The first confirmed Viking settlement in North America was active by 1021 AD, nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus. Located at L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland, Canada, this site is the only proven Norse settlement on the continent.
The earliest documented evidence of long-distance, open-water seafaring in Europe dates back to the Mesolithic period (at least 6400–5400 BCE / 8400 to 7400 years ago) in the Mediterranean, where hunter-gatherers made open-sea crossings of 100 km or more to reach Malta. In Northern Europe and Scandinavia, the earliest known large plank-built vessels capable of coastal and offshore movement include the Hjortspring boat (c. 350 BCE) and the Nydam ship (c. 350–400 CE), which could travel long distances overseas.
Now imagine you have someone like a German, but off medication, coming to your house in a cold area somewhere across the Polar Circle. Slightly retarded, but nice you give him shelter and food, not realizing that idiot is convinced you are his slave until they become violent against your youngest child, the most vulnerable, to blame the dog.
Ancient Greeks first proposed that the Earth was round around the 6th to 5th century BC, with the concept firmly established using physical evidence by Aristotle in the 4th century BC, and its size calculated by Eratosthenes around 240 BC.
As much as Germans have a very bad understanding of what their forces did in both World Wars, I am sure a lot of our history was rewritten... just based on logic.
Why do we take that?? Since possibly 6400 BCE ... earliest.
#noblessoblige
#neversurrender
#cyberpunkcoltoure
Yes, that is true. The first European settlers left behind by Christopher Columbus—39 Spanish crew members at a makeshift outpost named La Navidad in present-day Haiti—were eventually attacked and killed by local Indigenous Taíno people. [1, 2, 3]
## What Happened at La Navidad
* The Shipwreck: On Christmas Eve in 1492, Columbus's flagship, the Santa María, ran aground on a reef off the coast of Hispaniola. [2, 4]
* The Settlement: Lacking space to take everyone back on the remaining ship, Columbus used timber from the wrecked ship to build a small fort. He left 39 men behind with instructions to gather gold and get along with the local Taíno. [2, 3, 5, 6]
* The Conflict: When Columbus returned in late 1493 on his second voyage, he found the fort burned to the ground and all the men dead. [5, 7]
* The Cause: Local Indigenous chiefs explained that the Spanish settlers had broken discipline, fighting among themselves, seizing local gold, and forcing demands upon Taíno women. This misconduct provoked neighboring chieftains (such as Caonabo) to retaliate, leading to the destruction of the garrison. [1, 3, 5]
If you'd like, I can share more details about Columbus's second settlement (La Isabela) or how the relations between the Spanish and the Taíno evolved after this event.
[1] [https://theageofexploration.com](https://theageofexploration.com/on-christmas-day-1492-columbus-lost-the-santa-maria/)
[2] [https://www.thoughtco.com](https://www.thoughtco.com/la-navidad-first-european-settlement-2136439)
[3] [https://www.youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n_dE4ik3l4)
[4] [https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu](https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/histarch/research/haiti/en-bas-saline/)
[5] [https://www.youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh-d0qyn5F8&t=3)
[6] [https://www.facebook.com](https://www.facebook.com/newsarchaeological/posts/the-first-spanish-settlement-in-the-new-world-began-by-accident-after-the-ship-s/915694141202039/)
[7] [https://www.cobbles.com](http://www.cobbles.com/lost-treasure-hunt/fact_check/navidad.html)
* The Shipwreck: On Christmas Eve in 1492, Columbus's flagship, the Santa María, ran aground on a reef off the coast of Hispaniola. [2, 4]
* The Settlement: Lacking space to take everyone back on the remaining ship, Columbus used timber from the wrecked ship to build a small fort. He left 39 men behind with instructions to gather gold and get along with the local Taíno. [2, 3, 5, 6]
* The Conflict: When Columbus returned in late 1493 on his second voyage, he found the fort burned to the ground and all the men dead. [5, 7]
* The Cause: Local Indigenous chiefs explained that the Spanish settlers had broken discipline, fighting among themselves, seizing local gold, and forcing demands upon Taíno women. This misconduct provoked neighboring chieftains (such as Caonabo) to retaliate, leading to the destruction of the garrison. [1, 3, 5]
If you'd like, I can share more details about Columbus's second settlement (La Isabela) or how the relations between the Spanish and the Taíno evolved after this event.
