American Folklore Heroes

Woven into American history and culture are the stories of American Folk Heroes. Exchanged through such mediums as word-of mouth, song, live performance and tourist attractions, the heroes have been used to tell the legends that shaped the United States. A legend typically features four characteristics, the first being that the lead character possesses qualities that are larger-than-life. Secondly, the character performs a certain job and speaks in everyday language specific to the industry. Thirdly, the character's impact spans into various locations throughout the country. Fourthly, the legends also all make mention of how the character came to achieve their position.

As the legends were passed on, the details became exaggerated and complimented by personal anecdotes which were fitting to the storyteller's environment and personal taste. As a result, each character takes on both mythical and believable elements. It is impossible then to say that a hero was entirely real as each story has been continually repeated to express the same underlying message but altered to fit into various surroundings and periods of time. In the cases of Paul Bunyan and John Henry, each man was clearly built by the legend but, on the other hand, the legend of Buffalo Bill and Johnny Appleseed were built upon the personas of real men.

	Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox1

PAUL BUNYAN

The Legend of Paul Bunyan
Few characters within American folklore have been able to match Paul Bunyan's presence and stature. The tall tales exchanged within the culture of logging camps have cultivated the legend of Bunyan and his Blue Ox Babe. Folklore experts have credited a Western American logging company with creating the tale in the early 20th century, although some critics believe that the first mention of Bunyan can be traced back to lumberjacks within the 19th century French Canadian forestry industry. All agree, however, that Paul Bunyan became a legendary hero of lumberjacks across North America because he possessed the skill and strength both matched and admired by the individual's telling the tale.

Paul Bunyan was said to be so large at birth that it took five giant storks, working overtime, to deliver him to his parents. He grew so fast, that within one week he was wearing his father's clothes and had to sleep on a raft off the coast of Maine. Many ships were sunk as a result of Paul rocking in his sleep. He would eat forty bowls of porridge and played with an axe while other children played with toys. For his first birthday, Paul's father gave him a pet blue ox named Babe. Eating thirty bales of hay a day, wire and all, Babe grew to measure seven axe handles long. Both were so large that the impressions of Babe's footprints around Minnesota were filled with water to create the area's 10,000 lakes, while Paul dragging his axe formed the Grand Canyon.

Later in life, Paul Bunyan inadvertently invented the industry of logging because he would chop down trees that were in his path, and Babe in turn would pull the trees aside with a lumber wagon. Once word got around about how fast Paul and Babe could clear an area of forest, the demand for their logging services became too much. In order to keep up, Paul hired seven large axe men, each weighing more than 300 pounds. When the group was able to maintain a steady work ethic, he and Babe would leave the group and continue to travel across the United States recruiting groups of large men and training them in the skill of axe handling. To this day, sightings and tales of Paul and Babe aiding and perpetuating the logging industry are exchanged both within and outside North American logging camps.

Paul Bunyan and Babe Statues Outside the Paul Bunyan Logging Camp2

Paul Bunyan Attractions
Located within the historic Carson Park of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the public is invited year-round to explore an authentic replica of a 1900s logging facility named the Paul Bunyan Logging Camp. Interactive exhibits featured at this camp include a bunkhouse, a cook shanty, a blacksmith shop, a barn and a heavy equipment shed. In Paul's Tall Tales Room, located within the interactive center, visitors can re-create and build their own stories surrounding Paul and Babe as well as operate a miniature water-powered sawmill. The International Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show offers additional old-fashioned family-oriented logging activities at various venues throughout the United States. For more than 30 years, this traveling show has showcased such lumberjack events as dragster chainsaws, underhand chopping, speed climbing, axe throwing and log rolling. The Paul Bunyan Lumberjacks are also the same lumberjacks who compete in the Stihl Timber Sports Series featured on cable television.

The city of Bemidji, Minnesota, adamantly claims to be the original birthplace of Paul and Babe and, as a result, boasts the largest statues in the world of both. Standing 18-feet tall and weighing two-and-a-half tons, the Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox Statues have become a major tourist attraction on the shores of Lake Bemidji State Park. Paul's larger than life presence has moved past representing just tourist and logging attractions around North America into representing Bemidji's culture, as the city's shopping mall and theatre company are named after him.

Additional larger-than-life statues are scattered across the United States and can be found at over 20 roadside attractions in locations such as Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida and Idaho.

