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The Runestone Timeline
"The Biography of a Riddle”
The story of the Kensington Runestone is still unfolding. Since the mysterious stone was found so long ago, it has had many homes, traveled to many places, been the subject of a host of books and articles, and sparked a controversy that shows no sign of ending. What happened to the Runestone after it was discovered is as intriguing, in its own way, as the possibility that Vikings came to Minnesota in the 14th century.
1898: Olaf Ohman uncovered the Runestone on his farm near Kensington. A photograph of Mr. Ohman and His family is on exhibit at the Runestone Museum. The photo was probably taken in the 1890’s.
1899: The Runestone was displayed at a hardware store or bank in Kensington. News of the stone’s discovery hit the newspapers, and it was shipped to George O. Curme, a professor of philosophy at Norwest University for analysis. Curme concluded the inscription on the stone was “ungenuine”.
1901: The Runestone was returned to Olaf Ohman and for the next six years it laid face down on the ground as a stepping stone to his granary.
1907: Hjalmer Holand, a student of Scandinavian immigration, learned about the Runestone and viewed it at the Ohman’s farm. Holand took the stone home with him to Door County, Wisconsin, and began a lifelong campaign to probe its authenticity.
1909: The Norwegian Society of Minneapolis took affidavits from Ohman and the others and declared the stone was genuine.
1910: Holand deposited the Runestone at the Minnesota Historical Society. The Society’s museum committee reported favorably on the authenticity of the stone, but its findings were not endorsed by the institution’s governing body.
Holand exhibited and defended the Runestone at the Chicago Historical Society.
George T. Flom, a University of Illinois linguist, studied the inscription and declared “the lateness of the runes and the modern characters of the language prove that it was chiseled in recent times.”
1911: Holand offered to sell the stone to the Minnesota Historical Society for $500.
The Society declined because it was not sure weather Holand or Ohman was the legal owner.
Holand took the stone to Europe, exhibiting it in France, Germany, Denmark, and Norway and debated its authenticity with doubting scholars.
1927: The Runestone was a part of the Fourth of July celebration at Oscar Lake. Olaf Ohman and Hjalmer Holand posed with other men who were part of the Runestone Celebration committee. Olaf Ohman and Hjalmer Holand were at front center.
1928: A group of local businessmen led by Constance Larson, an Alexandria attorney, purchased the Runestone for $2,000.
1929: A group of local contributors raised money for a display case for the Runestone. Blueprints for the case are displayed in the Discovery Room at the Runestone Museum.
1935: The Runestone was displayed at the American Institute in Minneapolis.
1938: A picture was taken of auto dealer Robert J. Young with the Runestone at the vault of the Chamber of Commerce building—a former bank. Known as the “Runestone Girl”, Lorayne Larson, Constant Larson’s daughter, lectured in many states throughout the1930’s, carrying the Runestone with her in the backseat of a Ford touring Car. In 1938, a pageant she had written was staged in Alexandria as a part of a civic celebration.
1948: The Runestone was exhibited at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian did not endorse the stone’s inscription as genuine, but it did publish a translation of a study by Danish etymologist (language who concluded that it “ may be authentic”.
1950: Eric Moltke, runologist at the Danish National Museum, declared the Runestone “suspect in every detail”, arguing that the inscription contained two symbols, which were not invented until 200 years later.
1951: A monumental replica of the Runestone (12 times the size of the original) was erected in Runestone Park just east of Alexandria. Stone for the giant replica was quarried in Cold Spring, Minnesota. Members of the Alexandria Kiwanis Club financed the monument.
1958: The Runestone figured prominently in the celebration of Alexandria’s centennial. Local contributors built the Runestone Museum as a permanent home for the controversial stone. Dr. Edwand J. Tanquist, who played a large role in starting the Museum, became one of the stone’s strongest defenders.
1965: The stone went to the World’s Fair in New York, traveling across country in a replica of a Viking ship mounted on a flatbed truck.
1974: Runestone enthusiast Marion Dahm discovered remnants of Viking homes near the site where the Runestone was unearthed by infra-red photos.
1976: Clarence Larson and Ted Winkjer discover the Runestone’s foundation stone by using telepathy.
1977: Canadian film crew makes a documentary film investigating the discoverers of North America “whomever they may be”.
1990: Rhonda Gilman of the Minnesota Historical Society and retired Rev. Paul Schmelzer debate about whether or not the Vikings actually came to Minnesota in the 14th century.
1993: “ Unsolved Mysteries”, a popular investigative television program on NBC, interviewed people and filmed the story of the Runestone.
1995: Sunstone Films, a British film production company, does filming at the Runestone Museum containing footage of the Runestone and a picture of Olaf Ohman, which is broadcast on the BBC in a series called “Timewatch” featuring a program called “ Before Columbus”.
1999: Scholars and professionals continue researching the Runestone. New primary sources of languages are found in Scandinavian countries and provide further insight to translation of the stones message.