Case file · Folklore / legend
Paul Bunyan first in print
The earliest known printed Paul Bunyan story was published by James MacGillivray in the Oscoda Press, Michigan, in 1906, drawing on lumber-camp tall tales of the Great Lakes pineries.
1906 CE · 44.42, -83.33 · status: legend
The account
A Red River Lumber Company advertising campaign from 1914 turned him into a national giant with Babe the Blue Ox.
The sceptical view
Folklorists debate how much of Bunyan was genuine logger lore and how much was 'fakelore' made for advertising.