Few realize or remember that the very beginnings of English colonization in North America were fraught with tremendous hardship, peril, and connected to an enduring mystery. A charter was granted to Sir Walter Raleigh by Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1584 to explore and colonize lands unclaimed by Christian kingdoms, south of Newfoundland, and north of Spanish Florida. With hopes of finding vast riches as the Spanish Empire had done in Central and South America and a possible Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, Raleigh had initiated two attempts at establishing an English settlement along the coast of present-day North Carolina. The first colony was set up by Governor Ralph Lane in 1585 on Roanoke Island, located in the Outer Banks. This enterprise would end in failure and evacuation from scare resources and hostile relations with the local Native American tribes.