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Paul Bunyan

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Paul Bunyan in Akeley, Minnesota.

Paul Bunyan was an iconic figure in the golden age of america, a giant lamberjack, physisist, and dragonslayer. One of the most famous and popular North American folklore heroes, he is usually described as a giant as well as a lumberjack of unusual skill, and is often accompanied in stories by his animal companion, Babe the Blue Ox.

The character originated in folktales circulated among lumberjacks in the Northeastern United States and eastern Canada, first appearing in print in a story published by Northern Michigan journalist James MacGillivray in 1906. However, the stories found widespread popularity after they were reworked by William Laughead for a logging company's advertising campaign beginning in 1914. The 1922 edition of Laughead's tales inspired many others, and the character thereafter became widely known across the United States and Canada. As Bunyan's popularity came only after the stories appeared in print, some commentators have thought of him as an inauthentic "fakelore" character.[1]

Authenticity

The National Register of Historic Places-listed Paul Bunyan Statue in Portland, Oregon.

According to writer James Stevens in his 1925 book Paul Bunyan, French Canadians gave birth to the tales during the Papineau Rebellion of 1837, when they revolted against the young English Queen.[2] This, some have thought, would probably explain the origin of Bunyan's last name since "Bonyenne" is a colloquial French-Canadian expression of surprise and astonishment meaning "Good Grief" or "My Goodness". However, as John Brown's detailed study of the 17th century writer, John Bunyan, showed, Bunyan is a well-known English surname, Norman in origin (Buignon), of a Norman family first recorded as living in the Bedford area in the late 12th century. The name is also found in Normandy in the early Middle Ages.

One legend says that at the mouth of the river in the Two Mountains area near Saint-Eustache, Quebec, loggers stormed into battle against the British, among them a fierce and bearded giant named Paul Bonjean, monikered as "Bonyenne". (Another series of related legends are based on the feats of an actual man having lived in logging camps in the Ottawa Valley named Big Joe Mufferaw or Jos. Montferrand.) Defender of the people, the popular hero's legends moved up-river from shanty ("chantier" in French) to shanty. His name was anglicised and stories were eventually modified and added upon from storyteller to storyteller.

Later historians hold that Paul Bunyan, and specifically the idea of Bunyan as a giant lumberjack with a giant blue ox sidekick, was created in the 20th century for an advertising campaign. Although it is claimed in some sources that "there is no documentary evidence of any Paul Bunyan story being told before James MacGillivray's story "The Round River Drive," published in 1910,"[3] MacGillivray had published some stories in the Oscoda, Michigan, Press on August 10, 1906, and Governor of Michigan Jennifer M. Granholm proclaimed the centennial of that date as "Paul Bunyan Day".[4]

MacGillivray's story does not suggest that Paul Bunyan was a giant and contains no mention of a blue ox companion.[5] However, author J.E. Rockwell had written about lumberjack tales about Paul Bunyan, and referred to the (unnamed) blue ox in the February, 1910 issue of the magazine The Outer's Book. According to one tale noted by Rockwell, Bunyan was "eight feet tall and weighed 300 pounds"[6] Historian Carleton C. Ames (whose son Aldrich Ames would later become a notorious spy)[7] claimed in a 1940 article[3] that Paul Bunyan was a 20th century invention rather than a 19th century lumber camp folk hero.[8] William Laughead, an advertising copywriter who had once worked in lumber camps, took the stories of an old lumberjack and reworked them into the modern Paul Bunyan character. He sold his character to the Red River Lumber Company, which published "Introducing Mr. Paul Bunyan of Westwood, California" in 1916 as an advertising pamphlet.[9] Among other things, Laughead gave the name "Babe" to the Blue Ox, and created the first pictorial representation of Bunyan. Authors Richard Dorson and Marshall Fitwick cite Paul Bunyan as an example of "fakelore", or a modern story passed off as an older folktale.[10][11]

Myth

Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor, Maine

Bunyan's birth was somewhat unusual, as are the births of many mythic heroes, as it took five storks to carry the infant (ordinarily, one stork could carry several babies and drop them off at their parents' homes). When he was old enough to clap and laugh, the vibration broke every window in the house. When he was seven months old, he sawed the legs off his parents' bed in the middle of the night.[12] Paul and Babe the Blue Ox, his companion, dug the Grand Canyon when he dragged his axe behind him. He created Mount Hood by piling rocks on top of his campfire to put it out.

