Ralph
Lane has been governor of the Roanoke Colony since August 1585. Left by Sir
Richard Grenville with 107 men, he first set out to maintain neighborly relationship with the Secotans, haggling with them over food supply in exchange for
various presents and a possible military support in the warfare jolting regularly the tribes of the area. It is with these Algonquian-speaking
Natives that the colonists had most contacts. Their territory was located
between Albemarle Sound and the mouth of the Pamlico River, extending westward
to current Beaufort County. People living on the nearby islands and the
outer banks also seemed related to Secotans.
The
tribe was not however the most powerful of the region. Those living north of
Abemarle Sound, such as Weapemeocs, Chowanokes or Moratucs, were more populous.
The Chowanokes, in particular were about 2500, what had strongly impressed
Ralph Lane during a reconnaissance mission. Nearly 7000
Algonquian Indians were estimated to live at the time in this area. The Secotans were, in turn,
divided in eight villages. Their territory was certainly extensive, but
mostly covered with unhealthy swamps. They welcomed the foreigners, attracted
by the display of junk jewellery they hung out with them and got willingly
rid in exchange for some corncobs and dried fish.
Meanwhile, the Secotans began to suffer the initial effects of smallpox, brought incidentally
by Europeans and already had their first dead.
Ralph Lane (ca. 1528 - October 1603) – this professional
soldier born in Northampton attended Oxford University before entering Queen Elizabeth's service as an equerry. Elected member of Parliament first in 1558, he had especially to be recognized for his military skills after quashing in 1569 a rebellion in Scotland.
He participated during the 1570's in several naval operations against the
Spaniards and was from 1583 assigned to the building of forts in Ireland.
It is certainly thanks to his experience that he was chosen at the age of 57 to
become the first governor of Sir Walter Raleigh’s colony.
March,
1586 - Granganimeo dies from disease, probably smallpox. King Wingina, his
brother, takes now the name of Pemisapan.
After the death of his brother, Wingina asserted by changing name his willingness to reconsider his relationship with the settlers and Ralph Lane in particular, whose arrogance and pressure they exerted on his tribe in their constant quest of supplies had raised such a hostility that he planned to chase them away. Crops had been specially poor the previous year due to an unusual drought and the demands of the English colonists exceeded what could offer the neighboring tribes, already under the threat of scarcity.
March, 1586 - Having been informed by Wingina
(now Pemisapan) that Chowanoke leader Menatonon has gathered a great council to discuss with his allies of a
surprise attack against the colonists and that he urged to commit 7000
bowmen, Ralph Lane goes hastily to him, decided to capture him unawares.
He traveled 130 miles up Abermale Sound to reach Menatonon's town and took him prisoner. There he realized that he had been fooled by Pemisapan for the so-called meeting seemed never to have taken place. Lane was nevertheless undoubtedly impressed by the personality of the old Indian leader who appeared to him a wise man worthy of respect. He spent then two days to question him.
Menatonon informed the English governor that
after a thirty to forty days’ journey northwards was a kingdom where pearls
were found in abundance. The land called Chaunis Temoatan was held by the
Mangoaks and known to be also rich in copper ore. Menatonon was not unaware of
the English interest for precious materials and directing them towards fairly
distant territories (probably Chesapeake Bay) was mainly a way for him to take
them away from the area and spare to provide them food at a time when supplies were at their lowest. Excited by what the Indian leader said, Ralph Lane
wished to leave immediately to visit this territory, considering despite the
fears of the most advised that he had enough men. He followed the guidelines
of Menatonon and ventured more forward
in search of the Mangoaks. He took care however to keep in hostage the weroance Skiko, a Menatonon's son, having him brought to Roanoke.
April 2,
1586 - Watching over the unlikely behavior of local Indians, Manteo discourages
Ralph Lane to go further, realizing that they are about to attack their group.
April 4,
1586 - Ralph Lane and his men set up their camp on an island. Out of supplies, they have to satisfy with a soup of sassafras leaves.
April 5,
1586 - Ralph Lane loses some of his boats, sunk due to the wind at the
deepening swell.
April 7,
1586 - Ralph Lane is back safe to Roanoke. None is missing.
