The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-05-15
PAPER READ BEFORE THE MEN,
BERs OF THE cARRoLLToN
CLUB OF ST. PAUL BY THE VERY
REV. FRANCIS scHAEFER, REC
TOR OF ST. PAUL SEMINARY.

1 Il
! REV. FRANCIS scHAEFER, REC
!. TOR OF ST. PAUL SEMINARY.
The subject to be treated in the lee.
ture of this evening is clearly indicat.
! ed in the heading; | intend to give
! you a brief and summary account of
! whatever traces Of Catholic life were
!. found in what is now Minnesota, be-
: fore it received it's full ecclesiastical
Organization by the creation of the
= Diocese of St. Paul, in the year 1850.
OF course when | speak of Catholic
life in Minnesota in the early times,
we must not conceive of it in its full
growth and development, such as we
!, see in our present day parishes. We
mast not expect to find large COM
chial clergy, full religious services
conducted by the priests for the sane
tification of the parishioners, parish
societies and sodalities for the vari-
! GUS charitable and evangelical works,
or the like; in most cases we will
have to be satisfied with catching a
glimpse of a longer or shorter So
journ, of one or few laymen, or
lpriests coming on errands of gain, or
of mercy.
# Minnesota received it's geographical
and political entity by the Act of
Congress passed on March 3rd, 1849.
, By said Act was established the Ter
ritory Of Minnesota, which embraced
not only the area of the present State
of Minnesota, but also those parts of
the two Dakotas, which are to the
East of the Missouri, and the White
/ Earth Rivers. Thus constituted, it
consisted of two parts, larger west
V ern and smaller eastern. The west
2 lern part extended to the west of the
r Mississippi River, and of an imaginary
5 line drawn from the source of the
same river northward to the interna-
$ tional boundary. This section former
5 lly was part Of the territory of Iowa,
A and originally of what is known as the
? elLouisiana Purchase, acquired by the
; United States from Napoleon |. in
a 1903 The smaller eastern part was
i to the east of the Mississippi, and OF
! 1.-THE above mentioned lire, as far as
I the present State line in the north
r eastern corner and along the st.
g ICroix River. This section was for
: merly part of the Wisconsin Terri
: tory, and originally of the Northwest
4 Territory, created by the Ordinance
4 of 1887. When Minnesota received
e the full rights of statehood by the
e Act of Congress, passed May 18th,
/ 1858, it's size was reduced to its
D present area. In the following ac-
I count Of events, Minnesota will stand
8 generally for the area embraced with.
I lin the present state lines, on all
t sides; in one instance only, will
s make reference to locality, which at
e present is outside of the State OF
e Minnesota, but which for a time was
within the old Territorial limits OF
Minnesota
I kensington Rune Stone.
The earliest trace of Catholic life
in what afterwards became Minnesota
If the record be genuine-is found
J. in the inscription of what is known
! as the Kensington Rune Stone. In
August, 1898, Swedish farmer, by
the name Of Olaf Gilman, was clear
ing a tract of land, situated about
\ three miles in northerly direction
|, from Kensington, Douglas County
!, Minnesota, when he discovered under
!. a tree, large stone bearing an in
Il scription in runic characters, which
! interpreted reads as follows:
. "8 Goths (Swedes) and % Norwegi
). ans on an exploring journey from
i Vinland very far west. We had a
!. camp by 2 skerries (rocks in the
water) one days journey north from
: this stone. We were out fishing one
!. day. When we returned home we
/. found 10 men red with blood ant
I dead. A v M (Ave Maria, or Ave
! Virgo Maria) Save us from evil"
r 1--WE have 10 men by the sea to lool
. after our vessel, IA (41?) days jour
/. ney from this island. Year 1862"
q. The strange inscription tells III
.r then of visit made by number o
y Norsemen in 1862 to a locality in th'
II central western part of what is nov
9 Minnesota. The thing is not at al
II impossible or unlikely. 1t is an his
q toric fact that the Norsemen in thOs
,e ages came on frequent journeys t,
! the eastern coast of North America
tol part of which they named Vinland, o
% land of wine; and hence, some b
p- them might have ventured further In
i. land on a journey of exploration
m either by the st. Lawrence River, an
a the Great Lakes, or else by way o
1e Hudson Bay. The runic character
ge and the language of the Inscription
are such as they were in use anon
the Scandinavian peoples in the MID
die Ages. Above all the invocation t
the Blessed Virgin Mary points I
the authenticity Of the record, becaus
in those days, the nations of th
L, Scandinavian north still possessed th
Catholic faith, and were familiar wit
the veneration of the Saints, its usag
and meaning. 1t is hardly conceii
: able that forger of our day woul
= even think of such an Invocation, sine
Il the Scandinavians have been Prote
a. tants from the Sixteenth Century.
.lyl Is II a Forgery
onl Two other considerations seem /
Iss exclude an idea Of fraud or forger
The stone was found under the 81