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The
Runestone by
Bob Bowman | |
East Texans willing
to take the time to drive about 100 miles into eastern Oklahoma will be rewarded
with a centuries-old mystery.
And then when they leave the small town of
Heavener, Oklahoma, they may carry with them a lingering doubt that Christopher
Columbus really discovered America.
In
a small, rocky hollow on Poteau Mountain near Heavener is a mystery etched into
the face of a large slab of rock standing 12 feet tall, 10 feet wide, and 16 inches
thick. For years, Heavener residents called it "Indian Rock." Today, it's known
as the Heavener Runestone.
Local history says the rock was discovered
by a Choctaw hunting party sometime in the 1830s. Etched on the face of the rock
was an inscription of eight strange letters. White men who later settled in the
area also saw the stone and, in 1913 Carl Kemmerer submitted the letters to the
Smithsonian Institution, which identified the letters as Norse "runes" or letters.
Gloria Stewart Farley, who had seen the inscription as a child, began
a 38-year effort to find answers to the lettering. In 1970, after the Herbert
Ward family donated 55 acres surrounding the stone to the State of Oklahoma, the
Runestone State Park was founded. People have continued to probe into the mystery.
Alf Monge, a Norway-born cryptanalyst, said the letters represented the date of
November 11, 1012, and speculated that ancient Vikings carved the letters into
the rock. His theory was supported by the discovery or additional runestones in
eastern Oklahoma.
By 1985, researchers theorized the runestones were carved
before 800 AD. Dr. Richard Nelson, whose doctorate was obtained in Denmark, translated
the symbols into words instead of numbers. He said the inscription was from the
oldest 24-rune Futhark alphabet, in use from 300 to 800 AD in Scandinavia.
Nelson said the letters on the Heavener runestone spelled G-L-O-M-E-D-A-L, which
meant Glome's Valley and constituted a land claim.
Today, Oklahomans believe
that Vikings from Norway crossed the Atlantic, rounded the tip of Florida into
the Gulf of Mexico, went up the Mississippi River, and sailed into its tributaries,
the Arkansas and Poteau rivers around 750 AD. The feat was likely possible because
the Vikings often used boats with shallow drafts.
If all of this is true,
this means that Vikings, as other historians have speculated, really discovered
America some five centuries before Columbus sailed here. |
Heavener State
ParkIf
you choose to see the Heavener Runestone yourself, here's how to get there: From
DeKalb in East Texas, drive north on U.S. 259 and continue for about ninety miles
until you reach an intersection with U.S. 59, which will carry you fourteen miles
to Heavener. Follow the green signs to Heavener State Park.
Even if you
don't enjoy the mystery, the scenic walk into the cool, shaded Runestone Hollow
is worth the trip. |
All
Things Historical
February 19, 2006 Column
Published with permission
(Distributed by the
East Texas Historical Association. Bob Bowman of Lufkin is a former president
of the Association and the author of more than 30 books about East Texas.) |
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