Myths of the Rune Stone
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91.Holand, Norwegians in America, 167.
92.Rølvaag, Giants in the Earth, 41.
93.Pahl, Empire of Sacrifice, 4.
94.Holand, History of Norwegian Settlements, 1.
95.Ibid., 282.
96.Perhaps one of the most potent symbols of innocent domination is Francis Davis Millet’s painting The Signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux. In the words of Mary Lethert Wingerd, the painting is a representation of white Minnesotans’ understanding of the history of Indian land cessions: “His vista of a peaceful and majestic ceremony, conducted under a waving American flag, provides no hint of coercion or desperation” (Wingerd, North Country, Plate Caption 128).
97.Holand, Norwegians in America, 3.
98.Ibid., 95. Holand fashioned for himself his own pioneer experience. After graduate school, he purchased a piece of land in sparsely populated Door County, Wisconsin. He planted a fruit orchard, which eventually financed much of his research.
99.Graber, “Mighty Upheaval on the Minnesota Frontier,” 76–108.
100.As indicated earlier, contemporary historical accounts demonstrate that white–Indian relations in Minnesota prior to the Dakota War of 1862 were far more nuanced than these Manichaean accounts portray.
101.Holand, History of Norwegian Settlements, 255.
102.Holand, Norwegians in America, 34.
103.In 1904, the building was later moved to the Luther Seminary campus in St. Paul, where it still stands today.
104.This ideology has a lineage that traces back to John Locke’s ideological defense of private property. Writing in the late seventeenth century, Locke asserts that Europeans were entitled to claim land in North America because they mixed their labor with the fruit of the landscape: “As much land as a man tills, plants, improves, cultivates, and can use the product of, so much is his property.” Although God had given land to humans in common, he did not intend for it to remain unclaimed and uncultivated. Locke claims that God desires land to be in the hands of the “industrious and rational” (Locke, Second Treatise of Government, 21).
105.In Mark Juergensmeyer’s theory, cosmic wars often “evoke great battles of a legendary past, and they relate to metaphysical conflicts between good and evil (Terror in the Mind of God, 146).
3. In Defense of Main Street
1.The U.S. Census recorded a loss of 226 residents in Douglas County from 1920 to 1930 (Sletto, Douglas County’s Immigrants, 22).
2.Campion and Fine, “‘Main Street’ on Main Street,” 80.
3.See Orvell, The Death and Life of Main Street.
4.Morris Dickstein, “Introduction,” in Lewis, Main Street, xiv.
5.Lingeman, Sinclair Lewis, 159.
6.Orvell, The Death and Life of Main Street, 73.
7.“Sauk Centre Man Has Arrived as an Author,” Sauk Centre Herald (Sauk Centre, Minnesota), March 13, 1921.
8.Lingeman, Sinclair Lewis, 201.
9.Campion and Fine, “‘Main Street’ on Main Street,” 83.
10.Ibid., 88.
11.Ibid., 89, 84.
12.Writing in the early twentieth century, French sociologist Émile Durkheim researched the religious beliefs and rituals of indigenous groups in Australia. He observed that various clans within the tribe identified themselves with an image of a particular plant or animal. Durkheim referred to this image as a totem, which was used as a marking on all persons and things belonging to the clan. In modern societies, the totem can be understood to be a flag or coat of arms that represents a particular group or nation. Durkheim maintains that totemic identification is at its heart a religious process. Members of social groups worship themselves through identifying with collective totems. In Durkheim’s view, society is God (Durkheim, Elementary Forms of Religious Life, 208).
13.“They Banished ‘Main Street’: Library Censors at Alexandria, Minn, Put Ban on Lewis’s Book,” Kansas City Star, August 31, 1921, 7.
14.This point was also stated in an article in the St. Cloud Times and in the Milwaukee Journal.
15.“Alexandria Denies Banning of Book,” Sauk Centre Herald (Sauk Centre, Minnesota), September 15, 1921.
16.Price, Indianapolis Then and Now, 102.
