1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:10,799 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff. Lauren Bogebaum here. The story of Paul Bunyan, 3 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: the Giant Lumberjack is one of the most enduring tall 4 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,920 Speaker 1: tales in North America. The folk tale is a favorite 5 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: in children's classrooms and is immortalized in cartoons and tourist 6 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:25,759 Speaker 1: attractions all over the United States. But was this based 7 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: on a real person? According to legend, Paul Bunyan was 8 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:33,519 Speaker 1: so huge at birth it took five exhausted storks to 9 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: deliver him to his parents. When Bunyan was a mere 10 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: week old, he already fit into his father's clothes. Junior 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: Bunyan downed forty bowls of porridge a day, they say, 12 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:47,159 Speaker 1: and received a big blue ox named Babe for his 13 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: first birthday. This Bunyon of legend grew up to become 14 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: a skilled lumberjack, with Babe as outsized an ox as 15 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: Bunyan was a man always at his side. As a 16 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 1: logging team, the two were on beatable, able to clear 17 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: forests with amazing speed. At one point, Bunyan headed south 18 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 1: and created the Grand Canyon simply by dragging his axe 19 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: behind him, and Babe well, she tromped all around Minnesota's 20 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 1: logging country. As she did so, her footsteps filled with 21 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:20,399 Speaker 1: water behind her, forming the states famed ten thousand Lakes. 22 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: Of course, these are all literally and figuratively tall tales. 23 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: But are they based in any fact. Well maybe. Some 24 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: historians believe that the legendary Paul Bunyan was based on 25 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: a real person, a French Canadian logger named Fabian Fourgnye, 26 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: or perhaps it would have been pronounced Fournier. I couldn't 27 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: find a solid answer either way. He was born in 28 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: Quebec around eight then moved to Michigan after the Civil 29 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: War to take advantage of the high paying logging jobs 30 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: that were readily available there. His brawn and six foot height, 31 00:01:57,120 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: which is just shy of two meters, were noteworthy for 32 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: the time him and made him quite intimidating, as did 33 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: his drinking and brawling. He died in eighteen seventy five 34 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: during a fight in Bay City, Michigan, a wild town 35 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: where lumberjacks went to party after every pay day. His 36 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,520 Speaker 1: alleged killer, who struck him in the back of the 37 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: head with a mallet, was acquitted in a subsequent trial 38 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:22,639 Speaker 1: that drew a lot of attention, helping spread the legend 39 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: of Paul Bunyan to lumberjacking hotspots in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 40 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: and beyond. At some point, bunyan story became intertwined with 41 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: that of another French Canadian, a war hero by the 42 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: name of bon Jean. The tales of bon Jean and 43 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: Fabian combined to create one ferocious, athletic, intelligent lumberjack by 44 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: the name of Paul Bunyan, with Bunyan believed to be 45 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:53,919 Speaker 1: a melding of bon Jean of bon Jan. Anyway, as 46 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century drew to a close, Paul Bunyan Tales 47 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:01,240 Speaker 1: spread across logging camps throughout North America, and with every 48 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: retelling of the tales, the lumberjacks greatly embellished them. Yet, 49 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: despite the popularity of Paul Bunyan among the lumberjack in community, 50 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: the general public knew nothing of him. The first written 51 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,520 Speaker 1: mention of Paul Bunyan two people outside of the lumberjacking 52 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,800 Speaker 1: world came in nineteen ten, when one James mcgillifray penned 53 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: the first of the Logging Tall Tales series that would 54 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 1: become popular across the nation. The piece ran in the 55 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:32,919 Speaker 1: Detroit News Tribune. Then in nineteen fourteen, the Red River 56 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: Lumber Company stepped in the business, which sold its wood 57 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: to local lumber yards through a national distribution network, developed 58 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: an advertising campaign for its new mill in California. As 59 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 1: part of the campaign, the business created a series of 60 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: pamphlets featuring Bunyan, but which were largely ignored, but the 61 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: company published a revised version of them via a nineteen 62 00:03:56,200 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: twenty two bucklet titled The Marvelous Exploits of Paul Buny 63 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 1: In As before, the booklet was intended for lumber industry workers, 64 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: but the Kansas City Star happened to publish a lengthy 65 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: review of the booklet, introducing Bunyan to the masses, and 66 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:17,599 Speaker 1: the rest, as they say, is history. The American public 67 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: quickly became enamored with the massive lumberjack and his colorful 68 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: bovine companion, especially kids. Soon, Bunyan was the subject of comics, 69 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 1: books and operetta, and even poems by the likes of 70 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 1: Robert Frost and Carl Sandberg, and numerous towns began claiming 71 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: him as their own, from Minnesota to Bangor, Maine, which 72 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 1: boasts to have possession of his birth certificate. Today, many 73 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 1: towns hold festivals in his honor. You can catch up 74 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show in states like Wisconsin and Florida, 75 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:50,839 Speaker 1: where lumberjacks and jills compete in activities such as axe 76 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: throwing and log rolling, and June is now known as 77 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: National Paul Bunyan Day, making Bunyan one of America's official 78 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:07,599 Speaker 1: folklore hero. Today's episode is based on the article was 79 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: There a Real Paul Bunyan on how Stuffworks dot Com? 80 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:14,039 Speaker 1: Written by Deborah Ronka and Melanie rad Zeki McManus. Brain 81 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:16,360 Speaker 1: Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with how 82 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,480 Speaker 1: Stuffworks dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four 83 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:21,840 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart 84 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 85 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 1: favorite shows.