Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His exploits revolve around the tall tales of his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox. The character originated in the oral tradition of North American loggers, and was later popularized by freelance writer William B. Laughead (1882–1958) in a 1916 promotional pamphlet for the Red River Lumber Company. He has been the subject of various literary compositions, musical pieces, commercial works, and theatrical productions. His likeness is displayed in several oversized statues across North America.
Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era when trees were felled using hand tools and dragged by oxen to rivers. The work was difficult, dangerous, intermittent, low-paying, and involved living in primitive conditions. However, the men built a traditional culture that celebrated strength, masculinity, confrontation with danger, and resistance to modernization.
Taylor County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,689. Its county seat is Medford.
The St. Croix River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 169 miles (272 km) long, in the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The lower 125 miles (201 km) of the river form the border between Wisconsin and Minnesota. The river is a National Scenic Riverway under the protection of the National Park Service. A hydroelectric plant at St. Croix Falls supplies power to the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area.
Split Rock Lighthouse State Park is a state park of Minnesota on the North Shore of Lake Superior. It is best known for the picturesque Split Rock Lighthouse, one of the most photographed lighthouses in the United States. Built by the United States Lighthouse Service in 1910, the lighthouse and some adjacent buildings have been restored and the Minnesota Historical Society operates them as a museum. The 2,200-acre (890 ha) state park offers a unique cart-in campground and scenic trails for hiking, cross-country skiing, and bicycling.
Lost Channel is a ghost town in Parry Sound District, Ontario.
The Chippewa River in Wisconsin flows approximately 183 miles (294 km) through west-central and northwestern Wisconsin. It was once navigable for approximately 50 miles (80 km) of its length, from the Mississippi River, by Durand, northeast to Eau Claire. Its catchment defines a portion of the northern boundary of the Driftless Area. The river is easily accessible for bikers and pleasure seekers via the Chippewa River State Trail which follows the river from Eau Claire to Durand.
The Namekagon River is a tributary of the St. Croix River. It is 101 miles (163 km) long and is located in northwestern Wisconsin in the United States. Its course is protected as part of the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.
The Old Loggers Path (OLP) is a 27.1 mi (43.6 km) loop hiking trail in Lycoming County in north-central Pennsylvania in the United States. Marked with international orange blazes, the Old Loggers Path is located entirely within the Loyalsock State Forest. Most hikers take two and a half to three days and two nights to complete the Old Loggers Path, making it popular for weekend hikes. Highlights of the trail include waterfalls, several scenic streams and creeks, and panoramic vistas.
Schroeder is an unincorporated community in Schroeder Township, Cook County, Minnesota, United States.
Splitrock is an abandoned townsite in Beaver Bay Township, Lake County, Minnesota, United States; located at the mouth of the Split Rock River.
Pattison State Park is a 1,436-acre (581 ha) Wisconsin state park south of Superior, Wisconsin. Situated on the Black River, the park contains both Big Manitou Falls, the highest waterfall in Wisconsin at 165 feet (50 m), and Little Manitou Falls, which is 30 feet (9.1 m). Pattison State Park was established in 1920.
Taconite Harbor is an unincorporated community in Schroeder Township, Cook County, Minnesota, United States.
The Grand Portage State Forest is a state forest located near the community of Hovland in Cook County, in extreme northeastern Minnesota. The forest encloses Judge C. R. Magney State Park, Swamp River Wildlife Management Area, Hovland Woods Scientific and Natural Area, and Spring Beauty Hardwoods Scientific and Natural Area. It borders the Grand Portage Indian Reservation to the east, the Superior National Forest to the west, and Ontario to the north. The forest is named after the Grand Portage, a historic trade route between the Great Lakes and the Northwest.
Gooseberry River is a 23-mile stream in Lake County, Minnesota, USA, draining into Lake Superior. It is known for its waterfalls, near its mouth in Gooseberry Falls State Park. The Gooseberry, like many of its neighboring streams, has an irregular discharge highly dependent on runoff from rain and snow melt. The region around the river was heavily forested and much logging took place during the early 20th century. The forest has since regrown and the falls and mouth of the river are now a thriving tourist destination.
Black Rock is an unincorporated community and former logging camp in Polk County, Oregon, United States. It is located about three miles west of Falls City, in the Central Oregon Coast Range on the Little Luckiamute River.
The Cross River Heritage Center is a museum in Schroeder, Minnesota, United States. Operated by the Schroeder Area Historical Society, it collects and interprets the history of the local area and the greater North Shore of Lake Superior. The center opened in 2002 in a Tudor Revival building constructed in 1929 as the Stickney Inn and Store. The building is located on the south side of Minnesota State Highway 61 near the west bank of the Cross River.
Herman Finger was a lumberman who owned and operated various lumber companies that operated in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. He also served as the first mayor of The Pas after its establishment in 1912.
A logging camp is a transitory work site used in the logging industry. Before the second half of the 20th century, these camps were the primary place where lumberjacks would live and work to fell trees in a particular area. Many place names are legacies of old logging camps. Camps were often placed next to river tributaries so that the winter's log harvest could be floated to the lumbermills in the spring.
