Excerpt from History of West Virginia, Vol. 1 of 2: In Two Parts

In the year 1001 the actual discovery of the con tinent was made by Leif Erickson, who sailed west from Greenland and landed on the coast of America in 41° 15' north latitude. It was the spring of the year, and from the luxuriant vegetation that every where adorned the coast, the Northmen named it Vinland - the land of vines. These adventurers on the deep continued to frequent these Shores during the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it was as late as 1347 that they made their last voyage to Labrador.

From these voyages and discoveries nothing what ever resulted. The Northmen themselves forgot the very name of Vinland. The nations of southern Europe never heard of such a land or such a dis covery. He that-was to announce to these nations the existence of a Western Continent was to come from the classic land of Italy, and the sunny land of Spain, the country under whose auspices the discovery was to be made. The year was 1492, and Christopher Columbus was the name of him whose discoveries, considered in all their bearings upon human history.

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