Editing Paul Bunyan (section)

== Laughead's influence ==

[[File:The Marvelous Exploits of Paul Bunyan - Illustration 1.jpg|thumb|right|Paul Bunyan as depicted by William B. Laughead]]

In 1916, advertising copywriter William B. Laughead wrote an advertising pamphlet for the Red River Lumber Company using the Paul Bunyan folk character. Laughead's first endeavor was a pamphlet entitled "Introducing Mr. Paul Bunyan of [[Westwood, California]]", but it did not prove effective. It was not until "Tales about Paul Bunyan, Vol. II" appeared that the campaign gained momentum.<ref name="WHS1" /> Laughead took many liberties with the original oral source material, embellishing older exploits and adding some of his own. Among other things, Laughead gave the name "Babe" to the blue ox, created the first pictorial representation of Bunyan, and increased Paul Bunyan's height to impossible proportions<ref name="laughead">{{Citation |last= Laughead |first= William B. |year= 1922 |title= The Marvelous Exploits of Paul Bunyan |publisher= Red River Lumber Co. |place= Minneapolis |url=http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1125 |access-date = May 6, 2014}}</ref> (in Laughead's version, Paul Bunyan towers over trees,<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/51199/11-landmarks-“built”-paul-bunyan|title=11 Landmarks "Built" by Paul Bunyan|date=June 21, 2013|website=mentalfloss.com}}</ref> while in the earlier folktales Bunyan had been extraordinarily tall and strong, but of human proportions).

Laughead attributes the creation of several American landscapes, landmarks and natural wonders to Paul Bunyan.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> He wrote that Paul Bunyan and Babe are said to have created the 10,000 lakes of [[Minnesota]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.paulbunyantrail.com/|title=MN Bike Trail - Paul Bunyan Trail - Minnesota Biking - Brainerd - Bemidji|website=Paul Bunyan Trail}}</ref> by their footprints.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |url=https://www.exploreminnesota.com/travel-ideas/discover-paul-bunyan-in-minnesota/ |title=Discover Paul Bunyan, the Larger-than-Life Lumberjack, in Minnesota: Explore Minnesota |website=www.exploreminnesota.com}}</ref> Later writers made up more details and exploits, such as the creation of bodies of water including [[Lake Bemidji]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitbemidji.com/what-to-do/historical-cultural/paul-bunyan/|title=Paul Bunyan & Babe The Blue Ox &#124; Bemidji MN History|website=Visit Bemidji MN - The First City on the Mississippi|access-date=February 9, 2018|archive-date=February 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209063056/https://www.visitbemidji.com/what-to-do/historical-cultural/paul-bunyan/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitbemidji.com/what-to-do/historical-cultural/paul-bunyan/tall-paul-tales/|title=Tall Tales of Paul Bunyan & Babe The Blue Ox - Bemidji Minnesota|website=Visit Bemidji MN - The First City on the Mississippi|access-date=February 9, 2018|archive-date=February 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209063057/https://www.visitbemidji.com/what-to-do/historical-cultural/paul-bunyan/tall-paul-tales/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://paulbunyan.net/cooperative/newsweather/lake-bemidji-webcam/|title=Lake Bemidji Webcam :Paul Bunyan Communications → right here}}</ref> (which has a shape somewhat resembling a giant footprint when viewed from above). Later authors, and possibly tourist agents, would add other geographic features to those Paul Bunyan was supposed to have created.

Stories about Bunyan credited him with creating the [[Grand Canyon]] by pulling his ax behind him,<ref name="southfloridareporter.com">{{Cite web|url=https://southfloridareporter.com/legend-says-paul-bunyan-created-grand-canyon-dragging-axe-behind/|title=Legend Says Paul Bunyan Created The Grand Canyon By Dragging His Axe Behind Him|date=June 28, 2017}}</ref> and [[Mount Hood]] by putting stones on his campfire.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Later authors have invented tales of Paul Bunyan's finding a female giant as a spouse, such as in the tale "Paul Bunyan's Wife"; her first name is not revealed in the story, she is only referred to as "Mrs. Paul". The tale also mentions her having had a daughter nicknamed "Tiny". Another tale, "Paul Bunyan Finds A Wife", describes Paul's rescuing a lovely red-haired giant-lady who had been trapped underneath an avalanche after a great storm; the grateful maiden (fittingly named "Sylvia", after the Latin word for "forest") quickly falls in love with the kind and chivalrous "treetop-tall" bachelor, and marries him later that same day.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}

This burial of the original material under stories by commercial writers engendered confusion over whether Bunyan had ever even been a genuine folkloric character at all, although later research has established this.

The Laughead pamphlets remain popular, collected in a single volume titled ''The Marvelous Exploits of Paul Bunyan''.