Paul Bunyan (1925) is a novel by James Stevens. Written from a lifetime of experience as a logger and historian of the logging industry, Paul Bunyan is a masterful take on one of the defining legends of the Pacific Northwest. Combining his own stories with those he heard at logging camps as a young boy, Stevens earned a reputation as a leading folklorist of his time whose novels and songs continue to resonate decades after his death. “He could whip his weight in wildcats, could pull clouds out of the sky, or chew up stones, or tell the whole world anything!” Larger than life, Paul Bunyan is a logger whose legend began with the Papineau Rebellion of 1837. As a defender of young Queen Victoria’s right to the forests of Canada, Bunyan fought fiercely against French loggers alongside his comrades armed with mattocks, axes, and hooks. Emerging victorious, he settles down to a life in nature, building his logging camp and roaming the woods with his trusted blue ox Babe. From his boyhood in the lumber camps of Idaho to his time as a logger in Oregon, James Stevens collected the tales of Bunyan from the more experienced men of the woods, eventually becoming the foremost expert on one of the Pacific Northwest’s greatest heroes. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of James Stevens’ Paul Bunyan is a classic work of American literature reimagined for modern readers.
Woodcuts by Allen Lewis
About the Author
James Stevens (1892-1971) was a favorite poet of many in his native Northewst. A contemporary of writers like H.L. Davis and Steward Holbrook he shared their deep love of nature and the land in which they lived--rich in forestland and timber. It was only natural that he sensed the change that was about in America in the twenties and it was also quite natural for him to gather from the logging camps and cookhouses the key stores that made up the legnd of Paul Bunyan.