JOHN HENRY

The Legend of John Henry
The longevity of the legend surrounding John Henry, like Paul Bunyan, is based on the fact that his image grew along with the popularity of his story. The story of John Henry was mostly told through ballads and work songs, sung by 19th Century railroad workers. John Henry's life represented power, the raw individual strength that no system could repress. His legend served as an inspiration through example, because he exemplified the idea of a strong work ethic which became popularized by the 19th century labor force. The moral of the John Henry's story is that even though the working conditions of railway tunnel diggers seemed unbearable at times, if the worker possessed strength and a focus, then he too could be respected and leave an impression on his industry.

John Henry was born a slave in the 1840s or 1850s in Alabama. He grew to be 6 feet tall (2 m) and 200 pounds (91 kg), which would be considered a giant in those days. Among a legion of slaves freed from the Civil War, he went to work as a steel-driver for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. While excavating a railroad tunnel in Talcott, West Virginia, the railroad owner announced that he had purchased a steam-powered hammer to take over the job of many in the steel driving crew. Outraged, John Henry decided that he could save his job, and the jobs of his friends, by demonstrating that his strength could match that of a machine. After holding up his end of the challenge, and defeating the machine by hammering in more metal stakes in half an hour, John Henry ultimately suffered a heart attack and passed away right after the challenge.

	John Henry United States Postal Service Stamp 3

John Henry's story has transcended into American popular culture and politics as many blues and folk musicians have recorded their own version of his story through song including Woody Guthrie, Johnny Cash and Roberta Flack. John Henry has also been represented in a short-subject Walk Disney feature animation included in a 2001 video compilation titled Disney American legends. As well, the image of John Henry has been immortalized in the form of a postage stamp of the United States Postal Service collection titled the Labor Stamp. Printed in 1996, the John Henry Stamp is the only African American featured in the collection. Many left-wing activists and labor organizing groups have used John Henry's life as a platform claiming that he was worked to death because of exploitation by management.

John Henry Attractions
The legendary railroad tunnel where John Henry raced the steam-powered machine, named the Great Bend Tunnel, can be visited in Talcott, West Virginia. Although no longer accessible to trains, the tunnel's entrance hosts the annual John Henry Days Festival. This three-day festival features a flea market and craft sale, John Henry Memorabilia as well as live country and gospel musical performances. In order to replace the structurally unstable Great Bend Tunnel, the sister Big Bend Tunnel was constructed. Atop the east end of the tunnel is a bronze statue of John Henry, commemorating the 100-year anniversary of its completion. Erected in 1972, the statue was designed by sculptor Charles Cooper and stands eight-feet tall.

John Henry Memorial Statue 4

The story of John Henry and his work on the C&O Railway is embodied in two very different cities. The John Henry Woodcarving Exhibit, located in Hinton, West Virginia, features over 100 hand-carved, detailed wood figurines that display each role that was involved with completing the Great Bend Tunnel, including Henry's. On the other hand, Morgantown, West Virginia features the John Henry Museum, which contains a number of interactive exhibits on the legend of Henry as well as life and culture in Appalachia.

JOHNNY APPLESEED

The Legend of Johnny Appleseed
The legend of Johnny Appleseed surrounds John Chapman, born in Leominster, Massachusetts, in 1774. John was a Christian minister who planted apple orchards throughout Ohio, Indiana and Illinois as he also spread the word of God. The legend of Johnny Appleseed is intimately tied to the domestication of the United States in the early 1800s.

Johnny became recognizable by many early settlers as an old acquaintance that had wandered about along the streams of Western Pennsylvania for years. He was consistently in pursuit of preparing the way for settlers to follow. At suitable locations for growing apple seeds, usually found along the banks of the river, he would create a small clearing and plant the seeds he had previously gathered. He then fenced the area that would soon produce fine nurseries for others to harvest.

	1774 Postcard of Johnny Appleseed 5

To remain at one with nature, and therefore God, Johnny traveled barefoot, wearing a coffee sack as a shirt, a shoulder bag and the legendary, but not authenticated, tin pot as a hat, that also served as his cooking pot. At night, he stayed as a guest in area homes and spoke of the word of God, claiming that he was hearing it straight from heaven. The legend of Johnny Appleseed became intertwined with John Chapman, as it became entertainment for settlers to put up a literal legend in his own time. March 1845, Johnny Appleseed passed away at age 70 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. William Worth claims that his friend John Chapman showed up at his doorstep, had an evening meal, read aloud from the bible and never woke up from his sleep.

