American Folk Heros
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The Legend
Paul's story is said to have started in 1837 during the Papineau Rebellion. In his 1929 book Paul Bunyon, James Stevens wrote:
The Paul Bunyan legend had its origin in the Papineau Rebellion of 1837. This was a revolt of the French-Canadians against their young English queen. Loggers armed with mattocks, axes and wooden forks stormed into battle. Among them was a mighty muscled, bellicose, bearded giant named Paul Bunyon (notice the spelling). He came out of the rebellion with great fame among his own kind. His slaughters earned him the grandeur of legend.
Paul Bunyon seems to have been a real man. Steven included the accounts of some old Canadian loggers in his book. Here is what one ol' fella had to say:
“My uncle know that Paul Bunyon carry five hundred pounds on portage. That is truth. He was very big, strong man, you understand; he fight like hell, he work like hell, and he pack like hell. Never was another man like Paul Bunyon. That’s right.”
It seems that our Paul Buny[a]n might be the exaggerated legand of Paul Buny[o]n. A big, strong man that made an impression. An impression so strong that his legand grew into one of our favorite folk heros!
Our Paul Bunyan
Paully has come a long way from his logging days back in 1830's. Let's look at the life of this to-big-to-be-true hero.
The Birth of the Legend
Paul Bunyan was born in Oscoda, MI. Or Ossineke, MI. Maybe it was Brainerd, Mennisota. Or possibly Bemidji, Minnestota. It could have been Bangor, Maine.
All of these cities claim to be the birth place of Bunyan. Each city has a roadside colossus to prove it.
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Regardless of Where He Was Born
Baby Paully was, or so the story goes,delivered to his ma and pa by a flock of storks. At 5 weeks old he weighed 99 pounds! He must have been a happy baby. It's said that when he laughed and cooed windows shattered. It seems Paul was born to be a lumber jack. When he was just 7 months old, he cut the legs off his ma and pa's bed!
Paul's pa had to custom build a cradle for the baby. When he rolled over in it, earth quakes frightened the town's people. So the cradle was moved to the Bay of Fundy. But there was more trouble there. Paul's rocking cradle caused waves so big, they covered towns. His cradle was removed, but the waves continue to roll in the bay today.
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Not knowing what to do, his parents moved him deep into the forest, far away from people. This is where he grew up. A child that size is hard to feed. Paul's parents had to purchase 10 cows to deep him in milk. And chickens! It took 50 chickens to keep enough eggs for Paul.
Paul was much stronger and much faster than the average man. As a matter of fact, he could put out a light and be in bed, nestled under his quilts before the room went dark! With all that strength and speed Paul was a tremendous help to his father when an area of the forest needed cleared. By the time he was grown he could take down 10 trees with one swing of his axe.
Paul Finds Babe
Paul was out one cold winter day and stumbled upon a tiny baby ox. Now this was no ordinary cold winter day. It was during the Winter of Blue Snow. S. E. Schlosser describes it best in Babe the Blue Ox.
Well now, one winter it was so cold that all the geese flew backward and all the fish moved shouth and even the snow turned blue. Late at night, it got so frigid that all spoken words froze solid afore they coud be heard. People had to wait until sun up to find out what folks were takling about the night before. ~S. E. Schlosser
The blue snow that winter stained the little ox, so he was forever blue! Paul named the tiny ox Babe. But Babe didn't stay tiny for long. Babe grew to be an enormous ox, and Paul's logging companion. As Paul and Babe made their way from logging camp to logging camp across the continent, they formed some of the most beautiful and famous U.S. landmarks!
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While out gathering fire wood during the Winter of Blue Snow, Paul drug his giant, heavy ax on the ground creating the Grand Canyon.
While traveling across the country, Paul - standing 63 ax handles tall - and Babe - who was 42 ax handles wide from horn tip to horn tip - left their mark. One year, in Minnesota it snowed so deep that Paul had to dig the snow from the forest to find the trees. It was the year of two winters. They say it was so cold that the fish grew fur to stay warm. When the snow melted and left the ground soft, Paul and Babe's foot prints made Minnesota the Land of 10,000 Lakes!
In the summers Paul and Babe worked hard and needed a whole lot of water. Once, the water tank that Babe pulled sprung a leak and the leaking water carved out the Mississippi River. So Paul dug out a watering hole for Babe. What's left of that watering hole today, we call the Great Lakes.
Paul and Babe had many adventures in their time, and they were the best of friends. When Babe passed away, Paul burried him, and the desturbed earth is now known as The Black Hills. Paul grieved Babe deeply. The tears he cried for his friend were so big, they created the Missouri River.