With Childhood Stories, Locals Dispute Claim Narragansett Rune Stone was Carved in 1960s

A group of past and present residents and visitors of Pojac Point in North Kingstown are coming forward with personal stories about their encounters with the Narragansett Rune Stone decades ago — long before it became the focus of international interest — in an effort to discredit a claim by a Providence man that he carved the stone in the summer of 1964 with a sledge hammer and chisel.

That claim, made by Everett Brown, has caused a stir among historians, rune enthusiasts and researchers as well as officials involved in an ongoing plan to display the mysterious boulder with runic symbols in Updike Park in Wickford.

"I graduated high school in 1960 and I remembered it long before I graduated," said David McMahon, the former owner of the property directly adjacent to where the stone had rested before it ended up in storage at the University of Rhode Island's Bay Campus in Narragansett last year.

"I used to do a lot of clamming, quahogging and duck hunting by the beach and any time there was a low tide, you could see the stone," McMahon said in an interview. "Not necessarily a moon tide, but a decent tide."

There were times that sand and sediment covered the writing as the tide slipped in and out over the seven-foot tall, five-ton stone, but there were times he recalls seeing the inscriptions. The stories the locals told themselves that it was from explorers long ago, perhaps Leif Eriksson, and they called it the "Indian Rock."

"We fantasized about its origins and we always said we should get someone down here who knows something to take a look at it," McMahon said.

McMahon's family bought the property in 1948. A thorn of land jutting out into Narragansett Bay just south of the Potowomut River, they sold it just five years ago to billionaire Timothy Mellon, heir to the Mellon Bank empire, for $5.6 million. This is about when the stone's mythic power started to reach far beyond the shores of Pojac Point.

"Never in a 100 years would I believe any of it would get this big," McMahon said. "We always believed that [Pojac Point] was its resting place and that's where it should have stayed. I'm sure if we still owned the land it would still be there."

Seven other people have agreed to sign or have already signed affidavits detailing their encounters with the stone before 1964, including June Goodhue, who still lives in Pojac Point and said she was familiar with it in the early 1950s.

"I moved here in 1952 and heard about the rune stone slightly thereafter," she wrote. "I saw it with my husband several times thereafter. We used to walk the beach and visit our neighbors, the McMahons, who lived next to the stone."

Calls to several other people who have indicated they will sign affidavits were not returned before this article was posted.  

And researchers have disputed Brown's claim by noting that the carvings appear weathered by time and were rather expertly carved, which calls into question Brown's tale of working on the stone over the course of the summer with his brother using hand tools he borrowed from his father.

Brown, who could not be reached for this story, reportedly said in a conversation with Steve DiMarzo Jr. that he had a paper with runes on it from either an encyclopedia or dictionary that he used to help him carve the stone. He said he intended on carving "SKRAELINGS AFT," which is what he said the Vikings called the Indians.

"My contention is, if he had the runes on the paper, why didn't he not spell out the word for 'INDIANS' in the Norse Runic alphabet, which he said he had, which is 'SKRAELINGS,' but decided to spell it phonetically? Makes no sense, since he stated he had the Norse Runes on that sheet of paper. Why not spell that word 'SKRAELINGS' outright, since you already had the runes to do so?" DiMarzo asked.

Other issues with Brown's story include the fact that the so-called "hooked X" symbol, which Brown said was the result of a mistake he couldn't fix because his father was calling him home for dinner, is actually a correctly-carved symbol, according to some researchers. He also reportedly had no recollection of carving small dots as word separators yet the dots are visible and appear to be purposefully carved.

And DiMarzo and others believe that Brown has been gradually changing his story as the story of the stone unfolds in the press. They say his claim that he copied the runes from a book is impossible since, in 1963, there were no published records of some of the runes on the Narragansett Rune Stone.

The actual origins of the stone, discounting Brown's story, are unclear. Some believe it is of Viking origin and was carved in the 1400s by voyagers. A compelling analysis by Valdimar Samuelsson of Iceland purports that the stone was the work of Icelandic explorers and settlers in medieval times. If true, the history of America would have to be re-written as the discovery would pre-date Columbus' arrival to the New World by decades.

And then there's Scott Wolter, who has raised a theory that the stone might be the work of the Knights Templar. His work on the stone was featured in an History Channel documentary that helped to make the Narragansett Rune Stone the focus of international scrutiny at the same time it riled other researchers who discredit him as a wannabe Indiana Jones. 

Recently, R.M. de Jonge claims to have translated the inscriptions, which some say describe a "Screaming River," which is a reference to a river in Iceland and evidence of its Viking roots. de Jonge's translation, "GIFT of the SUN: RHODE ISLAND (Red Land) now HOME (property) of the MEN across the OCEAN from ICELAND; GIFT of GOD," paints a vivid picture of seafaring explorers marking new territory.

Others believe the stone has much more modern origins, likely in the 18th or 19th century, by Icelandic immigrants or people with Nordic lineages who were paying homage to their ancestors and background. 

Whatever its origin, the stone's power to excite is unmistakable. Consider that Mellon allegedly hauled the stone out to sea after removing it from its resting place past the mean high water line and was subsequently ordered by the DEM to haul it back in an operation state officials have refused to comment or provide any details.

Some believe that the billionaire Mellon wanted to hide the stone temporarily until he could secure it for himself as a personal treasure. Others say he simply wanted people to stop coming to the area to look for the stone near his estate — something that had been happening for decades among locals and those who knew of the stone long before it was the subject of international intrigue. 

Locally, officials hope to use the stone as a beacon for tourism and community pride. In the words of town historian Tim Cranston, "This is the kind of publicity money can't buy."

Cranston, in remarks to the North Kingstown Town Council last month before their vote to have the stone installed in Updike Park, said the stone was standing until the Hurricanes of 1938 and 1954 eroded all the land around it.

Since its return thanks to the DEM action, it sat in storage at the University of Rhode Island's Bay Campus in Narragansett, attracting historians and researchers from universities in Denmark and Iceland as the DEM developed a plan to put the stone in Goddard Park in Warwick.

But Cranston said he spoke with the DEM's Larry Mouradjian and told him that the stone is a North Kingstown artifact, and thus belongs in North Kingstown. In addition, being located in Goddard Park is an open invitation for vandalism — something DEM officials agreed would happen sooner or later. 

The new plan to put the stone in Updike Park "is an opportunity to put [the village of] Wickford on the map and bring Wickford back to life," Cranston said, noting Wolter had expressed intentions to return for a followup as part of a book or another History Channel show.

DiMarzo said he just wants to make sure that Brown's story is debunked once and for all. He also wants to ensure that plans for the stone to be erected in Updike Park are not derailed because of what he and others believe to be a ludicrous claim.

"The soft evidence is seemingly clear that [Brown] is not the carver of this stone and it is a shame that the display of this stone has been stopped by a person with possible ulterior motives," DiMarzo said. "I have no hard feelings against him, but let's clear the slate here and move on with this display and allow North Kingstown to enjoy a truly historic relic, one that will be of great interest to one and all as to its origin, which is not at the hands of Everett Brown."

For McMahon, whatever happens, despite all the mystery and drama surrounding the stone, he's sure of one thing — he's glad the stone will remain in the public's hands. Now living in Scituate, he sometimes wishes he never sold the property to Mellon. At least then, the stone would still be there.

"But I'd rather see it in Wickford than in Mellon's back yard," he said.