The Irish standard., 1915-09-01


persons of the Indians-I called it St.
Paul. St. Paul as applied to
town or city was we'll appropriated;
the monosyllable is short, sounds good
and is understood by all Christian de-
nominations. Hence when an attempt
was made to change it, opposed the
vain project by writing from Prairie
du Chen"
The earliest trace of Catholic life
in what became afterwards the do
cese Of St. Paul-if the record is gen.
uine-is found in the inscription of
what is known as the Kensington
Rune Stone. In August, 1893, a Swed-
ish farmer, by the name of Olaf Oh
man, was clearing a tract of land,
situated about three miles in north
erly direction from Kensington, Doug
covered under. tree a large stone
bearing an inscription in runic char
acters, which interpreted reads as
follows:
''8 Goths (Swedes) and p Norve-
gians on an exploring journey from
Vinland very far west. We had
camp by 2 skerries Crooks in the
water) one days journey from this
stone. We we're out fishing one day.
When we returned home, we found
10 men red with blood and dead. A
V NJ (Ave Maria, or Ave Virgo
Maria). Save us from evil.
We have 10 men by the sea to look
after our vessels, IA (4l?) days jour-
ney from this island. Yeaf 1862
The strange inscription tells us then
of visit made by a number of Morse
men in 1862 to locality in the CEN
trail western part of what is now Min
nesota. The thing is not at all i'm
possible nor unlikely. 1t is an historic
fact that the Norsemen in those ages
came on frequent journeys to the east
ern coast of North America, part of
which they named Vinland or land of
wine; and hence some of them might
have ventured further inland on a,
journey of exploration. The runic
characters and the language of the in
scription are such as they were in
use among the Scandinavian peoples
in the Middle Ages. Above all the in
vocation to the blessed Virgin Mary
points to the authenticity of the rec
ord, because in those days the nations
of the Scandinavian north still pos
sessed the Catholic faith and were
familiar with the worship of the saints,
its usage and meaning. 1t is hardly
conceivable, that forger of our days
would even think of such an invoca-
ton, since the Scandinavians have
been Protestants from the sixteenth
century.
During the French regime in Can
ada, Minnesota, or the territory that
came afterwards under the jurisdic-
ton of the diocese of St. Paul, was
frequently visited by voyagers and
missionaries; in fact it became the
classic land for their exploits. The
chase after fur-bearing animals. the
quest of the western sea, and the con-
quest of souls of savages were so
many incentives, that stirred the set
tiers and priests of old Canada to
deeds of adventure and heroism Prob
ably the first French travellers that
trod upon Minnesota soil, were Gro
settlers and Radisson, who made two
journeys to the far west within the
years 1654-56 and 1659-6O. During the
first they went from the lower end of
Green Bay, the westernmost point
southwesterly direction to the Missis-
sippi river, thence northward along
the stream as far as Prairie Island,
just below the present city of Hast
ings. There they remained until the
spring of the year 1856, when they re-
turned to eastern Canada During the
second voyage they sailed along the
southern shore of Lake Superior as
far as Chequamegon bay in Wisconsin,
where they put up camp. From there
they visited various sections of what
is now Minnesota such as the region
around Knife lake, Kanabec county,
the prairie land in southwestern Min
nesota, and the country along the
northern shore of Lake Superior. The
most interesting fact in this connec-
ton is that the two YoYagers in their