1585-86 - The Second Voyage and Raleigh's First Colony
They landed on an island south of Cape Hatteras, now known as Ocracoke, and spent some time exploring it and the other coastal islands and adjacent mainland. It was not until sometime later that Grenville moved to establish the colony on the North end of Roanoke Island. Ralph Lane was made Governor and quickly built a fort whose present day location is now believed to be submerged a few yards off-shore.
For the colonists, relations with the Indians continued friendly enough for a while but eventually deteriorated to the point where the Colonist’s lack of adaptation to the environment left them in a perilous state. By May 1586, the colonists having outworn their welcome with the Native Americans, were at open war with them.
The Colonists planned relief from Grenville was delayed in Bideford and had it not been for the timely arrival of Sir Francis Drake passing by with a fleet of 23 ships, mostly ‘borrowed’ from the Spanish and richly laden with booty, the Colonists might have perished. As it was Drake gave them all immediate return passage to England with his fleet. When Drake sailed, on June 18 1586 he carried the remnants of the first colony home with him.