The Marvelous Exploits of Paul Bunyan: As Told in the Camps of the White Pine Lumbermen for Generations During Which Time the Loggers Have Pioneered the Way Through the North Woods From Maine to California. Collected from Various Sources and Embellished for PublicationLaughead, William B.
General
The Marvelous Exploits of Paul Bunyan: As Told in the Camps of the White Pine Lumbermen for Generations During Which Time the Loggers Have Pioneered the Way Through the North Woods From Maine to California. Collected from Various Sources and Embellished for Publication
Laughead, William B.
Bunyan, Paul (Legendary character)
Sport, the reversible dog was really the best hunter. He was part wolf
and part elephant hound and was raised on bear milk. One night when
Sport was quite young, he was playing around in the horse barn and Paul,
mistaking him for a mouse, threw a band axe at him. The axe cut the dog
in two but Paul, instantly realizing what had happened, quickly stuck
the two halves together, gave the pup first aid and bandaged him up.
With careful nursing the dog soon recovered and then it was seen that
Paul in his haste had twisted the two halves so that the hind legs
pointed straight up. This proved to be an advantage for the dog learned
to run on one pair of legs for a while and then flop over without loss
of speed and run on the other pair. Because of this he never tired and
anything he started after got caught. Sport never got his full growth.
While still a pup he broke through four feet of ice on Lake Superior and
was drowned.
As a hunter, Paul would make old Nimrod himself look like a city dude
lost from his guide. He was also a good fisherman. Old-timers tell of
seeing Paul as a small boy, fishing off the Atlantic Coast. He would
sail out early in the morning in his three-mast schooner and wade back
before breakfast with his boat full of fish on his shoulder.
About this time he got his shot gun that required four dishpans full of
powder and a keg of spikes to load each barrel. With this gun he could
shoot geese so high in the air they would spoil before reaching the
ground.
Tracking was Paul's favorite sport and no trail was too old or too dim
for him to follow. He once came across the skeleton of a moose that had
died of old age and, just for curiosity, picked up the tracks of the
animal and spent the whole afternoon following its trail back to the
place where it was born.
The shaggy dog that spent most of his time pretending to sleep in front
of Johnny Inkslinger's counter in the camp office was Fido, the watch
dog. Fido was the bug-bear (not bearer, just bear) of the greenhorns.
They were told that Paul starved Fido all winter and then, just before
payday, fed him all the swampers, barn boys, and student bullcooks. The
very marrow was frozen in their heads at the thought of being turned
into dog food. Their fears were groundless for Paul would never let a
dog go hungry or mistreat a human being. Fido was fed all the watch
peddlers, tailors' agents, and camp inspectors and thus served a very
useful purpose.
It is no picnic to tackle the wilderness and turn the very forest itself
into a commercial commodity delivered at the market. A logger needs
plenty of brains and back bone.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account