The Roanoke Colony was located on Roanoke Island, in Dare County. This is where North Carolina is today. In 1584, explorers Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe were the first Europeans to see the island. They were sent to that particular region by Sir Walter Raleigh with the task of exploring the vast sounds and estuaries in search of an ideal location for settlement. Barlowe wrote brilliant information about Roanoke Island, and when the explorers returned to England a year later with two natives, Manteo and Wanchese, all of London was abuzz with chatter about the wonders of the New World. Queen Elizabeth, impressed with the results of the reconnaissance voyage, knighted Raleigh as a reward. The new land was named "Virginia" in honor of the Virgin Queen, and the following year Raleigh sent a gathering of 100 militiamen, miners, and scientists to Roanoke Island. It was a late 16th century attempt by England to establish a permanent settlement. Queen Elizabeth 1 was queen at the time. The attempt was organized and financed by Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Sir Gilbert drowned while attempting to colonize St. John's, Newfoundland. His half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, obtained his deceased brother's charter. He would run the details of the charter through his deputies Ralph Lane and Richard Greenville. Greenville was a distant cousin of Raleigh. Raleigh's charter specified that he needed to establish a colony on the North American continent or else he would lose the right to colonize. Raleigh and Elizabeth hoped that the colony would provide riches from the New World and a place from which to send privateers on raids against Spain's treasure fleets. Raleigh had never visited the continent of North America, although he conducted and...... middle of paper ......" National Geographic. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/03 / 0302_040302_lostcolony_2.html Web, 1 December 2014)."MondiAntichi". http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Journals/Journal/970878‎ Web. 1 December 2014). and the mystery of the Croats". the Croatans http://www.studiacroatica.org/jcs/01/0103.htm Web, 1 December 2014). Lee. Roanoke: solving the mystery of the lost colony New York: Penguin, 2006. "Ronaoke Lost Colony." November 20, 2014.) "The Search for the First English Settlement in America." Gary Carl Grassl, The Search for the First English Settlement in America: America's First (Johns Hopkins University Press) 7, n. 35 (2011): 12.