Many believed that Christopher Columbus was the first european to discover North America in 1492. That was until 1960 when Norwegian explorer and writer, Helge Ingstad. He was making an intensive search for Norse landing places along the coast from New England northward. At L’Anse aux Meadows, a local inhabitant named George Decker, led him to a group of overgrown bumps and ridges that looked as if they might be building remains. They later proved to be all that was left of that old colony.