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Mainstreet Radio's Gretchen Lehmann profiles the Kensington Runestone…and the debate over the authenticity that has has waged on for one hundred years.

There's still no definitive conclusion on this rock which farmer Olaf Ohman unearthed on his western Minnesota farm back in 1898. Amateur sleuths have poured thousands of dollars of their own money into gathering evidence the stone is for real, and academics have spent decades trying to prove it's a fake. The one thing clear about this debate is that's its deeply rooted in faith, culture and community.

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BRAD LANTZ: That's the thing right there that everybody is talking about, a 200-pound piece of rock.

GRETCHEN LEHMANN: Brad Lantz gazes admiringly at the huge glass display case, which is now the home of the Kensington Runestone. Lantz is a volunteer at the Runestone Museum in Alexandria. And whenever he has a free day, he leads visitors through this gallery of rocks, artifacts, newspaper articles, and photos. Not surprisingly, he's a firm believer the Kensington Runestone is genuine.

BRAD LANTZ: I haven't gone out with a shovel because I wouldn't know where to start or anything like that. But it's talking to people and I read as much as I can. And I'm just convinced that There are more things that are for the authenticity than against it.

GRETCHEN LEHMANN: Lantz and his neighbors know all the arguments against the runestone's authenticity. They've heard the claims this dark gray rock with ancient runic writing on it is a hoax perpetrated by early Scandinavian settlers. They know many Viking historians say it's impossible early Scandinavians could travel as far as Minnesota when they reach this continent. And they're also keenly aware many Minnesotans laugh at them for their belief in the relic. But they carry on.

GILLMORE MOE: There's six of us that are doing quite a bit of research on this.

GRETCHEN LEHMANN: Gillmore Moe is a 76-year-old native of Western Minnesota. His weathered face lights up when he talks about the runestone. But he also has the manner of an investigator who can't tell you the whole story, a story he has carried all his life.

GILLMORE MOE: We find a few artifacts. I have a stone that I've had 57 years. It's a getaway stone. And what I mean by that is this stone was throwed out in the water before they land. And then they'd have that tied to the ship or boat. So in case they got attacked or something, they could pull themselves out into water faster than they could row out.

GRETCHEN LEHMANN: Moe is one of the few remaining people who has an immediate connection to the runestone's eventful history. He grew up with Art Ohman, the son of the farmer who discovered the stone. He heard all the stories about the runestone controversy firsthand. And his own recollections and findings have added to the debate. Runestone Museum executive director Arlene Fults says amateur researchers like Gillmore Moe are keeping the spirit of the runestone alive.

ARLENE FULTS: It's given us a bonding in this community, created a sense of who we are maybe a little bit, maybe about where we're going. And it defines us. And that's good.

GRETCHEN LEHMANN: Fults says she still regularly gets calls from newspaper reporters and TV crews from around the world who are intrigued by this community of amateur detectives. She says it's discouraging that many in the media paint the runestone believers as quaint and misguided. Minnesota-based archeologist and historian Tom Trow says the intrigue of this story does often overshadow its cultural significance. In a recent article for Minnesota History magazine, Trow explains the last 100 years of debate is really about the struggle for ethnic pride in a culturally diverse nation.

TOM TROW: In 1898, when it was found, it was a time when there was a lot of competition among immigrant groups. And there was the sense that the Italian Americans really were one up on everybody because they could claim that Columbus was the first among the Europeans to come to these shores. Meanwhile, the Scandinavian community knew from their own sagas that Vikings had been here much earlier, into the New World at 1,000 AD.

GRETCHEN LEHMANN: Trow says the intensity of this ethnic rivalry is not as great in the 1990s, but traces of it continue. It's not surprising, he says, that the greatest interest in the runestone remains in the predominantly Scandinavian communities in Western Minnesota. Trow does admit the runestone story still attracts many scholars outside Minnesota and Scandinavia. He says it's the notion of a fantastic, adventurous journey that draws people to the story.

TOM TROW: It's fun to imagine that the Vikings made it 1,000 miles down from Hudson Bay. It's fun to imagine that they made it through this wilderness and all the hardship of going upstream, up these rivers, into the wilderness and somehow or other ended up in this part of Western Minnesota.

GRETCHEN LEHMANN: Trow predicts no end to the debate over the runestone's authenticity. Runestone Museum director Arlene Fults agrees. And that's a reality she's willing to accept.

ARLENE FULTS: I love the mystery of the stone. Yes, I want to see it solved. But in the process of solving the mystery, we lose the mystery. And that would be-- I would find that a little bit sad personally, to lose that mysterious quality that it has. And if someday it is proven to be a hoax, we still have a priceless artifact.

GRETCHEN LEHMANN: The mystery of the stone may need to be solved soon. If not, it's possible the handful of people with a passion for the story may die. 81-year-old Marion Dahm is one of these people. He's researched the Kensington Runestone for 40 years and doesn't plan to quit anytime soon. This winter, he and an underwater camera crew are heading to Norway Lake, near Willmar, to locate what Dahm says is another runestone and another mystery. In Collegeville, I'm Gretchen Lehmann, Minnesota Public Radio.

Funders

Digitization made possible by the State of Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, approved by voters in 2008.

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