Their enthusiasm inspired Paul Bunyan to make one of his famous
speeches. He spoke for an hour about the historic accomplishment that
was now certain in the logging off of the Mountain That Stood On Its
Head.
“A cheer now, my men, for Hels Helsen, the Bull of the Woods!” Thus
Paul Bunyan ended his speech; and the loggers responded with a shout
that sounded like one throat had made it.
Several times during the early part of the speech Hels Helsen had
attempted to interrupt Paul Bunyan, but he was always silenced by the
matchless eloquence of the master orator. And when the loggers cheered
him he kept in his heart whatever he wanted to say; he frowned and
mumbled powerfully for a moment; but then he grinned and obediently
followed Paul Bunyan into the camp office.
The virgin Dakota country of that time had what was no doubt the most
beautiful and unique scenic feature in Real America. In the center of
a forested plain stood the largest and most original of all mountains,
the Mountain That Stood On Its Head. Its peak was buried in the ground,
and its slopes ran outward, instead of in toward its summit. It was
five miles in a direct line from the head of the mountain and up the
slope to the rim of its foot; ascent would seem impossible to any
beholder, for a climber up the mountain side would necessarily have to
move with his feet uppermost or else walk with his head. The stubborn
pine trees on the mountain sides had refused to grow unnaturally;
they had kept their roots in the ground, and their tops all pointed
downward. The summit of the mountain (perhaps I should go on saying
“foot,” but this might prove confusing) was a plain two miles above
a plain, for it was flat and heavily timbered with the noblest of
close-grained pine. This unnatural but wonderful mountain top was in
the form of a true circle which was one hundred and twenty-seven miles
in circumference. At one place the rim of the circle rose gently, and a
mild slope ran away from it towards the center of the plain. Here were
the High Springs, whose waters formed Lofty River and flowed smoothly
through aisles of pine and wound among meadows which were abloom with
mountain orchids and fragrant with purple clover. The falls in which
the river made its two mile drop to the plain below had been named
Niagara by Paul Bunyan, to honor the memory of his old moose hound, and
the name was later passed on to a little waterfall along the Border.
It was to this place of scenic grandeur that Paul Bunyan now moved
his camp. It was here that he was determined to try out Hels Helsen
and make him prove his right to the title of Bull of the Woods. The
camp was put in order; the axmen and sawyers were given their stations
in the woods, trails were swamped out for Babe, the big blue ox, to
use in snaking the logs to the landings, Hels Helsen was given final
instructions. Paul Bunyan then retired with a sigh to his ledgers, and
the logging began.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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