140,000 people a year visit the Heavener Rune stone State Park.  Why is there so much fuss over a little rock with some scribbling on it?  

Well, first, the Heavener Rune Stone is not some little banty-weight rock.  Actually, the stone is 12 feet tall, 10 feet wide, and 16 inches thick, built kind of like a billboard.  The eight Runes pecked into the stone are big enough to go all the way across the width.

This is not an overnight wonder project some little kid made to impress his mother. On a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being a diamond from Africa, this rune stone is a 7.  Putting a message on it was hard work.  The message was considered important enough for the maker to devote weeks and perhaps even months to put it up.  

Note:  The inscription was PECKED into the stone 
(whereas most modern Euromericans will SCRATCH their messages on a rock) 

Click HERE to find a really neat place to eat while you visit the Heavener Runes Park.  There's good food, an interesting atmosphere, and something the whole family can enjoy.

Second, the runestone is said to be proof that the Vikings visited this region in the sixth century, C.E.  The latest translation of the runes indicates the origin of the writing is Scandinavian.  

The last stumbling block to building the park was removed in 1965 when Mr. Herbert Ward and family donated the 55 acres on which the Rune stone State Park was built with legislative funding. 

Heavener is in Kiamichi Country.  That is the southeastern portion of Oklahoma, a Choctaw area.  The town is on US 270, coming out of the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas.  After leaving Heavener US 270 winds around and goes through  Wilburton, and then on through McAlester.  

If you are coming through Fort Smith Arkansas on Interstate 40 you will turn SOUTH on US 59.  Now, there are MOUNDS worth investigating at Spiro Oklahoma along this road.  I haven't done a story on that area yet, but plan to soon.  Poteau is the next big town in this leg of the US 59 tour, and the word BIG is used relatively only to the other towns in this region.  Poteau is just big enough to host a Wal-Mart Supercenter there.  After you leave Poteau, stay on US 59 until you arrive in Heavener.

The turnoff to the park is marked by a stoplight on the south end of town.  There are more signs up in Heavener directing you to the park.  The road twists and turns through that part of town.  Some of the signs are on the left, and some of the signs are on the right and the signs are all that save you from becoming irretrievably lost -- so watch for them. 

Soon you know you are on the right road, heading up Poteau Mountain towards the Rune stone.  Just as soon as you get to the parking lot, I invite you to turn back and look down towards Heavener.

Now, in the photo to the left you will notice that the bottom of the wall has a continuous base running from one end to the other.  That is the way the wall is built almost everywhere else too.  

Anyone with children along will appreciate this added precaution for retaining smaller infants.  Click on the picture to zoom in for more detail.

The wall and the stairs were crafted so well that even after thirty years have passed only one small portion of one wall near the bottom is finally beginning to weaken a little bit.  The cause of this weakening is attributed to an annual 1/2" shift of the mountain.  This mountain range extends 35 miles west, and 30 miles east from this spot.  

Lester says the retaining wall around the parking area and the amphitheatre were crafted by old-timers who had worked for the C.C.C. during the depression.  The amphitheatre can seat up to 100 people, and is available for rent to host your weddings and picnics or parties.

   Zoom in on the picture to your left and you will see the informational signs are strategically placed, easy to read and pertinent to the area.  Click on the picture for more details.  Here you will find information on the mammals of this area, an identification chart of the birds you hear in the region, and even a list with full-color pictures of the butterflies you might glimpse flitting by you.   

Every turn in the trail reveals something of interest for one who loves rugged country.  The building that houses the rune stone is all the more tantalizing for the fact you can seldom see much of it as you descend.  "That's my goal, why am I headed this way?"

Well, one reason is so you won't have to rappel down the cliff, and another reason is to show off the magnificent countryside from a dozen different angles, maybe even let you see a deer or a wild turkey, if you're lucky.

There are two hiking trails on the park.  One starts at the welcome station, goes all the way around the park, and ends up at the amphitheatre.  The other trail hugs the top and provides views of distant vistas from one end to the other.  Both these are capable of providing rugged adventures. 