[1] [https://theageofexploration.com](https://theageofexploration.com/on-christmas-day-1492-columbus-lost-the-santa-maria/)
[2] [https://www.thoughtco.com](https://www.thoughtco.com/la-navidad-first-european-settlement-2136439)
[3] [https://www.youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n_dE4ik3l4)
[4] [https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu](https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/histarch/research/haiti/en-bas-saline/)
[5] [https://www.youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh-d0qyn5F8&t=3)
[6] [https://www.facebook.com](https://www.facebook.com/newsarchaeological/posts/the-first-spanish-settlement-in-the-new-world-began-by-accident-after-the-ship-s/915694141202039/)
[7] [https://www.cobbles.com](http://www.cobbles.com/lost-treasure-hunt/fact_check/navidad.html)
If you are referring to a settlement further north that suffered a devastating native siege and mass casualties over a brutal winter, you are likely thinking of Jamestown, Virginia during the winter of 1609–1610, a horrific period known historically as "The Starving Time." [1, 2]
## What Happened During Jamestown's "Starving Time"
* The Winter Siege: In the fall of 1609, the leadership of Chief Powhatan decided to stop trading food with the English and confined them inside their wooden fort. Powhatan warriors killed any settler who stepped outside the walls to hunt or gather wood. [3]
* The Toll: Trapped inside during a bitter winter and a historic drought, roughly 440 out of 500 settlers died in just a few months. By spring 1610, only 60 emaciated survivors remained. [2, 4, 5, 6]
* Extreme Survival: To stay alive, the colonists ate horses, dogs, rats, mice, and leather from their shoes. Archaeological evidence has since confirmed that the starving survivors even resorted to cannibalism. [2, 5, 7]
------------------------------
## Alternative Historical Possibilities
Depending on the specific details you remember, your description might also match these other early northern settlements:
* Charlesbourg-Royal (Quebec, Canada - 1541–1543): This was a very early French settlement established by Jacques Cartier. During the harsh northern winter, the colonists suffered from scurvy and constant, bloody attacks from the local Iroquoian village of Stadacona. The combination of freezing weather and native hostility forced the French to completely abandon the site in 1543. [8]
* The Raid on Deerfield (Massachusetts - Winter 1704): If you are thinking of a sudden, dramatic attack in the middle of winter, a joint force of French soldiers and Native American allies executed a famous mid-winter raid over heavy snow against this English frontier town. Fifty settlers were killed, and over 100 were forced to march to Canada. [9]
* The Lost Colony of Roanoke (North Carolina - 1587): While they weren't explicitly wiped out by a winter siege, this early English colony suffered immediate native attacks. When their governor returned years later, the entire population had vanished, sparking the famous "Lost Colony" mystery. [10, 11, 12]
Does Jamestown's Starving Time sound like the event you had in mind, or did the details about Cartier's winter fort in Canada ring a bell?
[1] [https://www.history.com](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/may-14/jamestown-settlers-arrive)
[2] [https://encyclopediavirginia.org](https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/starving-time-the/)
[3] [https://www.historysnob.com](https://www.historysnob.com/war-and-historical-events/the-starving-time-colonial-americas-darkest-hour)
[4] [https://www.pbs.org](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/death-jamestown-background/1428/)
[5] [https://en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starving_Time)
[6] [https://historynet.com](https://historynet.com/the-hurricane-that-saved-jamestown/)
[7] [https://www.youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9kfelyzFW4&t=8)
[8] [https://apalacheresearch.com](https://apalacheresearch.com/2020/07/03/the-earliest-french-colonies-in-north-america/)
[9] [https://www.loc.gov](https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/february-29/)
[10] [https://www.nps.gov](https://www.nps.gov/fora/learn/historyculture/1587-the-lost-colony.htm)
[11] [https://www.instagram.com](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYbi0N4zS12/)
[12] [https://edwardworthlibrary.ie](https://edwardworthlibrary.ie/book-of-the-month/2013-books-of-the-month/2013-september-john-smith-and-new-england/)
We also can't resettle them back to the Americas, but they just keep making rules for everyone.
