WEBVTT - Is Paul Bunyan Based on a Real Person?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff. Lauren Bogebaum here. The story of Paul Bunyan,

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<v Speaker 1>the Giant Lumberjack is one of the most enduring tall

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<v Speaker 1>tales in North America. The folk tale is a favorite

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<v Speaker 1>in children's classrooms and is immortalized in cartoons and tourist

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<v Speaker 1>attractions all over the United States. But was this based

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<v Speaker 1>on a real person? According to legend, Paul Bunyan was

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<v Speaker 1>so huge at birth it took five exhausted storks to

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<v Speaker 1>deliver him to his parents. When Bunyan was a mere

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<v Speaker 1>week old, he already fit into his father's clothes. Junior

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<v Speaker 1>Bunyan downed forty bowls of porridge a day, they say,

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<v Speaker 1>and received a big blue ox named Babe for his

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<v Speaker 1>first birthday. This Bunyon of legend grew up to become

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<v Speaker 1>a skilled lumberjack, with Babe as outsized an ox as

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<v Speaker 1>Bunyan was a man always at his side. As a

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<v Speaker 1>logging team, the two were on beatable, able to clear

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<v Speaker 1>forests with amazing speed. At one point, Bunyan headed south

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<v Speaker 1>and created the Grand Canyon simply by dragging his axe

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<v Speaker 1>behind him, and Babe well, she tromped all around Minnesota's

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<v Speaker 1>logging country. As she did so, her footsteps filled with

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<v Speaker 1>water behind her, forming the states famed ten thousand Lakes.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, these are all literally and figuratively tall tales.

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<v Speaker 1>But are they based in any fact. Well maybe. Some

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<v Speaker 1>historians believe that the legendary Paul Bunyan was based on

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<v Speaker 1>a real person, a French Canadian logger named Fabian Fourgnye,

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<v Speaker 1>or perhaps it would have been pronounced Fournier. I couldn't

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<v Speaker 1>find a solid answer either way. He was born in

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<v Speaker 1>Quebec around eight then moved to Michigan after the Civil

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<v Speaker 1>War to take advantage of the high paying logging jobs

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<v Speaker 1>that were readily available there. His brawn and six foot height,

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<v Speaker 1>which is just shy of two meters, were noteworthy for

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<v Speaker 1>the time him and made him quite intimidating, as did

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<v Speaker 1>his drinking and brawling. He died in eighteen seventy five

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<v Speaker 1>during a fight in Bay City, Michigan, a wild town

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<v Speaker 1>where lumberjacks went to party after every pay day. His

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<v Speaker 1>alleged killer, who struck him in the back of the

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<v Speaker 1>head with a mallet, was acquitted in a subsequent trial

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<v Speaker 1>that drew a lot of attention, helping spread the legend

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<v Speaker 1>of Paul Bunyan to lumberjacking hotspots in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota,

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<v Speaker 1>and beyond. At some point, bunyan story became intertwined with

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<v Speaker 1>that of another French Canadian, a war hero by the

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<v Speaker 1>name of bon Jean. The tales of bon Jean and

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<v Speaker 1>Fabian combined to create one ferocious, athletic, intelligent lumberjack by

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<v Speaker 1>the name of Paul Bunyan, with Bunyan believed to be

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<v Speaker 1>a melding of bon Jean of bon Jan. Anyway, as

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteenth century drew to a close, Paul Bunyan Tales

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<v Speaker 1>spread across logging camps throughout North America, and with every

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<v Speaker 1>retelling of the tales, the lumberjacks greatly embellished them. Yet,

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<v Speaker 1>despite the popularity of Paul Bunyan among the lumberjack in community,

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<v Speaker 1>the general public knew nothing of him. The first written

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<v Speaker 1>mention of Paul Bunyan two people outside of the lumberjacking

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<v Speaker 1>world came in nineteen ten, when one James mcgillifray penned

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<v Speaker 1>the first of the Logging Tall Tales series that would

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<v Speaker 1>become popular across the nation. The piece ran in the

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<v Speaker 1>Detroit News Tribune. Then in nineteen fourteen, the Red River

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<v Speaker 1>Lumber Company stepped in the business, which sold its wood

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<v Speaker 1>to local lumber yards through a national distribution network, developed

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<v Speaker 1>an advertising campaign for its new mill in California. As

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<v Speaker 1>part of the campaign, the business created a series of

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<v Speaker 1>pamphlets featuring Bunyan, but which were largely ignored, but the

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<v Speaker 1>company published a revised version of them via a nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>twenty two bucklet titled The Marvelous Exploits of Paul Buny

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<v Speaker 1>In As before, the booklet was intended for lumber industry workers,

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<v Speaker 1>but the Kansas City Star happened to publish a lengthy

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<v Speaker 1>review of the booklet, introducing Bunyan to the masses, and

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<v Speaker 1>the rest, as they say, is history. The American public

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<v Speaker 1>quickly became enamored with the massive lumberjack and his colorful

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<v Speaker 1>bovine companion, especially kids. Soon, Bunyan was the subject of comics,

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<v Speaker 1>books and operetta, and even poems by the likes of

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<v Speaker 1>Robert Frost and Carl Sandberg, and numerous towns began claiming

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<v Speaker 1>him as their own, from Minnesota to Bangor, Maine, which

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<v Speaker 1>boasts to have possession of his birth certificate. Today, many

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<v Speaker 1>towns hold festivals in his honor. You can catch up

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<v Speaker 1>Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show in states like Wisconsin and Florida,

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<v Speaker 1>where lumberjacks and jills compete in activities such as axe

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<v Speaker 1>throwing and log rolling, and June is now known as

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<v Speaker 1>National Paul Bunyan Day, making Bunyan one of America's official

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<v Speaker 1>folklore hero. Today's episode is based on the article was

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<v Speaker 1>There a Real Paul Bunyan on how Stuffworks dot Com?

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<v Speaker 1>Written by Deborah Ronka and Melanie rad Zeki McManus. Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with how

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<v Speaker 1>Stuffworks dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four

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