17.Glass, “Alexanders All.”
18.“Bjorklund’s Opinion and Dream on the Runestone Memorial,” Glenwood Herald (Glenwood, Minnesota), May 5, 1927. At some point, Bjorklund changed the name of his pharmacy to “Runestone Pharmacy.”
19.“Kensington Plans Monument to Norsemen,” Park Region Echo, April 14, 1927.
20.Fahlin was Swedish-American and his family members were among the very first white settlers of Douglas County.
21.“Thousands View Famous Stone and Hear Its History,” Park Region Echo, June 2, 1927.
22.“Everybody Bound for Oscar Lake on June 1st,” Park Region Echo, May 19, 1927.
23.Elna Thompson, “The Kensington Runestone,” circa 1928; from the archives of the Kensington Area Heritage Society.
24.Local residents were not unanimous in recognizing the value of building a monument to the Kensington Rune Stone. One editorial stated that it would be more appropriate to build a monument to the pioneers who settled and founded the community: “The adventure of the Norsemen resulted in no benefit to themselves or anybody else. They came to their deaths in a swamp near Kensington and the world was bettered not one iota for their having lived and died, if the story about them is true.” The editor quipped that it would be more beneficial to build a monument to “the dairy cow—the real discoverer of Douglas County” (“If We Put Up a Monument,” Park Region Echo, April 14, 1927).
25.“Committee Chosen to Head Runestone Monument Project,” Park Region Echo, June 23, 1927.
26.There was some debate among monument promoters about keeping the actual artifact at the monument site for fear that it could be damaged or defaced unless it was guarded continually (“Everybody Bound for Oscar Lake on June 1st,” Park Region Echo, May 19, 1927).
27.“Kensington Plans Monument to Runestone Norsemen,” Park Region Echo, April 14, 1927.
28.“Committee Chosen to Head Runestone Monument Project,” Park Region Echo, June 23, 1927.
29.Robert Belmont Freeman Jr., “Design Proposals for the Washington National Monument,” Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. 49 (1973/1974): 163; http://www.jstor.org/stable/40067740 (accessed April 14, 2010).
30.At least one genealogist in the late nineteenth century argued that the lineage of George Washington can be traced to the Norse God Odin. See Welles, The Pedigree and History of the Washington Family Derived from Odin, the Founder of Scandinavia. B.C. 70, Involving a Period of Eighteen Centuries, and Including Fifty-Five Generations, Down to General George Washington, First President of the United States. It is not known if local monument boosters would have been aware of this claim.
31.Completed in 1929 and standing at 447 feet, Minneapolis’s Foshay Tower became the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. Wilbur Foshay based his design of the tower on the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. It is possible that Bjorklund and other monument supporters found some inspiration in Foshay’s project, especially because local residents were involved in its construction (“Tower Built by Men Dedicated,” Park Region Echo, August 1, 1929).
32.“Mystery of the Kensington Rune,” Ogden Standard, January 7, 1910. Latin inscriptions frequently utilize the character “V” for a “U.”
33.Wahlgren, The Kensington Stone, 164–65.
34.Jolicoeur and Knowles, “Fraternal Associations and Civil Religion,” 6, 17.
35.“Large Crowd Attends Runestone Rally at the Armory,” Park Region Echo, December 1, 1927.
36.Skog, The Kensington Runestone, 5.
37.Ibid.
38.Odd Lovoll coined the term “Chamber of Commerce ethnicity” to describe the ways that small towns capitalized on the so-called ethnic revival of the 196
0s and 1970s by promoting ethnic-themed civic celebrations. He points to the example of Madison, Minnesota, which declared itself “Lutefisk Capital USA” in 1983. The celebration of this traditionally Scandinavian dish was a way to generate financial gain from an appeal to ethnic nostalgia. The civic boosterism with the rune stone at its center is an example of commercial interests capitalizing on ethnic nostalgia much earlier in the twentieth century. See Lovoll, Norwegians on the Prairie, 262–70.