  The maintenance here is almost immaculate.  In all my tour I found only one cigarette butt, and it had been plucked short to the filter.  A mere two pickup loads per week of trash are hauled off.  I've seen little out-of-the-way rest areas that do a bigger booming business than that. Trees that become dangerous are brought low, and cut up for firewood at the maintenance station during the winter by Lester and his crew.  Click on Lester's picture to zoom in for more details.

Lester moved to this area from Mena Arkansas where he went to the Louise Durham School in the first grade.  He has been here ever since, playing in this very park as a child, long before the park came into existence. "We used it for a picnic area, and the rune stone was called the Indian Rock."

As a youngster, Lester was privileged to watch the park come together. It was a big event for this area, he notes.

Lester has worked here at the park for the last 22 years now.  He has seen thousands of people come through each month, mostly people from Oklahoma and Arkansas, but from other states and other countries as well.  

He thoroughly enjoys listening to the stories the visitors were part of making, and the stories they told.  One Viking wedding was performed here, and the bridegroom reported seeing the spirit of Glom. Others joyously exclaim they have felt vibrant, healthy energy pulsing from trees and rocks in this area.

Lester has never seen a spirit, or felt energy surging from unseen sources. "Nothing I've been through here so far has restored my hair either, or anything else for that matter."

But Lester Rowland has seen something infinitely better, faces coming alive with excitement and joy as new wonders are revealed at every bend in the trail.  

  The actual rune stone is now inside a building at the bottom of the ravine.  There are three glass panes shielding the stone from the ravages of time and man.  Each pane costs about $800, and it was found necessary to replace these panes about once every three years because so many people were scratching their names and other social comments into the glass panes.  The last time the glass had to be replaced a bullet-proof variety was installed, and a surveillance camera was added. "All signs of scratching stopped," says Lester with a huge grin.  "Even after lightning hit the camera, people will look up at it, and wonder if it is watching them."

It seems like there is always someone wanting to scratch something up.  "It isn't always the people you suspect either."

Gloria Stewart Farley was delighted when another runic inscription very similar to the Heavener one was found  in 1967 by two 13-year-old boys on a hill in Poteau, about ten miles away. Then, forming almost a straight line another rune stone was found near a small stream in Shawnee Oklahoma.  On top of all that, more rune stones have been found in Arkansas.  Christopher Columbus doesn't stand a chance in the courts of proving he was here first; he did not leave that much proof of his visit behind.

Archeologists in the past have refused to list the site as one for possible exploration.  The specific reasons that peripatetic decision was based on were never revealed to my satisfaction.  I've seen entire Hohokum villages excavated with much less prior proof to go on.

It seems that old-timers in the area have repeatedly sworn there was a cavern at this site when they were young.  On the walls of that cavern they said there were many more writings similar to that found on the rune stone.  Thanks to the continued, tireless work of Gloria Stewart Farley, the work of substantiating those claims may soon be launched.  At last there has been a flurry of publicity about the park in local papers.  

One more reason the State has been unable to justify further development is the cost.  Seismographic tests would determine if there was or used to be a cavern.  But the test would run at least $30,000 and the funding will not come from the state.  

If that test provided positive indications of a cavern existing there at one time, then the expenses would really add up.  First of all, if any digging is to be done here, an accredited and recognized archeologist must be directing the enterprise, being present in person to verify any finds that are made.  Otherwise, there is always the chance that someone will say that any artifacts that are found were stuck there by zealous parties.  Archeologists are not cheap.  

There is however, a chance that the Historical Society may pick up the cost of the dig.

If the dig is done, and if there are artifacts found, there is a chance it might increase revenue and traffic for the Park.  The word there is might.  This may once have been the hub of frenetic Viking activity in 600 C.E.  but today, it is considered pretty well isolated and in a sparsely populated area as well.

When you visit the Heavener Rune stone Park, be sure to sign the guestbook.  Look for my name there too.

the end.  

Lin Stone is an author, a writer, and a photographer.  Anything you say may be held against you and printed publicly.  Check out his other stories on the web.  Send your little surfer scooting to http://www.talewins.com/StoneSoup.htm 

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