On this day (March 4th) in 1923 Carl F. Kemmerer of Heavener, Oklahoma wrote to the Smithsonian institution, describing a runic inscription in Elder Futhark at the summit of Poteau Mountain just outside of town.
Authorities weren't quite sure what to make of the inscription. They agreed on one thing: it's not a genuine Viking artifact. Even if Scandinavians did explore the interior of the United States, they certainly never reached Oklahoma.
The inscription would have been forgotten if not for the work of Gloria Farley, an amateur historian and apostle of pseudo-archaeologist and epigrapher Barry Fell, who believes that America had been settled by Europeans centuries before Columbus.
For decades Farley tirelessly promoted the idea that Vikings and other Europeans colonized the New World centuries before Columbus. She subsequently discovered countless "runic inscriptions" of dubious origin around town.
Outside of Oklahoma, no one took Farley seriously. Inside Oklahoma she was a revered local legend. Thanks to her efforts Poteau Mountain became a state historical site in 1970. (Later downgraded to a city park after state budget cuts.)
Farley died in 2006, but the belief that Vikings settled large swaths of North America lives on among who watch the garbage that passes for educational content on the History Channel.
We covered the Oklahoma runestones and several other bogus "Viking relics" in our three part series "Westward Huss."