Johnny Appleseed Attractions
Representing Johnny's life and westward expansion, the annual Johnny Appleseed Outdoor Drama in Ashland, Ohio, presents a 42-member cast live theatrical presentation during the months of June, July and August. Sponsoring the performance, the Johnny Appleseed Heritage Center celebrates the history and folklore surrounding Johnny. The center offers interactive exhibits and workshops tailored to express information about the man, the legend and his surroundings. The Johnny Appleseed Trail, located all through Massachusetts, reflects the tracks that Johnny Appleseed's took as he traveled in the area. Accessible from over two-dozen traditional New England cities and towns throughout the area, the trail provides a wide number of recreational sites and scenic regions available for public use. The Johnny Appleseed Trail Visitor Center is located at the gateway of the trail in Leominster, Massachusetts, and provides trail information, a history of Johnny Appleseed and rest stop amenities.

Most apples grown in the 1700s and 1800s were grown to make hard cider. About half the alcoholic strength of wine, cider was safer and easier to make than the more available corn liquor. The cider could also be distilled into brandy at approximately 66% pure alcohol. Johnny Appleseed then didn't just bring fresh fruit and the word of God to the frontier, but also the drink of choice.

Visitors can pay respect to Johnny Appleseed at his 12-acre (5 ha) gravesite and memorial park located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Johnny Appleseed Memorial Park, also referred to as Archer Park, features Johnny's individual gravesite, which is fenced and respectfully decorated with apples and tree garnishing. During the month of September, the park also hosts the annual Johnny Appleseed Festival. Live musicians, food vendors and performers dressed in period clothing are featured. The goal of the festival is to remain historically accurate, therefore participants are encouraged not to bring items made from plastic, aluminum or styrofoam since these products were not available during this period.

An additional Johnny Appleseed Festival, also held annually in September is held in his birthplace of Leominster, Massachusetts.

BUFFALO BILL

The Legend of Buffalo Bill
William Frederick Cody assumed the nickname of Buffalo Bill after winning a buffalo-killing contest in 1868. Born in 1846 in Le Claire, Iowa, Cody spent 1868 to 1872 as a scout for the United States Army. His duties were scouting Native Americans for army recruitment as well as hunting buffalo. In 1872, Buffalo Bill appeared in a drama created around him, written by dime novelist Ned Buntline. After a short success, Buffalo Bill organized his own traveling live drama in 1882.

	1899 Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show Poster 6

Titled the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, Sitting Bull and as many as 1200 other performers toured annually for 20 years throughout the United States. The show opened with a horseback parade of Native Americans as well as North and Central Americans. Each show performer demonstrated skill while also displaying his or her culture through colorful and distinctive costumes. The performance ended with a reenactment of Custard's Last Stand, with Buffalo Bill in the starring role.

The nickname was acknowledged as more of a legend in 1900, where historians claim that the most recognizable celebrity on earth was Buffalo Bill. The show gained international appeal in 1887 when they were asked to perform at Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee celebration in England. Cody passed away in January 1917, however, his legend is still celebrated in Cody, Wyoming. Buffalo Bill's popularity was based on the fact that most saw him as a representation of the first true cowboy, supporting the rights of women and American Indians as well a championing animal and natural conservation.

Buffalo Bill Attractions
By his own request, William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody was buried on Lookout Mountain in Golden, Colorado, because he wanted to spend eternity overlooking the Great Plains and the Rockies. Visitors are welcome each year in early June to his gravesite to pay respects as well as participate in the reenactment of his burial. On the same grounds as the gravesite is the Buffalo Bill Memorial Museum. The museum features numerous family-oriented and hands-on exhibits depicting the life of Buffalo Bill as well the Old West. Period costumes and firearms, artifacts from his Wild West show and a gallery of Western Art are also featured.

Buffalo Bill 7

Founded by Buffalo Bill, and thereby bearing his name, the city of Cody, Wyoming offers many opportunities to learn about Buffalo Bill the man as well as experience the Wild West where his legend emerged. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center offers five internationally acclaimed museums within one facility. Features include the Whitney Gallery of Western Art, the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Plains Indian Museum, the Cody Firearms Museum and the Draper Museum of Natural History. With standard admission, visitors can explore the Buffalo Bill Historical Center for two consecutive days.

If visiting Cody in early July, visitors should make a point of participating in the Buffalo Bill Cody Stampede Rodeo. This annual Western event is rooted in ranch contests and games borrowed from the world famous Wild West shows once produced by Buffalo Bill himself. World-class rodeo events, live musical performances and a parade featuring over 130 floats can also be found at this event.

Guided tours of the homestead as well as the ranch house and barn once belonging Buffalo Bill are available in North Platte, Nebraska and Le Claire, Iowa.