Was Paul Bunyan Real?
Even in this age of internet-inspired distractions, Paul Bunyan remains a well-known figure in the pantheon of American icons. It’s easy to see why when considering his portfolio. A hardworking lumberjack, Bunyan cleared entire forests with a single stroke of his ax; created natural formations such as the Grand Canyon with his sheer size and strength; and was even kind to animals, as illustrated by his longtime companionship with Babe the Blue Ox. No fewer than six towns lay claim to being his birthplace, while others boast a variety of Bunyan statues, restaurants, and events.
Of course, part of the attraction to this legendary figure stems from the exaggerations inherent to the tall-tale tradition. We know there wasn’t really a human so massive he needed to be carried by five storks as a baby and created entire lakes when his footsteps filled with water. On the other hand, it’s often pointed out that truth is stranger than fiction, so perhaps there was a real-life lumberjack so unusually strong and brave that he inspired the character who grew to such outlandish proportions in the stories that followed. Peering back through the legend’s many branches, here’s a look at where and when this larger-than-life woodsman first marked his presence.
The Possible Real-Life Inspiration for Bunyan
One candidate for the real-life Bunyan was a French Canadian logger by the name of Fabian “Saginaw Joe” Fournier. A large man who supposedly sported two full sets of adult teeth, Fournier was known for his shows of strength and hard-drinking ways, until he was killed in the rough-and-tumble logging town of Bay City, Michigan, in 1875.
The other main hypothesized model for the tall-tale icon was a French Canadian lumberman named Bon Jean, an alleged participant in Lower Canada’s Papineau Rebellion of 1837. Bon Jean’s formidable reputation spread across the border by way of his countrymen who sought work in the Great Lakes region, and, the theory goes, his Québécois moniker was eventually Americanized to “Bunyan.”
However, according to Michael Edmonds, author of Out of the Northwoods: The Many Lives of Paul Bunyan, there are problems with both of these origin stories. The source of the Fournier theory was a logger-turned-writer named James MacGillivray, who published some of the earliest newspaper stories about Bunyan in the early 20th century. But his own source proved to be dubious. Decades later, MacGillivray wrote in a letter how he’d learned of the Fournier connection from a timber cruiser (land appraiser) named Jimmy Conn. However, that contradicted an earlier account of MacGillivray’s in which he claimed to have heard of Fournier back in 1887, a time when Conn was just a teenager and too young to hold such an advanced position.
Edmonds traces the Papineau Rebellion theory, meanwhile, to author James Stevens, who relayed the anecdotes of a French Canadian old-timer for his popular 1925 book about Bunyan. Over the years, the identity of this participant in the uprising was fused with that of a French Canadian folk character named Bon Jean. However, researchers who combed the archives of information related to the rebellion found no mention of a Bunyan or anyone with a similar name.
It’s quite possible that a logger with bulging muscles and nerves of steel made his way into the first Bunyan tales by hauling a massive white pine trunk or overpowering a vicious beast of the north woods. However, the identity of such an individual — or individuals — was unknown when researchers first began digging for him more than a century ago, and it remains unknown today with the original sources long gone.
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The Story’s Logging Camp Origins
Per Edmonds, the first Bunyan stories originated in Wisconsin in the mid-1880s. The state's logging industry had been up and running for a few decades, and grizzled veterans began dropping references to a powerful and cunning camp foreman named Paul Bunyan as a means of testing the gullibility of newer workers.
Many of the earliest references were mentioned in passing, and would often be followed by quips from other loggers in the field in an improvised game of one-upmanship. However, other Bunyan stories were told in more of the traditional across-the-bunker or around-the-campfire format.
Such was the case with the first verified Bunyan tales, which date to a logging camp north of Tomahawk, Wisconsin, during the winter of 1885 to 1886. According to the separate recollections of veteran lumbermen, a timber cruiser named Bill Mulhollen was responsible for spreading the word about Bunyan that season, until workers finally realized that his wild and crazy stories were entirely fiction.
But while the first accounts point back to Mulhollen, it's unknown where (or whether) he heard them from someone else. Edmonds floats the theory that the original storyteller may have been another veteran logger named Eugene Shepard, who long claimed to have invented the Bunyan myth. While Shepard wasn't exactly a trustworthy source, he was clever enough to fool a section of the population into thinking he'd captured a mythical creature known as the hodag, so he was clearly adept at spinning outlandish but convincing stories.
The Legend Spreads and Expands
From their beginning in the Wisconsin woods, the stories of Bunyan passed among roving workers from the Great Lakes to Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Minnesota, and eventually further west to Washington, Oregon, and California with the rest of the logging industry.
As they were devised by lumber workers, the original anecdotes often reflected the day-to-day realities of chopping and moving trees, unusual encounters with native flora and fauna, and after-work shenanigans of drinking and fighting. While the exploits of their hero were exaggerated, these anecdotes lacked the tall-tale elements of Bunyan creating natural geographic formations due to his gargantuan size and strength.
That began to change after the Red River Lumber Company launched an advertising campaign in 1914 based on Bunyan's image. Featuring the drawings of former logger William B. Laughead, the campaign included several Bunyan stories with embellishments such as Laughead's invention of Babe the Blue Ox.
Although the initial campaign flopped — most non-lumberjack customers had never heard of Bunyan — a second campaign enjoyed a stronger reception in 1922. Folklorist Esther Shephard then published a widely read book of Bunyan stories in 1924, followed by Stevens' compilation the following year. In 1927, the first collection of Bunyan children's tales appeared in print.
By this point, the white pines that once dominated the north Midwestern landscape were largely gone. However, the legend of the indomitable woodsman born in that harsh environment loomed larger than ever, his presence eclipsing those of the loggers who told of his deeds and any real-life figure who might have ignited the narrative flame.
