Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1923-06-13

~ Tho hole for Lake Superior,
{sno oai the timber off North Da-
p y55 and started the Mississippi
II VI Won have ever talked with a
,,, - from anywhere in the
n u part of the United States
NV ro, know that those are the most
ss0tstanding feats accomplished by
D gY Runyan, the hero of all bunk
b"nso warns that have been hand
Cd down for generations.
When and where this mythical
boro oot his start is question
that the lumberjacks themselves
o . not answer. They all know of
bic exploits, however, and from
Moline to Oregon-wherever lum-
Lormen have gathered in camps
tho tales of Paul Bunyan have
boon told, retoId and elaborated
until today they form a true Am
crican folklore. Although at times
panI is very human, in his bigger
moments he rivals the figures of
classical scandinavian or Celtic
legend.
For generations these stories
we're never heard outside of the
baunts of the lumberjacks, but in
recent years they have been col
Iected by educators and literary
authorities who say that Paul is
the only American myth"
Chief Camp in Wisconsin.
A few authorities say that Paul
was born in Maine and then mi
grated westward through the
Great Lakes region to the Pacific
with the numbering industry. Be
that as it may, it is an undisputed
fact that Paul developed to the
zenith Of his powers in Wisconsin
and Minnesota during the sos and
'9OS.
His greatest camp, his head
quarters the winter of the blue
snow was located in Wisconsin
just As miles west Of Rhinelander.
1t was a huge affair, you bet!
The cook shanty was so large
that it took half a day to walk
around it. When Paul blew the
horn to call the men to dinner he
blew down ten acres of pine. The
use Of this horn was so wasteful
that Paul finally sent it East so
the tin could be used as the roof
for Union depot.
When the water tank at this
camp was accidentally tipped over
by the big blue OK the outrushing
water formed the beginning of
The Mississippi river.
Paul was a giant among men.
Ills exact height is not known,
put from the depressions left in
she soils of Wisconsin by his feet
I IS certain that he had a stride
u somewhat more than seven feet.
Paul couldn't write, so he or
Tered supplies for his camps by
IraWlng pictures of what he want
a. Once he ordered grindstones
'ut forgot to draw the holes. He
got cheeses instead. What to do!
l ium6erman can not get along
ylVhout a grlndstone. Paul solved
ne problem by rolling boulders
Town steep hills and then sending
us men after them to sharpen
heIr axes on the revolving stones.
Big Blue Ok Helped.
Almost as we'll known as Paul
,unyan himself was Babe, the big
Tue OK. This animal, though
emile as kitten and greatly
owed by Paul and his crew, was
TtualIy bovine locomotive.
'aoe could pull anything that had
Wo ends. He was six axehandles
'lde between the eyes. The men
Jrung ropes between his horns
MT hung their clothes on them
dry.
When cost sheets were figured
n Babe it was found that up
eep and overhead were expensive
ut the charges for operation anc
epreciation were low, hence the
was very high. Pau
sed Babe to pull the kinks out
a crooked logging road. One
me in hauling a whole section OF
mber to the landing Babe pulled
chain of three-inch links Out
Ito straight bar.
Babe could never be kept more
nan one night at a camp for he
.ould eat In one day ell the FEED
ne crew could tote to camp in q
eek. His between-meal smack