These are books about America,
its history, its geography, and its heroes
But it takes a big book like this one
to tell the story of American folklore.
The tall tales about men
doing big things in a big country.
Men like Captain Stormalong,
Joe Magarac,
John Henry,
Pecos Bill,
and the fellow
who towers above them all,
Paul Bunyan.
North America was a great big land
With a great big job to be done
Ajob that needed a great big man
Paul Bunyan was the one
Hey, Paul
Hey, Paul
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
He's 63 axe-handles high
With his feet on the ground
And his head in the sky
Hey, Paul
Hey, Paul
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
My name is Cal McNab,
lumberjack by trade.
Reckon I was the first person in our part
of the country to see Paul Bunyan.
Our town was cut
right out of the big timber
on the coast of Maine.
Should have known something unusual
was gonna happen that night.
A southeastern come up
and the wind howled so.
Thought it was gonna blow our town
right off the map.
Come daylight, I took a look
to see what was left of the place.
I spotted an odd-looking craft
on the beach.
That's where the howling
was coming from.
Hey, Ma, what in the world
do you suppose that is?
The howling roused the whole town
and everybody rushed down
to investigate.
I never saw anything like it.
Looks like a big cradle.
Now, be careful, Cal.
Well, I'll be hornswoggled, a baby.
And it's a whopper.
The whole town adopted him
and named him Paul Bunyan.
Everybody pitched in
to supply his needs.
They held sewing bees and
knitting circles to make his clothes.
Feeding him
wasn't any small job either.
I led the singing
to put him to sleep at night.
One, two...
Good night
Sleep tight
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
You're only ten axe-handles high
But you'll get bigger by and by
Good night
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
It wasn't long before Paul
was big enough to go to school.
He was a bright boy and never tardy.
Good morning, Paul.
Good morning, children.
Now, everyone be seated.
Will the first pupil to work the sum
of five plus two rise and show the answer.
That is correct, Paul.
But for heaven's sake,
don't raise the roof.
School's out! School's out! Yeah!
The boys would head
For the swimming hole
- Just as soon as their studies had ceased
- Come on, Paul.
Even though young Paul
Was sometimes last
He surely never was least
- Hey, Paul
- Here he comes.
Paul Bunyan
Though he loved to swim
What a time he had
What a problem, me, oh, my
When his front was in the water
Oh, his back was high and dry
How about a dive, Paul?
Hey, Paul
Hey, Paul
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
Christmas was a big event in our town.
We had our tree in the town square
on account of Paul.
I handed out the presents.
You kids ready?
Well, here's something for Johnny,
for Susan and for Paul...
Here's a gift from the whole town.
A double-bladed axe.
Paul took to cutting timber
like a duck takes to water.
Afore long, our sawmills
had enough timber to last a lifetime.
That opened plenty of new farmland.
And our town grew so fast
it got to crowding Paul.
So one morning,
we weren't too surprised
to find a note in the square.
"And plenty of room.
Love, Paul. P.S. I'll write soon."
We're gonna miss that boy.
I am Chris Crosshaul,
straw boss of a logging crew
in the Middle West.
I will never forget
the first time I saw Paul Bunyan.
I was topping trees one morning.
I looked up
and there stood
the biggest man I ever saw.
With my double-blade axe
And my hobnail boots
I go where the timber's tall
When there's work to be done
Don't mess around
Just sing right out for Paul
- Hey, Paul
- I'm coming, boys.
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
He's 63 axe-handles high
With his feet on the ground
And his head in the sky
Hey, Paul
Hey, Paul
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
Well, he picked up his axe
And he chopped a tree
Clean down with his forward swing
Got him another
When his axe swung back
That timber cuttin' thing
He kept on a-choppin' the live-long day
And then when it was night
He walked back over the stumps he'd cut
And stomped them out of sight
- Thanks, Paul
- Why, it's nothing.
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
Well, sir,
Paul cleared that country so quick,
farmers had their crops
in the first week.
So Paul headed west
for the big woods and more room.
He hadn't gone far
when he ran into the worst blizzard
this country ever saw.
It was so cold even the snow was blue.
When Paul built a fire,
the flames froze.
While he was building a second fire
to melt the first one,
he heard a low moo.
He looked all around,
and there, under a fog bank, he found
a big ox frozen
just as blue as the snow.
Now, that ox was mighty grateful
for being rescued.
They hit it right off
and became real pals.
Paul named him Babe.
