The Birth of Paul Bunyan—In Print

Abstract

north they made their way, one hundred miles." He then had the crew find their camp again, many years later, "west of Graylin' 50 miles." Grayling is about 120 miles west and 15 miles north of Au Sable and Oscoda as the crow flies. Also, at the end of the poem, "For of the past we found a trace, a peavey loggers know so well, a peavey with a Circle L, which as you know, was Bunyan's mark." Circle L was the H. M. Loud Sons' company mark, the longest continually running lumber company on the Au Sable River in this area. Malloch's own bailiwick was the western side of Michigan, suggesting perhaps that MacGillivray had collaborated, or at least corresponded, with Malloch on the verse. McGillivray had in fact worked in lumber camps on the Au Sable River's North Branch in Crawford County (which surrounds Grayling), where he may have heard the "Round River" tale told. The charm of MacGillivray's original story was that it did not launch into exaggeration immediately, as did subsequently published Paul Bunyan exploits. Instead, it built on germs of truth to foster gullibility, not stretching credibility in an obvious way. MacGillivray only caught his readers smiling at the end, when they realized they had been had, shaggy-dog style.