After my “Pauline Bunyan act,” sawing tree limbs felled by the storms rampaging through Michigan last week, I was curious about the cultural and literary origins of the Paul Bunyan legend. The character of the giant lumberjack, accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox, first appeared in the mid-19th century in the oral storytelling tradition of North American loggers. The name may derive from the French-Canadian “bon yenne!” expressing surprise or astonishment. Bunyan was popularized in print in 1916, when William B. Laughead wrote advertising pamphlets for Minnesota’s Red River Lumber Company using the character and naming his ox. Laughead embellished the folk tales, increasing Bunyan’s height so he towered over trees, and attributing to him many natural wonders: he created thousands of lakes with his footprints, made the Grand Canyon by pulling his ax behind him, and built Mount Hood by putting stones on his campfire. Scholars have not been able to determine whether Paul Bunyan was based on an actual character or is wholly mythical, but his story continues to delight both adults and children and his likeness appears in several enormous statues. Learn more interesting trivia in BEHIND THE STORY.
