Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1892-02-20
Lief ana John. Who We're the Best
ShjpbUilders Of Their Gen
GRAFTON.
IL is Claimed That Lief LANDED on
American Soil in the Year
1902.
As NavigatOrs the EricssOns Deserve
Great Credit, and Evinced
Wonderful Skill.

Historians admit that long before the
expedition of Columbus, America was dis
covered and col0nizsd by the Scandina-
vians, writes John Nolk In the NV York
Recorder The hardy vikings, with a
spirit Of adventure rare and indomitable,
pushed then explorations westward as far
a the bleak and rugged shores of Iceland,
which according to tradition was co0niz.
ed by the N0rwegIdns IN the year S74
That hardy maritime nation adapted it.
self naturally to exploration Of unknown
seas, and boldly sailed westward from the
Maze and Skaw in search Of new lands to
conquer
The vessels In which they sailed were
marvels Of naval architecture-far superior
TO the scow-like ships chat carried Column
b0s and his men. They we're both swift
and seaworthy. In a year 1879 a large
viking vessel was discovered close to the
entrance Of the Christians FjOrd. II was
dug up from a grave mound and was In a
splendid state of preservaticG. 1t was Gus
tomary to bury a viking in his war galley
and heapup earth o.. and around it. Ia
this case the bones Of the grim chieftain
were found in the ship, together with
those of dog and a bird which naturaist5
declared to be peacock. Colin Archer,
a Norwegian naval architect, read a paper
in 1891 before the institution of Naval
Architects BRITISH which gave detailed
description of the vessel. The gentlemen
present were surprised at the scientific
knowledge evidently possessed by the de-
signprs and builders of the craft. She
was rs feet long, with beam OF is feet,
inches and a depth of 6 feet. Her con-
structOn was of the strongest and her
shape was such as to make her capable of
withstanding the fercest tempest.
1t was in vessels of this kind that the
vikings, with their hardy followers, de
vastated the British coasts and carried IF
fat cattle as well as the wives and daugh-
tiers of the inhabitants. la ships like the
one dug Up at Christiania Ford they
sailed to Greenland and thence to this con-
tinent. All this is told in the sagas, and
runic inscriptions found at Upornayik con-
firm the traditinas of those wild and y-aird
rhapsodies
Lief, the son, Of the founder of the
Greenland colony determined to sail west
ward, his curiosity being excited by his
story of an lcelander VINO, while steering
his course for Greenland, had been driven
10 the southwest, where he saw beautiful
country, well wooded and fertile. Accord
uglY Lief, accompanied by another
chief called Bjom launched a ar galley
and steersd 90 the southwest in search OF
the unknown country depicted in such
glowing colors Is the lcelander. There
is little doubt that the Scandi-
nayiau sea kings were acquainted
with the magnet, as other wise it
would have been impossible for them to
navigate their We. els with such skill and
precision. There Is no record of the
length of Llet's voyage, out it was doubt-
less long and tedious. They landed in
what was undoubtedly Rhode Island and
spen. a winter there. Because of the
wild grasses they found growing in pro.
fusion they called the colony Nlnland.
Its exact location has never been dis
covered, but it was probably Nara
gausett Bay. The curious structure at
Newport known as the old windmill, but
which was probably a scandinavian tenn
pie, may have been erected by the daring
and adventurous Lief. Everybody has
read and admired The Skeleton in Ar.
NOR, " the work OF the Incompatible poet
LoDgfellow. The poem, which is as weird
as a Scandinavian saga. is founded on the
fact of skeleton, dug up at Fall River,
clad IN broken and rusty armor. In all
probability Vt was all that was earthly of "a
sea-roving Norseman.
In Boston stands the statue of Lief, who
according to well-founded tradition was
the first white Inan to tread the shore Of
North America. He came here in the
year A. D. 1902, nearly five centuries be.
fore the sailing of Columbus from 2alos
Lief as "a navigator deserves far more
credit than the renowned Gen les e sailor,
for while the expedition Of Columbus was
waited westward over summer seas by
the balmy ,and genial northe8 trade
winds, the Norseman had to con-
toad with the |jntery and
icy blasts Of high northern lati
tudes. Experienced n8y3gtors d0u1t hesi-
tate to declare that if Columbus had tried
tha uor!her1 passage his southern sailors
would have suCcumbed to The climatic and
unaccus omed hardshIps. Should no. Lief
and his valiant comrades who were made
Of steruer stuff, receive some iil.le rec1g-
milton az the worlds fair The statue at.
Boston is scarcely a fitting tribute b. the
memory Ola Aan SO daring
Lief is q name that will ever be asso-
S aled with th- early history of America
According To tradition BE was th. son If
Eric iha Red, and therefore called Erics
son, From him i'm lue uabcgk.u 'tUe 81
ancestry was descended the famous Sweed-
IsE eng u6er John Ericsson, who invented
the screw propeller and the Monitor. He
was certainly the father OF the modern
. Dos . j. t N. D.