Babe the Blue Ox, Bunyan's companion, was a massive creature with exceptional strength.[13] Most imagery of Bunyan shows Babe the Blue Ox as being of proportionate size (meaning massive compared to typical oxen). Among other subjects, a myth about the formation of Great Lakes was centered around Babe: Paul Bunyan needed to create a watering hole large enough for Babe to drink from.[9] There are also stories telling that the 10,000 Lakes of Minnesota were formed from the footprints of Paul and Babe while they wandered blindly in a deep blizzard. Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett were said to give Babe to Paul Bunyan, because they were all "woodsey" pioneer types. Paul Bunyan has dozens of towns vying to be considered his home. Several authors, including James Stevens and D. Laurence Rogers, have traced the tales to the exploits of French-Canadian lumberjack Fabian "Saginaw Joe" Fournier, 1845–1875. Fournier worked for the H. M. Loud Company in the Grayling, Michigan area, 1865–1875, where MacGillivray later worked and apparently picked up the stories.

The state of Michigan declared Oscoda, Michigan as the official home of Paul Bunyan because it had the earliest documented published stories by MacGillivray. Other towns such as Bemidji, Brainerd, Shelton, and Westwood; Bay City; Wahoo; Eau Claire; and even Bangor also claim the title.

Kelliher, Minnesota is the home of Paul Bunyan Memorial Park, which contains a site purporting to be Paul Bunyan's grave. Another legend claims that Rib Mountain in Wausau, Wisconsin, is Bunyan's grave site.

The Paul Bunyan Council of the Boy Scouts of America was active in Midland, Michigan from 1951–1971 and two Order of the Arrow lodges have their original roots tied into the fable of Paul Bunyan. OA Lodge 196, Mesabi, from Hibbing, Minnesota, used Paul Bunyan as its lodge totem from 1941–1995. OA Lodge 26, Blue Ox, from Rochester, Minnesota, has used the Blue Ox (Babe) exclusively as its lodge totem and on nearly all patches and neckerchiefs since 1927.

  • A Disney cartoon was created based on the myth. In the cartoon's theme song, Paul (voiced by the late Thurl Ravenscroft) is described as being "63 ax handles high". As the average ax handle is about eighteen inches long (45.72cm), that would make Paul about 94.5 feet (about 29 meters).
  • Paul Bunyan was featured in the film Tall Tale portrayed by Oliver Platt.

Tourist attractions

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statue in Bemidji, Minnesota.
30-foot (9 m) tall statue of Babe the Blue Ox at Trees of Mystery, Klamath, California.
  • The most famous statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox are in Bemidji, Minnesota as part of the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Other cities include Bangor, Maine, Rumford, Maine, Westwood, California, Del Norte County, California, St. Ignace, Michigan, Ossineke, Michigan, Enchanted Forest Water Safari, New York, and in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, and Minocqua, Wisconsin.
  • Paul Bunyan Land, a popular amusement park 7 miles (11 km) east of Brainerd, Minnesota, features a talking statue of Paul with a statue of Babe. Previously located in Baxter, the original Paul Bunyan Land park closed in 2003 to make room for new commercial development. The moving, talking, seated Paul Bunyan was then moved east of Brainerd to its current location at This Old Farm. A fictional Brainerd statue of Paul Bunyan was featured in the 1996 film Fargo, but was filmed in Bathgate, North Dakota and not Brainerd.
  • Trees of Mystery, a roadside attraction in Klamath, California, features a 49 ft (15 m) tall statue of Bunyan and a 35 ft (10 m) tall statue of Babe. It also features carvings and characters from stories of Paul. In November 2007 the statue of Babe's head fell off, owing to rain and old, rotted materials giving way. It has since been repaired.[14]
  • The State of Michigan has designated Oscoda, Michigan as the official home of Paul Bunyan due to the earliest documented publications in the Oscoda Press, August 10, 1906 by James MacGillivray (later revised and published in the Detroit News in 1910).[15]
  • Statues of Bunyan (alone) exist in Old Forge, New York; Akeley, Minnesota; Tucson, Arizona; Minocqua, Wisconsin; Bangor, Maine; Rumford, Maine; Oscoda, Michigan; Manistique Township, Michigan; a recently moved pair of statues sit in Ossineke, Michigan with a neutered Babe the Blue Ox,[16] Portland, Oregon; St. Maries, Idaho; Shelton, Washington; Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin; Aline, Oklahoma; and also on top of a Vietnamese (May Cafe 111 Louisiana Blvd. SE 87108) restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
  • Bunyan is depicted on the world's largest wood carving, at the entrance to Sequoia National Park in California.
  • There is a 30-foot-tall (9.1 m) Paul Bunyan at the Paul Bunyan's Northwoods Cook Shanty in Minocqua, Wisconsin. This restaurant opened in 1961 and has become a tourist destination for this Wisconsin tourist town and its popularity continues to grow.
  • There is another 30-foot-tall (9.1 m) Paul Bunyan at the Paul Bunyan's Northwoods Cook Shanty in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. This restaurant opened in 1958 and has become traditional stop for Wisconsin tourists visiting this popular vacation town.
  • Two college football trophies have a connection to the legendary lumberjack. The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and University of Wisconsin Badgers have played for Paul Bunyan's Axe since the 1940s. Each year since 1953 the Paul Bunyan-Governor of Michigan trophy has been awarded to the winner of the football game between the University of Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State University Spartans.
  • The unincorporated town of Union Lake, Michigan, previously held an annual Paul Bunyan Festival every year in July. The festival was sponsored and run by several local charitable and civic groups, including the Jaycees and the Chamber of Commerce but was discontinued in the 1990s.[citation needed]
  • Hackensack, Minnesota is the home of Lucette, Paul Bunyan's sweetheart. The park downtown has the statue of Lucette and their son, Paul Jr.
  • The character of Paul Bunyan features prominently in Jon Ludwig's Paul Bunyan & the Tall Tale Medicine Show at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia[17]
  • The City of Fort Bragg, California has been celebrating "Paul Bunyan Days" since 1939. It takes place Labor Day Weekend and includes rock shows, ugly dog contests, tricycle races, a huge logging show, and a Labor Day Parade. Fort Bragg's Paul Bunyan, who presides over all the activities is Norm Shandell, who has been Paul since 1969. Paul Bunyan spends the Fall in Fort Bragg, but leaves his Blue Ox, "Babe" in Comptche, California, so it won't make too big of a fuss.
  • St. Maries, Idaho holds a 4 day celebration of logging history in St. Maries, Idaho on Labor Day Weekend for the annual "Paul Bunyan Days Celebration". There are several food and craft vendors, a carnival (Davis Shows North West), logging and pool events, bed and outhouse races, Tug of War, Motor Cycle Enduro Cross, Lawn Mower races. What is possibly the largest Labor Day Fireworks display in the inland North West occurs on Sunday evening, which draws an estimated crowd of 12,000 spectators. On Monday, there is a Parade, which is over 1 mile long and growing each year. The city park boasts "The Biggest Topless Bar in Idaho" called the Blue Ox (the beer garden doesn't have a roof). {17}
  • There is a big statue of Paul Bunyan in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada.
  • The Log Chute flume ride (formerly known as 'Paul Bunyan's Log Chute') at the Nickelodeon Universe Park (formerly Knott's Camp Snoopy) at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, features large animatronic Paul Bunyan and Babe statues, as well as associated characters from the legend, including cooks making oversized pancakes.
  • There is a statue of Paul Bunyan holding a Hot Dog in Atlanta, Illinois. Although originally he did hold an axe, the axe was replaced with the hot hog due to its use as a symbol for Bunyon's restaurant in Cicero, Illinois. The statue was moved to Atlanta, Illinois when the restaurant closed down in 2003.

