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.