Shawnee Runestone
Encyclopedia
The Shawnee Runestone is a runestone claimed to have been found in Shawnee, Oklahoma
, in central Oklahoma
, one mile from the North Canadian River
, which is a tributary of the Arkansas River
.
It was supposedly found in August 1969 by Jim Estep, a young man of Shawnee
as he was taking his 7-year-old brother-in-law, Mikel Lindsay, and another small boy, David Sersen, on a snake hunt. They were walking in the northeastern part of the city along a wooded path that followed a small creek, a tributary of the North Canadian River
. There are very few stones exposed in this area and no ledges or outcrops. However, they did find an oval stone about 14 inches long in the weeds, buried about an inch in the soil. When they turned it over, instead of finding the hoped-for snake, they saw a neatly-cut inscription of five strange letters on the underside of the stone. The find was reported to Estep's mother-in-law, Vondell Lindsay, who asked him to retrieve the stone. The letters were filled with dried mud. Unfortunately, young Mikel used a frog-gig to clean some of it out.
Shawnee, Oklahoma
Shawnee is a city in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 at the 2010 census. The city is part of the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistical Area; it is also the county seat of Pottawatomie County and the principal city of the Shawnee Micropolitan Statistical...
, in central Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, one mile from the North Canadian River
North Canadian River
The North Canadian River is a tributary of the Canadian River, approximately long, that flows through New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma in the United States....
, which is a tributary of the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
.
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
as he was taking his 7-year-old brother-in-law, Mikel Lindsay, and another small boy, David Sersen, on a snake hunt. They were walking in the northeastern part of the city along a wooded path that followed a small creek, a tributary of the North Canadian River
North Canadian River
The North Canadian River is a tributary of the Canadian River, approximately long, that flows through New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma in the United States....
. There are very few stones exposed in this area and no ledges or outcrops. However, they did find an oval stone about 14 inches long in the weeds, buried about an inch in the soil. When they turned it over, instead of finding the hoped-for snake, they saw a neatly-cut inscription of five strange letters on the underside of the stone. The find was reported to Estep's mother-in-law, Vondell Lindsay, who asked him to retrieve the stone. The letters were filled with dried mud. Unfortunately, young Mikel used a frog-gig to clean some of it out.