Lane’s lingering absence had begun to weigh on those who remained in Roanoke and it was feared that his expedition has turned to disaster or that they died of starvation. The rumors of their death came to an end when they were back but what reported Lane and the fact that he hadn’t lost any of his men did not fail to amaze Pemisapan.
His exploration however resulted in a failure.
The American Natives had known how to take advantage of this eagerness and it
has become obvious that they attempted to unite against the newcomers whose
greed made now the common enemy. By getting on with the settlers, Wingina (now
Pemisapan) had hoped to benefit from their superior weaponry to overcome the
Nieusoks, a neighboring tribe against which the Secotans were at war for
several years. Unwilling to get involved in these quarrels, Ralph Lane had
opposed a refusal which subsequently stirred up the hostility of the Indians
towards the English.
April
20, 1586 - King Wingina's father Ensenore dies from disease.
Ensenore had always supported the settlers, being convinced that they were none other than the servants of a god come back to earth with the power to kill remotely without be injured by the Indians. Wingina did not believe in these powers but he was the first one surprised to see Ralph Lane returning safe from a high-risk expedition which should have fatally led him to disaster.
With the death of Ensenore, the English lost
their ultimate support in the Secotan's council. Wingina (Pemisapan) had now free rein to
plan an attack against the English village. He would take advantage of
ceremonies bound to mourning his father to come closer to the settlers' houses
and set them on fire. He hoped for this operation to gather at least 1500
warriors armed with bows and arrows.
Late
April, 1586 - Having vainly tried to get back his son Skiko held hostage
by Ralph Lane, Menatonon sends Weapemoc leader Okisko declare to the
governor that his people swear allegiance to the Queen of England and recognize her as their sole sovereign. Pemisapan is informed about this submission.
Inducted by Menatonon, Okisko's approach could be perceived as a victory for Gov. Ralph Lane but it was in fact in the interest of the Chowanoke leader to deal with the settlers as far as he could expect their support to maintain his authority on the tribes of the area without suffering the same pressure as the Secotans who lived constantly in their contact.
May,
1586 - Swayed by Wanchese who has vowed since his return from England a deep
resentment to the colonists, Wingina (now Pemisapan) decides to deny them all
food supplies. The fishtraps are accordingly destroyed and the promised corn
is not sewn.
As governor, Ralph Lane did not certainly have enough diplomacy to get along with his neighbors, preferring threat and confrontation. This tactical choice proved unrewarding for, lack of supplies, foodstuff became to run out and Lane was forced to send men to the nearby islands, to collect oysters and différent shells. Master Prideaux and 10 settlers went to Hatoraske while Captain Stafford and twenty others went to Croatoan Island, south of Cape Hatteras. Some were sent from time to time on the main land in search of native food.
This new strategy had the effect to weaken the
vigilance of the English by spreading them through the area. Pemisapan took
advantage of it to develop his plan of attack by summoning a great council
attended to include the Weapemocs although they had a little earlier sworn
allegiance to the Queen of England. It was agreed to send by night about twenty
warriors to the settlers' village and to set fire to their thatched houses
starting with Ralph Lane's one. The colonists would then be killed when trying
to escape. Despite the promise to recover a good amount of copper, the plan did
not suit the Weapemocs nor the Chowanokes who preferred to remain neutral. The Mandoags, however, chose to ally Pemisapan.
May 31,
1586 - Having been informed that Gov. Ralph Lane soon has to go to Croatoan,
Pemisapan gathers hastily his forces at Dasamonquepeuc with the aim of
launching his attack on Roanoke Island.
Pemisapan believed that he could befriend young
Skiko, held hostage by the English, and told him the details of the attack
he had planned on June 10. It was without counting on Ralph Lane's craftiness. Skiko
had become in a way his hired man and reported to him what were the Secotan
leader plans before launching false news such as his moving to Croatoan which
was in fact only a lure.
May 31,
1586 - Gov. Ralph Lane sends at night a group of soldiers to Dasamonquepeuc on
a mission to seize Indians' canoes. Two Secotan guards are killed and their
heads cut off while the alert is given. Pemisapan's bowmen put themselves in
order but four are quickly shot dead by English weapons. The Indians prefer to
scatter in the woods.
