The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1939-10-19
Authority on Mythical Figure
Gives Folklore's History
In Talk to College.

/
Bunyan mythology by Cal Crosshaul
who has spent nearly life time COL
Iecting material on the famous lumber
jack character, in talk before the
Ely Junior College, Friday morning.
CrosshauI, lumberjack himself, who
first went into the woods in 1888, gave
what he believed was the true origin
of Paul Bunyan, his name and his
! folklore.
Some of the common beliefs that he
exploded were:
l. Paul Bunyan did not originate
from any real character, but was a pure
myth.
2. The legends about the winter of
the blue snow are not Bunyan stories,
but are inaccurate adaptations of the
black and red snow yarns that the
old lumberjacks told.
g. His origin was in the logging
river sections Of the Great Lakes states,
and claims from other territories, not
ably Quebec, that they had a hand in
his birth are false. 1t is impossible to
give credit to any one part of Michigan,
Wisconsin, or Minnesota as being the
point where he saw the first light of
day
4. His strength and endurance but
not his size were great.
Bunyan yarns fell easily and quickly
from Crosshaul's lips. Story tellers, the
best of whom originated in Nova Scotia
aY1 I-1~f al n I1A roil r,-,1 -
make their yarns hold water whenever
possible.
He gave as an example Bunyan's
hauling water from Lake Superior to
North Dakota in huge tank So much
Of it stopped out on the way over that
it collected to form the Mississippi
river. And if the listeners seemed to
doubt the veracity of the teller, he
would point out to them that the river
was there SO it must be true.
Paul Bunyan has no genealogy,
Crosshaul declared, even though in his
travels he had come across two lumber
men who had that name. He was the
brain child of the early lumberjack
who first associated him with feats of
strength and endurance
Here's how CroSshaul traced the
origin of the name Paul Bunyan. Rivers
were the only means of transportation
in the early numbering days, both for
floating the timber out and bringing
the supplies in. The trips up were ar
dous indeed, rapids and falls impeding
the progress Of the heavily laden
canoes and RATS.
over rapids by a windlass placed on
a raft above it. A cable attached to
the canoe or raft below would be wound
around the drum of the windlass. At
the bottom of the drum was a short
bar, or pawl, to prevent the win6lass
from recoiling.
This pawl represented mighty i'm
portant little gadget to the lumberjack,
Crosshaul pointed out, and he often
marveled at its strength. Soon all over
the north country "as strong as a
pawl" became stock phrase in meas
uring strength and endurance, the be-
ginning of Bunyan's given name
1t made its first appearance in the
early SOS, CrosShaul's research shows
Symbolic of great strength, it grew into
an ideal, super man that was the
ideal Of every lumberjack IN the woods
The surname was imported from
Quebec by lunlberjacks attracted to the
Great Lakes area. It came from a
French soldier of great stature, who
apparently was the ideal Of the adj
Ienturous woodsmen From Newfound-
land and Nova Scotia, they were the
best story tellers in the lumber camps
1t wasn't until 1895 or 1890 that the
full name Paul Bunyan came into COM
mon usage.
i The woodsmen, most OF them liter
ate, developed lingo of their own
Crosshaul said, that was q foreign
tongue to the uninitiated Eggs were
called cackle-berries, sugar was sand
all fruit except prunes was referred tt
as apple sauce, and often at meal time
Crosshaul said, a lunlberjack would
remark that the apricots on the tabl@
made better apple sauce than Gran.
and his legs were pins. PEERLESS tobacco
was hay and Standard was straw
Whiskey was squirrel, because a woods.
man who drank too much acted ukt
one.
A lumberjack given the G. B. (granc
bounce) was fired, and the camp fore
man was kingpin.
CroSshauPs Paul Bunyan was TIL
fumberjack's Paul Bunyan. The failurr
on the part Of most writer's TO obtai,
this view Of the mythical character
the reason for many untrue account
and false impressions, he said.
No lumberjack ever saw blue snow
he declared, but dust storms from
prairie states in early spring or ret
dust blown from iron ore stock pile
! often put black spotted coat or ret