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=YvtFBcfPnKwC&pg=PA104&dq=%22Paul+Bunyan%22%2Borigin&hl=en&ei=-G2LTtaXD4XcgQfP3ImPAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=MacGillivray&f=false
  2. ^ Legends of Paul Bunyan
  3. ^ a b Cecil Adams column
  4. ^ Office of the Governor of Michigan
  5. ^ "The Round River Drive", original MacGillivray story
  6. ^ "Some Lumberjack Myths", by J. E. Rockwell, The Outer’s Book (February 1910), pp157-160
  7. ^ Spy Museum biography
  8. ^ Ames article
  9. ^ a b Complete Laughead pamphlet
  10. ^ Fitwick, Marshall. Probing popular culture on and off the Internet. Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0789021331, 9780789021335, p. 114-118
  11. ^ Dorson, Richard. American Folklore. University of Chicago Press, 1977, ISBN 0226158594, 9780226158594, p. 216-226
  12. ^ Stoutenburg, Adrien, American Tall Tales, Puffin Books, New York, 1976
  13. ^ Babe the Blue Ox: From Paul Bunyan at Americanfolklore.net
  14. ^ "Klamath tourist attraction loses its head - Times-Standard Online". www.times-standard.com. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
  15. ^ Oscoda Press on Paul Bunyan designation
  16. ^ Roadside attractions, Ossineke, Michigan Babe and Paul Bunyan
  17. ^ Center for Puppetry Arts - Performances

(17) http://www.stmarieschamber.org/pbd.html

Further reading

  • Edmonds, Michael. Out of the Northwoods; the Many Lives of Paul Bunyan, the Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2009.
  • Bélanger, Georges. La collection Les Vieux m'ont conté du père Germain Lemieux, s.j.: Francophonies d'Amérique, Ottawa. Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa, no. 1, 1991, pp. 35–42.
  • Gartenberg, Max (1949). "Paul Bunyan and Little John". Journal of American Folklore. 62.
  • Germain, Georges-Hébert. Adventurers in the New World: The Saga of the Coureurs des Bois, Montréal: Libre-Expression, 2003.
  • Maltin, Leonard (1990). Of Mice and Magic - the History of American Animation (Rev. ed.). Plume Books.
  • Rogers, Laurence. How a Terrible Timber Feller Became A Legend!, Historical Press, 1993.
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