Ralph Lane had just successfully led a preventive expedition. The plans patiently built by Pemisapan came from shattering and his warriors had fled in nature.
June 1,
1586 - Ralph Lane lands at Dasamonquepeuc with 25 men. He sends looking for
Pemisapan with the aim of having a meeting. This one comes with 8 of his
weroances without realizing that he is falling into a trap.
Ralph Lane launched the strike signal, shouting: “Christ our victory " while Captain Edward Satfford fired to the Indian leader a pistol shot. Wounded, Pemisapan fled to the woods. The company left at once after him. He was shot at first in the buttocks by young Lane's servant Edward Kelly, before being fatally injured by Edward Nugent who reappeared a moment later holding the Secotan leader's head in his hands.
Ralph Lane was aware to have won a weak
victory, for the killing of Pemisapan brought in a definitive way an end to the
attempt of living peacefully with the Natives. The survival of the colony
seemed at the moment compromised and future could only be planned in
confrontation.
June 8,
1586 - Ralph Lane is warned by Captain Edward Stafford that an important fleet
is at anchor off the banks, about 2 miles from the shore. He tallied up 23
ships without having time to check if they were friends or foes.
June 9, 1586 - The fleet caught sight the day before is none other than Sir Francis Drake's, loaded with a tremendous booty seized to the Spaniards. He personally confides to captain Stafford a letter for Governor Ralph Lane in which he offers to supply the settlers with all what they need regarding ammunitions, clothes, food and even boats.
After his victorious raid on St Augustine, June
1, Sir Francis Drake had decided to take a detour to the coastal North Carolina
at the request of his second, captain Christopher Carleill, a son-in-law of Sir
Francis Walsingham who had been personally involved in the exploration of the New
World since 1574 and a failed attempt to found a settlement in Cape Breton.
June 10,
1586 - Sir Francis Drake casts anchor in the little harbor of Roanoke Island.
June 11,
1586 - Ralph Lane meets Sir Francis Drake in Roanoke and thanks him warmly for
his offer but asks on the other hand if he could take with him the sick and
weakened men in exchange of some fit soldiers. Lane takes also opportunity to
ask Drake to put at least one ship at his disposal so that his men and him
could plan their return to England.
Drake offered Lane to choose between two solutions. He agreed to give the settlers a ship with one or two canoes and enough crew but they would have to wait until August before leaving Roanoke, or they could, if they preferred, go back with him without delay. Mindful not to give up the project of colonization, Lane accepted the first proposal and the boat was granted.
It
lasted three days causing many damages with the loss of several boats among
which the one that had just been given to Ralph Lane.
Drake did not renounce his offer and gave Lane
the Bark Bonner, a 150-ton vessel owned by William Hawkins. Too large to enter
the single harbor of the island, the ship had however to be left at sea. This
new offer was risky and fearing that Grenville does not reappear, Lane thought
more reasonable to return without further delay to England, especiallly as the
war simmering with Spain could jeopardize the connections between Europe and
America.
June 18,
1586 - Sir France Drake sets sail to England after boarding all the survivors
of the colony including also Manteo and another Indian named Towaye.
June 19,
1586 - Ironically, a supply ship sent by Sir Walter Raleigh arrives at
Hatoraske (Hatteras) but returns soon to England after the crew looked in vain
for the settlers.
July 3,
1586 - Sir Richard Grenville arrives in
his turn with a 3-ship fleet and casts anchor near Roanoke. He also searches in
vain settlers but as there is no question for him to let unclaimed a territory
falling under the Queen of England, he leaves 15 men on the island with
supplies for two years. Then he goes back to England.
Grenville left for his family lands in
Bideford, Devonshire, where he has just set up a harbor intended for trade with
America.
July 27,
1586 - Sir Francis Drake arrives at Portsmouth with Ralph Lane and the first
colonists.
Lane had to explain the reasons for this hasty
return. He tried to justify to Sir Walter Raleigh by making him deliver his
book entitled "The Discourage of the First Colony" but had to give up
the idea of being assigned another colonial command.