Monday, September 17, 2018

The Crotoan Name Hoax?


When the settlers of Roanoke Island seemed to have vanished, there were few clues left behind as to their fates. The most prominent and baffling of these has kept historians (armchair and otherwise) occupied for more than four centuries. At the settlement, carved into a wooden palisade, was the word Croatoan. John White, the governor of the Roanoke Island Colony believed this was an indication that the settlers had relocated to Croatoan Island, which lay 50 miles to the south. But it was also the name of a local indigenous tribe, so it isn't immediately clear what was indicated by the single word. Without context, it deepened the mystery. Did they relocate? Were they attacked? Did they move inland and mix with locals? To this day, theories compete and no one is 100% sure.

 

But this isn't the only time, if stories are to be believed, that the word Croatoan (or some similar variant) has cropped up amid mystery and tragedy.

 

Prior to his death, writer Edgar Allen Poe seemed to disappear. None of his friends or colleagues knew his whereabouts. When he returned, he was found stumbling in the street seemingly delerious, mumbling unintelligibly. It wasn't clear if he was drunk, ill, or injured. As he lay dying, one word did escape his lips clearly: Croatoan.

 

It is said that the word also crops up in the journal of famed aviator, Amelia Earhart who vanished in the South Pacific in 1937.

 

Writer Ambrose Bierce, who vanished in Mexico in 1913, left the word carved into the post of his bed just prior to his disappearance, if you believe such things.

 

As well, notorious thief Black Bart was said to have carved Croatoan into the wall of his jail cell in 1888. Shortly thereafter, he was released and vanished into history.

 

Is this all just bunk, manufactured retroactively to stich all these vanishings together with one weak thread? It's likely. If you scratch the surface on any one of these famous cases, you'll find evidence to support the Croatoan claim.

 

For instance, Poe (who had a well-known drinking problem) was found mysteriously delerious in the street attired in clothes that weren't his own. He was taken to Washington Medical College Hospital, but the only thing he called out prior to his demise was the name "Reynolds," which remains a mystery to this day. No one is quite sure who Reynolds was, where Poe had been, and whose clothes he had been wearing when he was found.

 

And if we look at Ambrose Bierce's disappearance in 1913, we see a 71 year old man who accompanies Pancho Villa into war-torn parts of Mexico. There is anecdotal evidence that he was killed in this tumult, perhaps by firing squad. And while there is some controversy as to whether he even accompanied Pancho Villa, it's clear that there is very little information regarding his disappearance, despite an official investigation by the US officials. What’s clear is there is no mention of Croatoan.

 

I'm quite certain none of these claims are true. The bigger question is when did crotoan begin to be associated with these other disappearances? If you Google it, you can find many regurgitating this legend, but few fact checking it. Until I get better data, I'm calling this one a hoax, another Internet urban legend.

No comments: