EARLY
CROATIAN CONTACTS WITH AMERICA AND THE MYSTERY OF THE CROATANS*
Were Some Croats Present at Discovery of America?
George J. Prpic
- - -
Journal of Croatian Studies, I, 1960 – Annual Review of the Croatian Academy of
America, Inc. New York, N.Y., Electronic edition by Studia Croatica, by
permission. All reserved by the Croatian Academy of America.
- - -
By permission of Georgetown University, from doctoral
dissertation The Croats in America, Department of History, Georgetown University,
Washington D. C., 1959.
After 1420, the whole eastern Adriatic coast with few
exceptions was firmly in the possession of Venice, whose perennial policy was to
rule these Croatian shores. Although the population of the entire eastern
Adriatic region remained predominantly Croatian, a new political, religious and
cultural center began to form in and around present day Zagreb - formerly
Pannonian Croatia. However, one section of the southern Adriatic coast escaped
Venetian hegemony. This was the Republic of Ragusa; an independent merchant
state for over one thousand years. While all other Croats were for centuries to
live either under Venetian or Turkish rule or under Austrian and Hungarian
domination, the Croats in Dubrovnik (Latin "Ragusa") enjoyed complete
political freedom and realized achievements which bordered on the miraculous.
Dubrovnik was founded in the seventh century in the
vicinity of Epidaurus, which had been previously destroyed by the Slavs. The
population which was originally Roman became slowly Croaticized, so that the
end of the fourteenth century saw it as almost completely Croatian. From the
beginning, the city developed a seafaring tradition, which manifested itself in
early trade throughout the Balkans. Her commercial routes were eventually
extended to all the Mediterranean countries and the Near East, and her trading ships
sailed as far as Spain, Portugal and England.
She had exchanged Byzantine for Venetian suzerainty
in 1205, which then lasted until 1358. The following era was to witness her
complete independence. With a combination of diplomatic skill and sufficient
gold, Dubrovnik succeeded in preserving her freedom from the powerful Turkish
Empire, even though the Turks subjugated all the neighboring regions. The
period from 1358 until 1808 - when Dubrovnik finally lost its independence to
the military forces of Napoleon - was the golden era of the little republic's history.
In the beginning of the
fifteenth century the city itself numbered only 40,000 inhabitants. Its
government was composed of wealthy merchants and nobles who had already
introduced in the Middle Ages many progressive institutions and measures. By
the law of January 27th, 1416, slavery was abolished. The navy consisted of 300
vessels. "In all the large towns of the Balkans the speech of Dubrovnik
was heard, the colonies flourished and Catholic churches and chapels were
constructed... Dubrovnik was the channel through which flowed the trade between
Turkey and Italy."[1]
The example of Dubrovnik was the best proof of the seafaring qualities of the
Adriatic Croats. In the 1930's the Seaman's Guild in Dalmatia celebrated the
one-thousandth anniversary of its existence.[2]
Louis Adamic, fascinated by
the history of Dubrovnik, goes as far as to claim: "Ragusa ... in its day
was a greater sea power than Britain." "For hundreds of years Ragusan
ships and seamen were among the most famous in the world. Ragusan shipmasters
and sailors served not only under the Ragusan ensign, but under the flags of
various Italian states, Greece, Spain and other foreign countries. It is almost
certain that Ragusans were on Columbus' ships when he sailed to India and
bumped into America. In fact; it is probable that Ragusan ships touched the
American continent before Columbus. Certain is that a number of them reached
Mexico, Central and South America, in the few years immediately after Columbus
adventure."[3]
In Ragusa the shipowners
were the ruling class, the social aristocracy and "their ships sailed
every known sea … Like themselves, their peasants were Slavs, Croats, calling
themselves Ragusans." In the seventeenth century these Ragusan shipowners
sacrificed enormous profits by refusing to ship negro slaves to the American colonies because slavery was
forbidden in Ragusa.[4]
As Adamic was a better writer than historian we would
like to carefully examine his statements. It is true that centuries before America
was discovered the sailors of Dubrovnik navigated all the then known seas,
while at the same time their countrymen from Dalmatia composed the backbone of
the rival Venetian navy. According to another writer "Ragusa was indeed a
powerful republic."[5]
It is therefore not surprising that not only Croatian writers but American, historians
as well, after establishing the fact that Dalmatian sailors were "world
renowned for seamanship and love of adventure" are claiming that these
sailors are believed to have been among Columbus' crew.[6]
"According to tradition," says the Croatian
historian Josip Horvat, "several Dalmatian Croats were present on the
historic date of October 12, 1492, when Columbus and his sailors for the first
time spotted the shores of the New World."[7]
It is the opinion of Horvat that this tradition might be based on some truth
and that Columbus may have hired some Croatian sailors who at that time were
roaming all the known sea ports. Some authors are more specific in determining
the exact origin of these sailors by claiming that they were from Dubrovnik [8]
It is important to examine what some historians from Dubrovnik
have written concerning this theory. One of them says, "it is rumored that
one man from Dubrovnik was with Columbus at the discovery of America in
1492."[9] Only two
years afterwards, Ferdinand of Spain made an important
agreement with Dubrovnik granting various trade concessions. Another Ragusan
historian thinks that to assume the possibility that some sailors from
Dubrovnik participated in the discovery of America is not "without good
cause." He points out that exactly in those regions from where Columbus
came, the merchant marine of Dubrovnik enjoyed a world reputation.[10]
Since this historian was well acquainted with the rich archives of that old
city, yet in making this comment did not produce any evidence to the fact that
the sailors of his native city were present at the discovery of America, it is
only logical to assume that there is no evidence of this kind available.
An article published during the last war in Zagreb
stated: "It is supposed that the Croatian sailors participated in the
enterprise of Columbus."[11]
Another article concerned with the first Croatian immigrants in America,
published in this country, admits only the possibility that sailors from
Dubrovnik were on Columbus' ships.[12]
A Croatian writer in America stated: "Columbus,
himself, counted among his crew some Croats, natives of the cities of Dubrovnik
and Šibenik;" while another also accepts it as a very probable fact.[13]
The first of the writers based his whole evidence on the statements of
Professor J. S. Roucek according to whom the tradition which links Dubrovnik with
the discovery of America was retraced by an American, Myrtle Hague Robinson.
She was told in Dubrovnik by B. Radmili, member of a patrician family, that
according to tradition, two Ragusan sailors were in the crew of Columbus. One
of the sailors, returned with a fortune and built a palace in Dubrovnik, now
known as the Palace of Ronda.[14]
Adamic repeated his statements on the Croats in
Columbus' crew in some of his other works. In My America he stated that
the Croats "were sailors on Columbus' ships when he bumped into this continent."[15]
Here he did not, as in his previous work, repeat the idea that the Ragusans may
have even preceded Columbus in the discovery of America, but stated only as
follows: "Little doubt exists that on. Columbus' ships were cosmopolitan
Croatians from the famous Dalmatian city-republic Ragusa." Emphasizing the
reputation of Ragusan sailors and shipbuilders who were "among the best in
the world, with a long tradition behind them," he stressed the fact that
in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the sailors of Ragusa "sailed on
ships of all seafaring nations".[16]
American-Croatian writer Z. Kostelski accepts it as
an established fact that "Columbus hired some sailors from the Dubrovnik
fleet to accompany him on his voyage westward," because these sailors were
known as experts in navigation and as audacious men.[17]
"We have no record about the number of his men of Croat origin," continues
Kostelski, "but we have a record that two of them returned to their native
city of Dubrovnik where they spread the word about the discovery of a short
route to the Indies." Afterwards the Bishop of Dubrovnik made a lengthy
report about this to Pope Alexander VI in which he also stated that Dubrovnik
had invited the cities of Dalmatia to equip and send their own boats "to
bring the gold, spices, and other valuables" from the faraway Indies.[18]
Unfortunately, 'Mr. Kostelski does not produce any source to confirm these
statements and we do not learn from him where that record concerning the return
of the two Ragusan sailors from Columbus' expedition is.
Again in another of his books on the same subject Mr.
Kostelski writes: "The matter of record is that in the crew of Columbus were
some Croats, hired probably on account of being fearless navigators."[19]
In this version of the return of the two sailors, we also learn that they
"ordered Masses of thanksgiving to be said for their happy return,"
and that the lengthy report of the Bishop to Pope Alexander VI was written in 1493.
In a work on the Slavs in America, Croatian writer B.
N. Milošević refers to the sailors of Ragusa as those who during the time of
Columbus, and even long before him, "led the way in chartering the high
seas in many an adventure." Further he mentions "documentary evidence
from the Spanish archives which undoubtedly proves the presence of Croatian
sailors on Columbus' ships."[20]
However, the writer could not find any such published evidence in the Spanish
archives. Neither was I more fortunate to trace any proof in reference to
another statement mentioning documentary evidence in the Croatian archives.
Rev. Dragutin Kamber in a study on Croatian immigration wrote: "It is
asserted that in the crew of the three Columbus' caravels there were also two
authentic Croats, one from Dubrovnik, and another from Šibenik. About the
latter a study soon will be published based on documents which are located in
Šibenik.”[21] It could
not be ascertained whether such a study was published as yet.
In a most recent article
printed in a newspaper in Zagreb, a student in the field of Croatian immigration,
writing about the earliest Croatian immigrants in America, mentions the
Croatian sailors on Columbus' ships. However, he bases his whole evidence on Adamic's
statements, and does not quote any other study or document concerning those two
sailors.[22] It is the
opinion of this writer that for more reliable sources and more dependable
information one should have access into the archives of Dubrovnik and Zagreb as
well as various secondary works and studies of Croatian historians.[23]
The theory that some sailors
from Dubrovnik were present when Columbus discovered America is plausible.
However, as long as we do not have any documentary evidence to support it, we
cannot accept it as a historical fact.
First Croatian Immigrants in America
The commercial treaty of 1494 between Dubrovnik and
Spain was a very important agreement for these two states. -In fact it was the
basis of all subsequent relations between the contracting parties. Dubrovnik
now more than ever developed its sea-borne trade and extended it, as an ally of
Spain, as far as newly discovered America. Large transoceanic ships were built
at the wharfs of Dubrovnik and the, peninsula Pelješac which also belonged to
this republic.[24] Soon the first
emigrants from there sailed for the New World.
As the Croatian historian Tijas Mortidjija stated: "We know on the basis of
completely authentic evidence from the archives that already in the beginning
of the sixteenth century, only twenty years after the Columbus achievement,
there were the first Croatian emigrants in the real meaning of the word. They
crossed the Ocean with the purpose to settle over there [in America], to get
rich and then again to return home. These emigrants are among the very first
European emigrants."[25]
Thus according to the above statement based on
evidence from the archives of Dubrovnik, in the decade following 1510, the people
of Dubrovnik started to emigrate to the West Indies and South America. It is very likely that this emigration had two
principal causes. One being the desire for wealth in those reputedly rich countries
about which the Ragusan could obtain any necessary information from his allies
and business associates in Spain. The second reason may also have played an
important role. We should keep in mind that the territory of the whole
republic, which comprised only Dubrovnik and vicinity, was really small. On all
sides except the sea, Dubrovnik was encircled by Turkish territory from whence
thousands of refugees fled to this small island of liberty and prosperity. It
is very likely that Dubrovnik, hearing the reports of vast, newly discovered
regions was thinking of sending some of these refugees, who came from Bosnia,
Hercegovina and other parts of Croatia, to the American continent. There was
never a problem of transportation, for Dubrovnik was in possession of a large
fleet capable for trans-Atlantic travel. Her ships communicated via regular
trade routes with many ports in Spanish America and could always carry a few
passengers. It is known that the families Basiljević, Divoćić,
and Škrabonja were among those first Croatian immigrants to American
In 1520 two brothers Mate and Dominko
Konkendović sailed from Dubrovnik for Spanish America. After a thirty-year
sojourn in Mexico they embarked for home with some 13,000 gold ducats. While en
route they were taken prisoners by a French ship and brought to Marseilles
where they were robbed of all their wealth. It is evident from the archives of
Dubrovnik that a serious diplomatic conflict developed over this affair between
France and the republic of Dubrovnik. A special diplomatic agent was sent to
France. Even the Turkish government in Constantinople was asked in 1552 to
intervene in an attempt to settle this matter. After the money was finally returned,
Mato Konkendović was mysteriously murdered in France,
which again resulted in a severe protest on the part of Dubrovnik. The French
king ordered a strict investigation and prosecution of the murderers.[26]
Bazilije Basiljević, a patrician from the same
city, arrived in 1537 in Peru. Interesting reports about his adventures were
written by a Ragusan businessman in London, Jero Credić. These were related
by the historian Tijas Mortidjija who read them in
the Ragusan archives. "These first Croatian emigrants, were followed by
several others", and around the middle of the sixteenth century "the government
of Dubrovnik obtained from Spain a regulation in the question of the estates of
those who deceased in the New World without determining their
inheritants."[27]
There was probably at that time a considerable number of emigrants from
Dubrovnik in America to necessitate such a diplomatic measure.
Although the Ragusans were on very good terms with
Spain, they were as strict businessmen - resembling in this respect the Dutch -
engaged in a lucrative trade with England, the main rival of Spain. There was a
considerable Ragusan colony in London and for centuries a Ragusan graveyard was
preserved in Southampton. To bear out the extent of these relations with
England and as 'a proof of the renown of this seafaring republic,"
"Ragusa" - the Latin form of Dubrovnik - - even appeared in
the English dictionary. Shakespeare had already used the word
"Argosy" which is an English derivation of the corrupted word
"Ragosy," meaning Ragusa.[28]
When the foremost Croatian expert on Shakespeare and translator of his numerous
works into Croatian, Vinko Krišković, tried to prove that
"Argosy" is an English derivation of "Ragusa," he probably did
not know that this question was already settled by an Englishman who almost a
century earlier traveled to Dalmatia, Dubrovnik and the neighboring regions: "The
reputation of Ragusan merchantmen for wealthy cargoes had been stereotyped in
the word Argosy (quasi Ragosy) - synonymous for the richest kind of
carack."[29]
In salt-water slang, says an American traveler to
Dalmatia, the "vessel of Ragusa became 'argosy' which will remain a
synonym for home-ward-wafting wealth as long as poems are penned:"[30]
To Rebecca West, another of the many enthusiastic travelers through the
enchanting regions of Dubrovnik and Dalmatia, the whole history of Dubrovnik is
illuminated by one word - "argosy," which means nothing more than
"a vessel from Ragusa."[31]
J. S. Roucek explaining the word "argosy" as a derivation from "Ragusa"
points out that Ragusan shipyards constructed vessels for Oliver Cromwell.[32]
The Mystery of Croatans
Thus it happened that the little republic, which had
such importance in the seafaring history of Europe, not only compiled a complex
code of maritime law and built ships for Spain, but even sent her mariners with
the conquistadorial expeditions to the New World.[33]
It is also possible that Ragusa was connected with one of the still unsolved
mysteries of American history, namely, the "lost colony" of Roanoke
Island and the name of the Croatan Indians.
Many Croatian authors claim that the name of the
Croatan Indians should be linked to the Croats. A Dalmatian legend is that
ships from Dubrovnik sailed westward around 1540 with a large number of
refugees fleeing from the Turks. One or more of the vessels, the legend
continues, was sunk off the hazardous coast of what is now North Carolina and
the survivors mixed with the Indian population, who then acquired the name
"Croatan." Some of the writers claim that "it is almost
sure" that such a fleet left Dubrovnik with refugees desiring to settle in
America.[34] What
puzzles this writer is the question of why the Ragusan ships should have,
sailed to unknown regions instead of sailing to Spanish America, where they
had, as it is proved, frequent contact. There is the possibility that the ships
sailed off course and were shipwrecked off the coast of whit is today North
Carolina, however, this does not necessarily mean that this was their
destination.
Various authors differ in the claim that such ships
from Ragusa may have been wrecked off North Carolina. Even when there is agreement
on this point, there is disagreement as to the time of departure. Adamic, for
instance, says: "There is also little doubt that Ragusan ships - called
"argosies" ... sailed to America during the half century immediately
following the Discovery." He mentions "a persistent Dalmatian legend,
backed by some circumstantial evidence" that the Croatian voyagers
"preceded by about four decades Sir Walter Raleigh's ill-fated attempts to
establish an Anglo-Saxon colony" on Roanoke Island. Adamic thinks also
that "it is almost certain" that Ragusan ships with Croatian refugees
left Ragusa in 1540, or thereabouts, for America.[35]
Kostelski mentions several Croatian historians who claim that some years before
the battle of Lepanto (which took place in 1571) "one Croat boat sailed
westward" with the intention of reaching the Indies and that the boat was
wrecked on the coast of North Carolina in 1558. Kostelski thinks that the
survivors of this boat founded the "Croatan" colony. In his opinion;
"This confirms the tradition still prevailing in Dalmatia about the
settlement of the Dalmats in America. Whether this was a forceful or voluntary
settlement makes little difference. The fact remains that the Croats were here
when Sir Walter Raleigh founded his first English colony on this
continent." [36]
Kostelski himself, however, thinks that the Croats
came to North Carolina after the battle of Lepanto, when two boats flying the
colors of St. Blase (the patron saint of
Dubrovnik) were about to make the long voyage to the Indies by a short route.
"These two boats failed to return and two years afterwards the families of
the sailors gave them up for lost and Requiem Masses were said for them - as
far as it is known in Dubrovnik and Šibenik." By piecing together the subsequent
events he thinks a reasonable conclusion may be that these two boats reached
America and were shipwrecked on the shores of present North Carolina.[37]
Professor Roucek sides with the Croatian writers,
especially with Mladineo. In both of his books which he edited with J.F. Brown,
and which are counted among standard histories of the American immigration, he
writes on Croatan Indians. We would like to quote in this respect one of his
statements: "There is good reason to believe ... that a Croatian ship
called at the first permanent settlement in America, Sir Walter Raleigh's
second colony on Roanoke Island, Virginia, for one of the chief trees or posts
at the entrance had the bark taken off and five feet from the ground, in capital
letters, was carved "Croatan." Whatever the facts, an island in the
groups of the coast of North Carolina is named, to the present day, Croatan.”[38]
It is obvious that Professor Roucek disagrees with
some of the Croatian writers as to the time of the alleged arrival and the
number of Croatian ships. Adamic and other writers in connection with this case,
refer to several older and some more recent American authors in an attempt to
shed light on this mystery - which might never be successfully solved.
Therefore, let us analyze some of these accounts which are of great importance.
In the light of the evidence which we shall find particularly in the oldest
accounts on North Carolina, we shall see whether we can accept as probable the
theory of Professor Roucek that the Croatian ship which allegedly called at
Roanoke "salvaged the entire settlement from the destruction that, was taking
place."[39]
Of foremost importance as a source on the origin of
Croatan Indians and for containing precious information on the first colonization
of the English speaking people at Roanoke Island is Francis, L. Hawks' History
of North Carolina, in two volumes, published a century ago. For our
problem, the first volume is of greatest importance inasmuch as it contains
valuable information on old Virginia from the third volume of Voyages by
Richard Hakluyt, which was published in Paris in 1600, and contains the
original reports of the first Englishmen who visited the region around Roanoke
Island.
The first expedition from England, led by Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlow, arrived in July 1584. In the
vicinity of Roanoke Island they found friendly Indians, among whom were Manteo and
Wanchese. Amadas
and Barlow reported in Hakluyt's Voyages:
"We saw children that had very fine auburn, and chestnut-coloured hair."[40]
Hawks concludes, on the basis of the complete report of these first English
visitors to that part of America, that "Europeans had been among these
aborigines before Amadas and Barlow." "Who they
were and whence they came," continues Hawks, "we never shall know;
but children were seen by our voyagers with auburn and chest nut colored
hair."[41] American
Indians were all Mongoloids, marked by straight, coarse black hair. Auburn hair
might well therefore excite surprise and demand explanation. The natives
themselves gave Amadas and Barlow the necessary
explanation, which is the invaluable clue to this mystery.
"Twenty-six years
before, (in 1558) a ship was cast away near Secotan, manned by white people;
... some of the crew were saved, and preserved by the natives; .. after remaining
some few weeks at Wocokon (Ocraoke) they attempted to leave in the frail craft
of the country, which they had endeavored to fit for the purpose, and
probably perished, as their boats were subsequently found stranded ,on
the shores of another island not far from Wocokon; the natives added that these
were the only whites that had appeared among them, and that they were seen by
the dwellers around Secotan only."[42]
The natives also reported
about another wreck on the coast, which took place approximately six years
after the first one; which would be in 1564. There were no survivors of this
second wreck, but the Indians - who at that time did not know iron tools nor weapons
- obtained from this wreck nails and spikes out of which they made edge tools.[43]
The expedition of Amadas and Barlow sailed again after two months for England
taking with them the Indians Manteo and Wanchese. The second expedition under
the leadership of Sir Richard Greenville and with Manteo and Wanchese on board
arrived on July 3, 1585 at Roanoke. In the English reports of this expedition
there appears for the first time the name "Croatoan" as the place
where Manteo was born and which was located on the island of the same name.[44]
This name was applied by the Englishmen also to the friendly Indian tribe to
which Manteo belonged. In later use it was spelled "Croatan."
Hamilton McMillan, who also tried to explain the mystery of the Croatans,
writes, "The name Croatan was given to the tribe by the English from the
name of a locality within their territory."[45]
The Indians did not call themselves Croatan but, as Hawks proves in his first
volume, Hatteras.
It is certain from the first reports on Virginia that
there was a "locality of Croatan" or as it was then spelled
"Croatoan," and that there was an island Croatan where Manteo was
born. This island is marked on an old map of North Carolina. On an old German map
published in Nuremberg in 1660, Croatan seems to have been some portion of the
banks lying between Cape Lookout and Cape Hattera, which is in the vicinity of
Roanoke.[46]
Only fifteen men were left
by Greenville in August 1586 on Roanoke Island. They were supposed to be joined
by more colonists in the following year. On July 22, 1587, a colony, equipped
in England by Sir Walter Raleigh and led by John White, who was to be the Governor
of what was supposed to be the first permanent English colony in Virginia,
arrived at Roanoke. It consisted of ninety-five men, seventeen women, and nine
children. They learned from friendly Indians that all fifteen men left behind
at Roanoke had perished.[47]
As it is evident from
Governor White's report, published in Hakluyt, later on reprinted in Hawks' History,
the friendly Indians, called by the Englishmen Croatans, often visited the
island. On August 13, 1587, Manteo was christened, and on August 18th of the same
year the first white child was born in North America. This was Virginia Dare, a
grandchild of Governor White. Because White had to sail back to England on
business for the colony, the Croatan Indians invited the colonists, prior to
White's departure, to reside with them. White was informed by the colonists
that they would probably accept the invitation. Since White was supposed to return
from Europe the next year, "it was understood that if they went to Croatoan,
they were to carve the word, Croatoan on the bark of a tree or some conspicuous
place, that the Governor might know where to find them on his return. It was
further understood that if they left the Island in distress they were to carve
the Christian cross above the word Croatoan."[48]
On August 27th of that same
year John White sailed for England. This was the last day these colonists were
seen by white men. The year 1588 was a fateful one for England; it was marked by
war with Spain and the defeat of the "Invincible Armada."[49]
This turmoil of war prevented Governor White from returning to his colonists at
Roanoke. When on August 15, 1590, he finally returned there, he found no trace
of the colonists he had left behind. Of great significance is the following report
by White: "We found the houses taken down and the place very strongly
enclosed with a high palisade of great trees with curtains and flankers, very
fortlike, and one of the chief trees or posts at the right side of the entrance
had the bark taken off, and five feet from the ground, in fair capital letters
was graven CROATOAN, without any cross or sign of distress."[50]
Near the same spot he also
found on the stump of a live oak the three capital letters "CRO."
Although, as he says, it grieved him much not to find his colonists - his
daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter were among them - "on the other
side I greatly joyed that I had safely found a certain token of their being at
Croatoan, which is the place where Manteo was born, and the savages of the
island our friends."[51]
Foul weather prevented White from sailing to Croatan Island, and by October
1590 White was back in Plymouth, England. Thus the colony passed out of history
and its fate with ill the unanswerable questions became a matter of much
historical speculation.
Hawks is of the opinion that
the colony driven by want of supplies, perhaps also by a savage enemy, sought
an asylum among the friendly Hatteras Indians on the Croatan Island.[52]
From the report written by Governor White it is evident that the island- of
Croatan is situated southward from Roanoke. It is one of the long islands
curtaining the coast, embraced within the present county of Carteret. The sound
immediately off Roanoke Island, connecting Albermarle and Pamlico sounds, still
bears the name of Croatan.[53]
There has been much
speculation as to what happened to the "Lost Colony." There are
indications that the colonists were absorbed by the Croatan Indians whose
descendants are still today living in Robeson County, southern North Carolina
and in some parts of South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.[54]
However, we are less concerned with the fate of the "Lost Colony"
than with the identity of those Hatteras Indians who were called Croatans by
the English. Some Croatian and American writers offer incomplete evidence in
their claim that the Croatan Indians, first seen by the English exploring party
of Amadas and Barlow in 1584, were mixed with the Croatian
sailors from wrecked Ragusan ships. These writers mention the legends
circulating in Dalmatia of the ships, which sailed for America and never
returned. They also point out that the word "Croatan" or
"Croatoan" is the old English form for the Latin word "Croata," which during the time when Latin was the official language
in Croatia and many other European countries designated the name
"Croat."
Is the word
"Croatoan" English or Indian? An American historian thinks that
"Croatan, or more properly 'Croatoan', is an Indian word, and was applied
by the Hatteras Indians to the place of their residence."[55]
But as we have seen, more than one place was designated as Croatan. If it was
an Indian word then accidental similarity of the words "Croatoan"
with the words "Croat," and "Croata" is indeed striking.
It is amazing that only a
few of the American historians who were trying to solve the mystery of Croatans
were surprised by the similarity of the names "Croatan" and
"Croatian." Those, like
Professor Roucek, who recognized this linguistic factor often quote to support their
theory the small but brilliant analysis of Hamilton McMillan. There are some
passages in McMillan's study which are very significant in this regard. He
admits that before the coming of the English colonists there were colonies on
our coasts, which "in course of time were neglected and forgotten by the
parent countries and became absorbed by native tribes."[56]
"What may have been the
origin of the tribe, known to us through the English colonists as Croatan, can
only be a matter of conjecture. They had traditions of vessels wrecked in past
times, and they affirmed that iron implements found among them were obtained
from such wrecks. Children with auburn hair and blue eyes were noticed among
them, which impressed the belief that they had communication with white
people."[57]
McMillan further stresses,
as a characteristic, the friendly demeanor of the Croatans towards the whites.
To support his theory of the white origin of these Indians he quotes John
Lawson, who was a surveyor general of North Carolina and visited the Hatteras Indians.
The Croatans told Lawson in 1714 that "several of their ancestors were
white people and could talk in a Book as we do; the Truth of which is confirmed
by gray eyes being found frequently amongst these Indians and no others."[58]
After carefully examining all reports of the first
English visitors in Virginia as well as the traditions prevalent among the
Croatans, McMillan expresses his firm conviction that the Croatans "are descended
from the friendly tribe found on our eastern coast in 1587," and they
"also descended from the lost colonists of Roanoke who were amalgamated
with this tribe."[59]
Most American historians while discussing the origins
of the Croatans are concerned only with the question of whether the Roanoke colonists were absorbed by them and whether
present day Croatans are descendants of those Indians and Englishmen. They completely
overlook the fact, confirmed by the first English reports, that the traces
of white race were found among the Croatans already before the arrival of the
first permanent English settlers. On this important point most historians
depart from Hawks and McMillan, whose argumentation is acceptable for it is
based on authentic documentary evidence. Also the finding of the inscription
"Croatoan" by John White a puzzle to many writers is nothing
mysterious but quite explainable if we take into consideration the particulars given
by White concerning the understanding which existed between him and the
colonists prior to his departure for England in 1.587.
At the other extreme are historians and writers, both
Croatian and American, who are inclined despite all lack of evidence, to declare,
as Z. Kostelski did in concluding his discussion of the subject: "Thus it
could be safely stated that the Croats were the first European settlers of
America."[60] We cannot
agree with this statement, nor can we agree with those who for unknown; reasons
confusedly mark the time of the alleged settling of the Croatan island by the
Croats as the year 1800. Ivan Mladineo,
later to correct this error, was the first to state that "the locality of
Croatan in North Carolina was founded in 1800 ... by shipwrecked Croatian sailors,
who landed here and thus founded the first [Croatian] settlement."[61] One can only wonder where Mladineo obtained
such fantastic information. M. S. Stanoyevich accepted this as a historical fact
stating in addition that "the descendants of these sailors are, of course,
totally Americanized, but the name of the place recalls the race of the
original settlers."[62]
Another writer adds to this whole fantastic story
even more details and determines the time as September, 1800. In his own colorful
story a Croatian ship was just approaching the shores of North Carolina when a
terrible storm occured, and the whole crew almost perished. "Safe after
all, they settled on the very place they landed and called their little colony
Croatan."[63] Unfortunately,
even a very serious symposium published in Zagreb in 1936 accepts this fantastic
second version of the Croatans of 1800.[64]
The story of the Croatans and the first Croats in
America was heard even in the House of Representatives on April 8, 1957. The Hon.
John A. Blatnik (D. Minnesota), a Congressman of Slovenian descent, addressed
the House and subsequently made an insertion in the Congressional Record paying
tribute to the first Croatian, immigrants in America. Said Hon. Blatnik;
"One of the little-known facts concerning the founding of Jamestown in
1607, the 350th anniversary of which is being commemorated this year, is that
numbered among Capt. John Smith's crew were two men of Croatian descent. They were
the first of many thousands of people of Slav descent who came to the New World
to make their homes."[65]
Congressman Blatnik quoted from an article written by
John C. Sciranka in the Frank ford Bulletin, published in Philadelphia, stating
that the Croatian Island "was named in honor of the Croatians.”[66]
In addition, Hon. Blatnik mentioned the statement of the Croatian writer Vlaho
S. Vlahović that "the Dubrovnikians (Ragusans) sailed to America with
Sir Walter Raleigh's band of colonists in 1587." All the given names of
the crew and passengers, of course, were English. Vlahović explains that
in those days it was a practice - among the Ragusans to have their names
translated into the language of their adopted country so that they would be
considered citizens of it. This is evidenced by the Italianized names of many
Dalmatian and Ragusan nobles and writers.
It is the opinion of Mr.
Vlahović - and Hon. Blatnik accepts it as a historical fact - that the
word "Croatoan" carved on the tree at Roanoke Island was nothing else
but the English spelling of "Hrvat" (Croat), and is accordingly the
earliest historical record pointing to the presence of the Croats in America.
Hawks', Lawson's, and McMillan's statements were also
included in Honorable Blatnik's report.
The following is another
interesting detail which escaped the attention of most historians with the
exception of Vlaho Vlahović; "The oldest known grapevine in America
(Still producing delicious grapes) is located on the island close to the spot
where the lost colony is believed to have landed. Governor White noted that
this grapevine was bearing abundant fruit in 1590 which supports my
[Vlahović's] contention that those preceding the Colonists could have been
Croatians."[67]
Vlahović further states
that, "transplanting grapevines is a custom with Dubrovnikian and
Dalmatian navigators … When u Dubrovnikian or Dalmatian sailor embarked on a
long voyage he frequently took with him seedlings, roots, and plants,
especially grapevine cuttings. These he would sow or transplant into the soil
of whatever country he visited. When returning home he would bring back seeds,
shrubs, and strange fruit trees."[68]
As the name of the Croatan
Island was mentioned in this statement we should again go back to I. Mladineo.
His explanation is that "it is likely that a Croatian ship met with
disaster on the coast of North Carolina, and that the sailors, saved from the
wreck, gave the name of their nationality to the Croatan Island (Carteret
County, N. C.), which name the English then used as a designation for the Indians
of that section."[69]
Whatever may be the solution to this mystery, the main problem seems to be
centered around the single word "Croatoan" or "Croatan." S.
B. Weeks thinks it to be an Indian word. If the term "Croatan" did
not originate from that island, why then did the first English colonists use it
and where did they originally hear it? Did the Englishmen call the Indians
"Croatans" merely because they heard the name of Croatan Island or
because they had other reasons to so call them? Neither these nor many other
questions referring to this historical puzzle can be safely answered.
We may speculate, but no one knows the positive
answer to this whole mystery. The story that some Ragusan sailors were shipwrecked
in the vicinity of Roanoke Island and subsequently absorbed by the Indians
there is plausible. Lacking positive evidence to confirm this, we cannot,
however, accept it as a historical fact. If it were confirmed and documented it
would show the earliest contact between America and the Croats. It also would
be a proof that the first Croatian settlers were in America before the coming
of the first English immigrants, and that the inscription "Croatoan"
is the first historical record of the presence of Croats in North America.[70]
The present Croatan Indians of Robeson County made
headlines in January and February 1958, when they clashed with some Ku Klux
Klan members. Hundreds of newspapers and magazines across the nation reported
on the present status and life of the Croatans and renewed the mysterious story
of their descent. Croatian papers in America and in Croatia joined the American
press in the discussion of the old and still unsolved question on the origin of
the first Croatans.[71]
[1] Louis Voynovitch, A Historical Saunter
Through Dubrovnik (Ragusa), (Dubrovnik: "Jadran," 1929), pp.
29-30; Ljubo Karaman, Eseji i ćlanci, (Zagreb: Matica Hrvatska, 1939), p.
67; Francis Preveden, Political and Cultural History of the Croatian People,
(2 vols.; Washington: By the author, 1949), II, pp. 617.27. See
also Pero Digović, La Dalmatie et les Problčmes de l'Adriatique, (Lausanne:
Librairie de l'Université F. Rouge & Cie., 1944), pp.
59-80.
[2] Ivan Mladineo, Narodni Adresar, (New York: By the author, 1937), p. xx. See also Josip Horvat, Kultura Hrvata kroz 1000 Godina, (Zagreb: Velzek, 1939), pp. 345.64.
[3] L. Adamic, The Native's Return. (New York and London: Harper and Brothers, 1934), pp. 151-52.
[4] Ibid., pp. 152-53.
[5] Maude M. Holbach, Dalmatia: the Land Where East Meets West, (London and New York: John Lane, 1908), p. 17; additional information pp. 17-28.
[6] J.S. Roucek, in J.R. Kerner, (ed.), Yugoslavia, (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1949), p. 136; also J.S. Roucek and F. Brown, Our Racial and National Minorities, (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1937), p. 247.
[7] Horvat, op. cit., p. 345.
[8] An., "Kratka Povijest Dubrovnika" Koledar Hrvatskog Svijeta za 1915, (New York: Croatian News Company, 1914). p. 101.
[9] Božo Cvjetković, Uvod u Povijest Dubrovačke Republike, (2 vols.; Dubrovnik: Svećenička Književna Družba, 1916). I, p. 118.
[10] Tijas Mortidjija. "Die Kroatische 'Hansestadt' Dubrovnik." Croatia. (Zagreb: Hrvatski Izdavalački Bibliografski Zavod, 1943). VI, p. 54.
[11] An., "Das ausgewanderte Kroatien," Za Dom (Zagreb), April 1, 1944, p. 5.
[12] An., "Svaki peti Hrvat - iseljenik," Zajedničar (Pittsburgh, Pa.). October 23, 1957, p. 3.
[13] Stjepan Gaži, Croatian Immigration to Allegheny County 1882-1914 (Pittsburgh: Croatian Fraternal Union, 1956). p. 10; Ante Kadić. from the University of California, in Croatian Voice (Winnipeg, Manitoba). June 13. 1955.
[14] Roucek, in Kerner (ed.), Yugoslavia, p. 136, and One America (New York: Prentice Hall, 1945), p. 158.
[15] Louis Adamic, My America 1928-1938 (New York and London: Harper and Brothers, 1938), p. 192.
[16] Louis Adámic, A Nation of Nations (New York and London: Harper and Brothers, 1944), p. 234.
[17] Z. Kostelski. The Yugoslavs (New York: Philosophical Library, 1952), p. 57.
[18] Ibid., p. 58.
[19] Z. Kostelski, The Croats (Floreffe, Pa.: "Kolo" Publishing Company, 1950), p. 25.
[20] Božo N. Milošević, Slavs (Chicago: The New Generation, 1933), p. 44.
[21] Dragutin
Kamber, "Hrvati u Americi," Osoba i Duh (Madrid), V, Nos. 34, 1953, 93-94.
[22] Š. B.
[Sime Balen], "Zagonetno ime Croatan," Vijesnik u Srijedu (Zagreb),
February 12, 1958.
[23] Hrvatski Svijet-Croatian World (New York), June 3, 1909, discussing the question when the first Croats came to this country, concluded that this question "will for all ages remain covered by a veil of mystery."
[24] Cvjetković, op. cit., p. 151; Ivan H. Engel. Povjest Dubrovaćke Republike (Dubrovnik; A. Pasarić, 1903), p. 323.
[25] Mortidjija, op. cit., p. 54. on occasion of the 150th anniversary of the fall of Ragusa, Hrvatska Revija (Buenos Aires), Vol. VIII (1958), pp. 11-24, published Mortidjija's study in Croatian; my quotation is translated from German.
[26] Mortidjija,
op. cit., p. 54.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Ibid. p. 53.
[29] W. F. Wingfield, A Tour in Dalmatia, Albania, and Montenegro, with an Historical Sketch of the Republic of Ragusa (London: Richard Bentley, 1859), p. 290.
[30] Melville Chater, "Dalmatian Days: Coasting along Debatable Shores Where Latin and Slav Meet," The National Geographic Magazine, LIII (January,. 1928), 81.