39.“Memorial for Norsemen Approaches Reality as Result of Festival Here,” Park Region Echo, December 1, 1927.
40.“Commerce Club Bid Accepted,” Park Region Echo, February 16, 1928.
41.“Runestone Attracts Much Attention,” Park Region Echo, September 12, 1929.
42.“Runestone Park Foundation Discusses Future of Kensington Runestone Park,” Hoffman Tribune, January 13, 2005.
43.“Famous Runestone is Mounted in a New Case,” Park Region Echo, August 1, 1929.
44.“Kensington Plans Monument to Norsemen,” Park Region Echo, April 14, 1927.
45.To this day, many residents in Kensington resent the fact that the stone resides in Alexandria. They feel that their artifact was taken from them.
46.The persons who put up money were listed as follows: Phil Noonan, Carl V. Anderson, C. O. Franzen, Judge C. J. Gunderson, Dr. A. D. Haskell, Gustav A. Kortsch, Constant Larson, J. O. Shulind, T. A. Syvrud, and J. A. Wedum.
47.The Alexandria businessmen were not as concerned as the Minnesota Historical Society over the question of legitimate ownership. They took Holand’s word that he was indeed the owner. Throughout the twentieth century, some residents of the village of Kensington have felt that their rune stone had been stolen by the bigger city of Alexandria. In the gift shop of the Kensington Area Heritage Society, there are T-shirts with the phrase “Kensington, Minnesota: the Real Home of the Kensington Rune Stone.”
48.“Hometown Opportunities,” Park Region Echo, February 9, 1928.
49.Ibid.
50.An editorial from the preceding year expresses the futility of banning “sensational” books by authors like Lewis because it only boosts sales. See “Boosting Sinclair Lewis” (Park Region Echo, March 31, 1927).
51.Karen Fields, “Translator’s Introduction,” in Durkheim, Elementary Forms of Religious Life, xli.
52.“Everybody Bound for Oscar Lake on June 1st,” Park Region Echo, May 19, 1927.
53.“Famous Stone Is to Stay Here,” Park Region Echo, February 9, 1928.
54.“Runestone Story to Reach Many,” Park Region Echo, January 26, 1933.
55.“Runestone Days Is On in Full Blast,” Park Region Echo, June 23, 1938.
56.“Finance Plan for Runestone Days,” Park Region Echo, April 21, 1938.
57.Southwick, Building on a Borrowed Past, 129.
58.Glassberg, American Historical Pageantry, 1.
59.“Runestone Days Program Ready,” Park Region Echo, May 19, 1938.
60.“Runestone Days Celebration Is On in Full Blast,” Park Region Echo, June 23, 1938.
61.“150 Actors on Big Open Air Stage,” Park Region Echo, June 16, 1938.
62.“Runestone Tokens Prove Popular,” Park Region Echo, August 18, 1938. These rune stone replicas or tokens bear a resemblance to “churingas,” which Durkheim studied among the Arunta people of Australia. Churingas were often polished pieces of stone with an engraved design representing the totem of the group. They often played a role in group ritual but were also used by individuals to provide “strength, courage, and perseverance, while depressing and weakening their enemies.” Likewise, rune stone replicas provided individuals with a ritual object that evoked an image of Nordic heroism and a pioneer spirit. Placed on a display shelf or an office desk, the rune stone replica had the power to inspire greatness in the modern age. See Durkheim, Elementary Forms, 118–22.
63.“150 Actors on Big Open Air Stage,” Park Region Echo, June 16, 1938.
64.“Did You Know,” Park Region Echo, August 11, 1938.
65.In the latter, Holand discussed at length a controversial stone tower in Newport, Rhode Island. Although most historians had concluded that it was likely a windmill dating to the early colonial period, there were some who argued that it was built by Vikings in the twelfth century. Anthropologist Philip Ainsworth Means makes this claim in Newport Tower. Holand argued that the tower was a Norse fortress and a stopping point for the Knutson expedition on its way to Minnesota.
