, a partial rapier hilt found at an archeological site on Hattaras Island. The rapier hilt was found mixed in with Native American artifacts. In Dawson’s mind, this proves that Europeans assimilated with that group of Native Amerucans, since Europeans “never” traded their swords when trading with the Native Americans. But how could he know they never did so? And even if they didn’t, isn’t it possible that a rapier could have washed ashore from one of the many, many shipwrecks he mentioned or been taken from a European after a violent encounter? The rapier hilt might (might!) be evidence of assimilation, but it’s not conclusive proof.
The other negatives about the book are (1) the tone, which varies among angry, argumentative, and condescending, (2) the organization, which would be fine if Dawson didn’t so often go off on tangents, and (3) the repetitiveness. He repeated some things — known facts and his own interpretations of scant evidence — over and over and over again.
Bottom line: there was some interesting information in this book, and I learned some things. It was often a tedious read, though. Overall, it was a disappointment and it didn’t prove anything, but it was set in America, so it fills a Bingo square.