[31] Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (New York: The Viking Press, 194.5), p. 235; pp. 4-444 contain a good historical account of Croatia.
[32] Roucek, in Kerner (ed.), Yugoslavia, p. 136; Adamic, Native's Return, p. 152.
[33] Chater, op. cit., p. 81.
[34] James K. Anderson, "Links Old Croatia to Indians' Origin," Detroit News, reprinted in The Croatian Courier (Detroit, Michigan), February-March, 1958, p. 7. Newest comments on the theory. See also The Lost Colony: Official Souvenir Program (Roanoke. N. C.: The Roanoke Island Historical Assn.. 1959).
[35] Adamic, A Nation of Nations, p. 235.
[36] Kostelski, The Croats. pp. 25-26.
[37] Ibid., p. 26. Also N. Bašić in It Happened in Yugoslavia, It Must Not Happen Here (Chicago: By the author, n.d.), pp. 192-95. Bašić repeats Adamić´s statements, miscalls the Croatans "Croatians," and in addition claims that those first Croats taught the natives to build two-story stone houses, make roads, and use improved methods of agriculture.
[38] Brown and Roucek (eds.), Our Racial and National Minorities, p. 246, also by the same authors One America, p. 158. In Kerner's symposium Yugoslavia Roucek based his statement on the Croatans (p. 137) with theories of Ivan Mladineo.
[39] Roucek. One America. p. 158.
[40] Francis L. Hawks, History of North Carolina (2 vols, Fayeteville: E. J. Hale & Son, 1857), I. 80. The entire report of Amadas and Barlow reprinted from R. Hakluyt, Voyages, III, 246 f., is found here on pp. 69-88.
[41] Hawks, op. cit.. p. 80.
[42] Ibid.,
p. 81.
[43] Hawks, op. cit., p: 82.
[44] Ibid.. pp. 88-100.
[45] Hamilton McMillan, Sir Falter Raleigh's Lost Colony (Wilson, N. C.: Advance Presses, 1888), p. 7; U.S. Senate, Indians of North Carolina (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1915), pp. 4157.
[46] Hawks, op. cit., I, 100; see map after p. 140.
[47] Ibid., pp. 192-210, containing White's report on his first voyage to Roanoke.
[48] McMillan, op. cit., p. 4; Hawks, op. cit., pp. 192-210.
[49] In this historic sea engagement which marked the beginning of Spain's decline as a sea power, out of 130 large ships 35 were from Dubrovnik. Admiral Pedro Ohmučević with 12 ships under his direct command fought on the side of Spain. See Stjepan Buć, "Vanjska politika Dubrovnika," Hrvatska Država (Munich), March 1, 1958, p. 4.
[50] Hawks, op. cit., I. 226; McMillan, op. cit., p. 6.
[51] T. Lefler, History of North. Carolina (2 vols., New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1956), I. 28.
[52] Hawks, op. cit., I. 228.
[53] McMillan, op. cit., p. 7; see also the valuable maps in Hawks, op. cit., Vol. II, one map dated 1666, another 1709, the latter prepared by Lawson to whom reference will be made later in this chapter.
[54] Adamic, A Nation of Nations, p. 235; U. S. Senate, Indians of North Carolina, p. 7.
[55] Stephen B. Weeks. "The Lost Colony of Roanoke " Papers of the American Historical Association, 1891, pp. 460-477, reprinted in U. S. Senate, Indians of North Carolina, p. 58.
[56] McMillan. op. cit., p. 11.
[57] Ibid.
[58] John Lawson, History of North Carolina (London: W. Taylor, 1714), p. 52. Lawson believes that the colony at Roanoke "miscarried for want of timely supplies from England," ibid., a new edition of Lawson's book appeared under the same title in Richmond, Va.: Garrett and Massie. 1952.
[59] McMillan. op. cit.. p. 27.
[60] Kostelski, The Yugoslavs, p. 58.
[61] Ivan Mladineo, Almanak Amerika (New York: America Almanac Publishing Company, 1922), p. 258; Ljubomir St. Kosier, Srbi, Hrvati i Slovenci u Americi (Beograd: Biblioteka Bankarstva, 1926), pp. 17-18.
[62] Milivoj S. Stanoyevich, The Jugoslavs in the United States of America (New York: Jugoslav Section of America's Making, 1921), p. 14.
[63] Milošević, Slavs, p. 45; Slavko Nemec in
History of Croatian Settlement in St. Louis, Mo. (St. Louis: By the author. 1931), p. 1.
[64] Obzor
Spornen Knjiga (Zagreb: Tipografija,
1936), p.100.
[65] Congressional Record, Appendix, (April 8, 1957), p. A2798.
[66] Ibid., also John C. Sciranka, "John Smith and the Croats," Zajedničar (Pittsburgh, Pa.), June 12. 1957.
[67] Congressional Record, April 8, 1957.
[68] Ibid., also Zajedničar. April 17,
1957.
[69] Mladineo.
Narodni Adresar, p. xxi.
[70] Croatian Courier (Detroit),
February-March, 1958, p. 7; Silvije Grubišić, "Evropejci na američkom
kopnu prije Kolumba," Croatian Almanac for 1956 (Chicago: Croatian Franciscans,
1955), pp. 67-71; Anton Pranich, "Studija o
našim prvim iseljenicima,"
Zajedničar, January 8, 1951.
[71] Washington Post and Times Herald, January 18 and 26, 1958; Life, February 3, 1958, p. 36; Zajedničar, February 5, 1958; Vijesnik u Srijedu (Zagreb), February 12, 1958.