66.“Runestone May Be Displayed in U.S. National Museum,” Park Region Echo (Alexandria, Minnesota), December 16, 1947.
67.Wahlgren cites page 343 of the National Geographic Magazine (vol. 94, September 1948), which includes a photo of Neil M. Judd, Curator of Archaeology at the Smithsonian, inspecting the stone with a magnifying glass. The quote listed below the photo states: “Later studies indicate that it was carved by white men who had traveled far into North America long before Columbus’s first voyage” (Wahlgren, The Kensington Stone, 5).
68.“Danish Scientist Surveys Runestone Site Saturday,” Park Region Echo, October 5, 1948.
69.“Runestone Verified by Noted Scientist,” Park Region Echo, November 23, 1948.
70.“Runestone Pictured in Sunday Tribune,” Park Region Echo, March 30, 1948.
71.“Runestone Given Spotlight at Museum, Baker Reports,” Park Region Echo, February 15, 1949.
72.“Runestone Attracts 60,000 Visitors at State Fair,” Park Region Echo, September 8, 1949.
73.Gilman and Smith, “Vikings in Minnesota,” 16.
74.See Wahlgren, The Kensington Stone, 5.
75.Ibid., 182n3.
76.“Danish Scholar Expresses Doubt over Runestone,” Park Region Echo, January 27, 1955.
77.Sprunger, “Mystery and Obsession,” 148.
78.Holvik acquired the books from Amanda with the understanding that they would be returned. Holvik refused to do so and sent her a check for five dollars as compensation. Amanda refused the check and sent it back. Holvik’s mistreatment of Amanda is frequently mentioned by defenders of the rune stone. See Nielson and Wolter, The Kensington Stone, 158–63.
79.“Professor at Concordia Claims Runestone Is Fake,” Park Region Echo, December 21, 1948.
80.“More Criticism Directed at Runestone by Holvik,” Park Region Echo, December 28, 1948.
81.“Holvik Continues Runestone Query,” Park Region Echo, October 18, 1949.
82.Susag and Susag, “Scandinavian Group Identity,” 34.
83.Inspired by Holand’s theory about the Kensington Rune Stone, two teenage boys, Eric Sevareid and Walter Port, embarked on a 2,250 mile canoe trip from Minneapolis to the Hudson Bay in Canada in 1930 to trace the journey of the Norsmen. Sevareid’s account of the journey, Canoeing with the Cree, details the hardships and dangers the boys experienced on their journey. The account is revealing of the twentieth-century nostalgia for the physical hardships of the frontier period. Immediately following his trip, Sevareid notes that he had the physical strength to overpower his older and larger brother—until life back in the city led to “sedentary habits that softened my flesh.” Sevareid also notes that he was part of the first generation to grow up “without the American West shining before the eye of the mind as the vision of the future” (Sevareid, Not So Wild a Dream, 16, 23.
84.This motif resonates with Thomas Tweed’s theory of religion, which describes how religious adherents draw upon “human and suprahuman forces” to cross boundaries. In this instance, the boundary to be crossed is the challenge for the rural, Midwestern community to be recognized as significant in American culture. See Tweed, Crossing and Dwelling, 73.
85.Holand’s defense of Ohman is ironic given Holand’s mistreatment of him. Holand was more eager to defend Ohman the symbol than Ohman the person.
86.Holand, Explorations in America before Columbus.
87.Holand, A Holy Mission to Minnesota 600 Years Ago.
; 88.Holand, Explorations in America before Columbus, 175.
89.Ibid., 162; Holand, A Holy Mission to Minnesota 600 Years Ago. In addition to the Kensington Rune Stone, Ohman himself emerged as a totem for rural, western Minnesotans.
90.Editor’s note, “Curious Slab Still Center of Controversy,” Minneapolis Star, April 11, 1955. This series of articles titled “Kensington Rune Stone: Hoax or History?” appeared in the Minneapolis Star from April 11 to April 16 in 1955.