Babe the Blue Ox

Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor, Maine
Birthplace	Various claimed: Bangor, Maine Bemidji, Minnesota Brainerd, Minnesota Oscoda, Michigan Ossineke, Michigan St. Ignace, Michigan
Information
Full name	Paul Bunyan
Gender	Male
Occupation	Lumberjack
Nationality	French Canadian American

Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack in American folklore. His exploits revolve around the tall tales of his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox. The character originated in the oral tradition of North American loggers, and was later popularized by freelance writer William B. Laughead (1882–1958) in a 1916 promotional pamphlet for the Red River Lumber Company. He has been the subject of various literary compositions, musical pieces, commercial works, and theatrical productions. His likeness is displayed in several statues across North America.

There are many hypotheses about the etymology of the name Paul Bunyan. Much of the commentary focuses on a Franco-Canadian origin for the name. Phonetically Bunyan is similar to the Québécois expression "bon yenne!" expressing surprise or astonishment. The English surname Bunyan is derived from the same root as bunion in the Old French bugne, referring to a large lump or swelling. Several researchers have attempted to trace Paul Bunyan to the character of Bon Jean or Tit Jean of French Canadian folklore.

Michael Edmonds states in his book Out of the Northwoods: The Many Lives of Paul Bunyan that Paul Bunyan stories circulated for at least thirty years before finding their way into print. In contrast to the lengthy narratives abundant in published material, Paul Bunyan "stories" when told in the lumbercamp bunkhouses were presented in short fragments. Some of these stories include motifs from older folktales, such as absurdly severe weather and fearsome critters. Parallels in early printings support the view that at least a handful of Bunyan stories hold a common origin in folklore. The earliest recorded reference to Paul Bunyan is an uncredited 1904 editorial in the Duluth News Tribune which recounts:

Each of these elements recurs in later accounts, including logging the Dakotas, a giant camp, the winter of the blue snow, and stove skating. All four anecdotes are mirrored in J. E. Rockwell's "Some Lumberjack Myths" six years later, and James MacGillivray wrote on the subject of stove skating in "Round River" four years before that. MacGillivray's account, somewhat extended, reappeared in The American Lumberman in 1910. The American Lumberman followed up with a few sporadic editorials, such as "Paul Bunyan's Oxen," "In Paul Bunyan's Cook Shanty," and "Chronicle of Life and Works of Mr. Paul Bunyan." Rockwell's earlier story was one of the few to allude to Paul Bunyan's Brobdignagian stature and introduce his big blue ox, prior to Laughead's commercialization of Paul Bunyan, although W .D. Harrigan did refer to a giant pink ox in "Paul Bunyan's Oxen," circa 1914. In all the articles, Paul Bunyan is praised as a logger of great physical strength and unrivaled skill.