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Illustration depicts John White (c1540 - c1593) and others as they find a tree into which is carved the word 'Croatoan,' Roanoke Island, North Carolina, 1590. Three years previously, White had left a group of colonists on the island and returned to England for supplies, intending to return in a matter of months, but a variety of circumstances (not the least of which was Britain's war with Spain) prevented his immediate return. When he was able to get back to the colony, it had been abandoned with only the word on the tree as a clue (the nearby Hatteras Island was then known as Croatoan). (Photo by Stock Montage/Getty Images)