The two of them headed west
but the storm got worse
and they got so lost.
Well, sir, they left
lots of tracks behind them.
And come spring,
those tracks filled with water
and this area became known
as the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
With winter over,
Paul and Babe went right to work.
They logged off
North and South Dakota,
dug the Missouri River
to float the logs to the sawmills,
and then, so they could look the country
over and see what else to do,
they built Pikes Peak.
Now, that was a fair day's work
even for Paul.
So next morning,
he overslept a little bit.
Babe wanted him to get up.
Hey!
What's the idea? You big blue ox!
Now, watch it! Watch it!
Cut it out, Babe.
Well, one little shove led to another.
And the first thing you know
they was roughhousing
all over the countryside.
Then Paul and Babe
got into a big tug of war.
They piled dirt and rocks so high,
it formed a range of mountains.
Today, they are called
the Grand Tetons.
Well, sir, all this horseplay...
I mean, oxplay.
made Paul and Babe kind of dirty.
So Paul looked the countryside over
and got together with Babe.
And before long,
he had built them a shower bath.
They went off and left it running.
And today, Paul's shower bath
is called Yellowstone Falls.
Shot Gunderson is my name.
I'm river foreman of a timber camp
near the Oregon Trail.
My outfit was mighty discouraged
the day Paul Bunyan arrived.
We were getting
plenty of timber in the river,
but we couldn't move it to the sawmills,
because the river was so crooked.
Paul looked the situation over
careful-like
then he harnessed Babe with a yoke,
hitched on a big anchor,
and threw it in at the head of the river.
Giddyup, Babe!
Well, Paul and Babe
They heaved and hauled
And the job was quickly done
They pulled that crooked river out
As straight as the barrel of a gun
Hey, Paul
They're on their way!
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
He's 63 axe-handles high
With his feet on the ground
And his head in the sky
Hey, Paul
Hey, Paul
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
Now the country began to prosper.
Yep, civilisation had arrived
in the great Northwest,
and with it came
the prophets of progress.
Now, just move in a little closer, boys.
Yes, sirree!
Right in this box is the invention
that's gonna revolutionise
the logging business.
If you'll step over to the nearest tree,
I'll demonstrate.
With my double-blade axe
And my hobnail boots
I go where the timber's ta...
Thunderation! What's that?
Yes, sir, boys.
Just turn on the steam and let her go.
Hey, there!
Who are you?
And what the sam hill's that thing?
Me? I'm Joe Muffaw.
And this thing is the latest model
of the handy-dandy steam saw.
Now, bub, if you'll just step aside,
I'd like to cut this tree down.
Up here, we cut timber with a big axe,
like this one,
and we haul it with a big ox,
like that one.
Look, bub. You've gotta get
with the times, become modern.
There's the latest invention
for hauling timber,
a steam lokey.
With this steam saw and that engine,
I can cut
and haul more timber
than you and that blue ox ever thought of.
Is that so?
You with your newfangled contraptions!
You with your big axe
and old fogey ways!
I'll show you what I can do with this axe!
I dare you to try it!
Looks like a toy to me!
Toy, huh? I'll show you!
There was only one way to settle it.
I was appointed judge.
This contest to last one hour
then I'll measure the stacks of timber
and declare the winner.
You fellows ready?
Ready!
Ready!
Hey, Paul
Keep swinging, Paul!
Paul Bunyan
Yay, Paul!
Cut that timber, show him how
Beat that city slicker now
- Hey, Paul
- Get him, Paul!
- Paul Bunyan
- Yeah, Paul!
The race looked dead even.
And when I went
to measure the stacks,
they looked dead even too.
Well, I shinnied up Paul's stack first,
pulled the measuring chain taut...
For Paul, 240 feet, even.
- Yeah!
- Hurray for Paul!
Numbers are here, 240, I'd say.
For Joe, 240 feet
and one quarter inch.
Yippee!
Poor Paul
Poor Paul Bunyan
Yep, the machine had beaten man.
But don't you folks
feel sorry for Paul and Babe.
I hear they're up Alaska way,
and mighty happy.
Lots of room up there, you know.
And those northern lights you see
in the sky,
well, that's Paul and Babe
having a lot of fun,
oxing around,
knocking the aurora borealis
out of the countryside.
Hey, Paul
Hey, Paul
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
He's 63 axe-handles high
With his feet on the ground
And his head in the sky
Hey, Paul
Hey, Paul
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan