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BIGFOOT OR SASQUACH--
A giant humanlike creature of the Pacific Northwest. Huge footprints and fleeting glimpses are all that anyone has seen it. |
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PONY EXPRESS RIDERS--
Between 1860 and 1861, riders carried the mail from Missouri to California. They rode at a gallop for 2,000 miles, changing horses every 10 miles. (true story) |
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| PAUL BUNYAN-- A tall-tales lumberman who leveled a forest with one swing of his ax. Then he trimmed the trees and stacked the logs for Babe, the blue ox who swooshed them out of the woods in one haul. |
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PECOS BILL--
A tall-tales cowboy who has raised by coyotes. He fought a 10-foot rattlesnake, tamed it, and used it as a whip. He caught and rode a mountain lion like a horse and he staked out New Mexico and dug the Grand Canyon. |
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RIP VAN WINKLE--
The hero of Washington Irving’s story about a man who went into the mountains to hunt. There he found a group of little men playing ninepins. He joined them and after the game lay down to take a nap, which lasted 20 years. |
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HIAWATHA--
The main character of Longfellow’s poem about an American Indian chief: You shall hear how Hiawatha Prayed and fasted in the forest, Not for triumphs in the battle, And renown among the warriors, But for profit of the people For advantage of the nations. |
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CHARLIE PARKHURST--
A stagecoach driver before there was railroads. Charlie was unusual, because Charlie was a lady, Charlotte! (true story) |
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THE LOST DUTCHMAN--
A mine, not a man that is still lost. Somewhere in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona there is a hole in the ground loaded with gold. |
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JOHNNY APPLESEED--
Jonathan Chapman was his real name. A Christian missionary who planted orchards in the wilderness; he was a friend of the American Indians and settlers. During the War of 1812 he saved the settlers from a surprise attack. (true story) |
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DANIEL BOONE--
Hunter, pioneer, and trailblazer who led settlers over the Allegheny Mountains into Kentucky. (true story) |
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DAVY CROCKETT--
Backwoods hero, member of Congress, and one of the defenders of the Alamo who died in its defense. (true story) |
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JOHN HENRY--
A steel-driving champion whose record has never been equaled. In 35 minutes John Henry drove two 7-foot shafts into solid rock while a steam drill made only one 9-foot shaft. |
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ZORRO--
A hero who lived on his father’s hacienda (large ranch) in southern California when it was a colony of Mexico ruled by a governor who taxed and oppressed the people. Hiding his identity behind the mask of Zorro, Don Diego would ride to protect the cruel governor’s victims. |
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EL DORADO--
The American Indians told the Spaniards that somewhere in the West was a fabulous city of gold. |
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BARBARA FRITCHIE--
Took up the flag hauled down by Confederate soldiers and defied Stonewall Jackson. “Shoot, if you must, this old gray head, but spare your country’s flat,” she said. A poem by John Greenleaf Whittier. (true story) |
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OLD STORMALONG--
A tall-tales sailor who grew tired of the sea and said he was going to put his oar on his shoulder and walk west until someone asked: “What’s that funny-looking stick on your shoulder?” There he vowed to settle down. |
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ICHABOD CRANE--
An awkward schoolmaster in Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” who was scared out of town on Halloween night by the ghostly headless horseman (who was not really a ghost, but a jealous rival dressed as the horseman). |
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MOLLY BROWN--
Margaret Tobin “Molly” Brown was a tough frontier lady from the Colorado silver-mining town of Leadville who helped save some of the survivors of the Titanic. (true story) |
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KING KAMEHAMEA--
For 37 years, the ruler of Hawaii long before Hawaii was a part of the United States. He began his rule in 1782 and died in 1819. (true story) |
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CASEY JONES--
John Luther “Casey” Jones was a famous engineer who stayed with his train to warn others that it was going to crash. He died with one hand on the whistle and one hand on the brake. Old 638 crashed into the freight train that had not cleared the siding. (true story) |
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AMERICAN FOLKLORE
is told in stories, poems, and songs from our American past. Some are true and some told in a way to make the story better. They are handed down by families or groups of people. |
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