2 Days - Did I Ever Tell Ya...

That's how I picture most stories from any senior citizen beginning. It's especially how I picture the telling of stories about back in the day, or in those days, or way back when. America has its fair share of these stories, called Tall Tales. You know about Tall Tales - we learned about them in grade-school.

Did I ever tell ya 'bout the time ole Pecos Bill lassoed a Tornado?

Did I ever tell ya 'bout the time ole Paul Bunyan ate 100 flapjacks in one minute?

Did I ever tell ya 'bout ole John Henry? He could drive a railroad spike in one swinga that hammer-a-his?

We all know the characters. Paul Bunyan. Pecos Bill. Johnny Appleseed. John Henry. But as I looked into American Folklore heroes today, I found some characters that I either had never heard of or had forgotten about. Here are a few of the lesser-known American legends.

Did I ever tell ya...

...'bout ole Joe Magarac?

The original man of steel, Joe Magarac was a steelworker from Pittsburgh who was made of steel. He rose from an old Ore Mine to help the steelworkers in times of need. Of course, like any good American, Magarac was a hard-worker, a man's man. He worked 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Legend has it that Joe melted himself in a crucible in order to build a new steel mill. That's sacrifice.

...'bout ole John Henry?

I know, I know. We all know who John Henry is. But I have to give some props to the man - he was from Missouri! You know the story, but here's something I found interesting: Wikipedia has John Henry listed at 6 foot, 200 pounds. I don't know about you, but I always thought he was a giant! Still, the guy was strong as an ox and carried a 20 pound hammer. He died of cardiac arrest after racing a steam-powered hammer. Wow.

...'bout ole Febold Feboldson?

The Swedes seem to have a big presence in the Great Plains. Their hero is Febold Feboldson. Febold, a Nebraska boy, is known as the "drought-buster". A drought is a farmer's worst nightmare. A good harvest means that you need plenty of rain. One year in particular, there was a serious drought. So dry that ink dried and blew away in the wind before it could get to the paper. So dry that falling snow created dust-storms. So dry that ole Febold's log cabin dried out and shrunk to the size of a dog-house. And that's when he got to work. Febold built huge fires near the lakes in the area, so huge that the water evaporated, turned into clouds, and viola - rain!

...'bout ole Tony Beaver?

Tony Beaver was Paul Bunyan's cousin. Who knew?