ng of the land his
memory ought to be kept forever fresh."

[Illustration]

Lee J. Smits conducted a "Paul Bunyan" column in _The Seattle Star_ and
published many entertaining contributions from oldtimers. These were
turned over to the University of Washington for preservation.

"Standing alone in his might and inventiveness is Paul Bunyan, central
figure in America's meager folklore" Mr. Smits says editorially, "Only
among the pioneers could Paul thrive, his deeds are inspired by such
imagination as grows only in the great outdoors. For hours at a time,
lumberjacks will pile up the achievements of their hero. Each story is a
challenge calling for a yarn still more heroic. The story teller who
succeeds in eliciting a snicker is an artist, indeed, as the Paul Bunyan
legends must always be related and received with perfect seriousness.
Paul Bunyan has become a part of the every day life of the loggers. He
serves a valuable purpose in giving every hardship and tough problem its
whimsical turn."

Mr. Harry L. Neall, of Harry L. Neall & Son, Mining Engineers of Eureka,
Cal., a student of the history of the lumber industry, has written that
beneath the phrase "invented lumbering" used in connection with Paul
Bunyan, there exists a basis of fact. Tracing the beginnings of the
industry from the cutting of "The King's Spars" in what is now the State
of Maine, before the Mayflower came to Plymouth Rock, Mr. Neall states
that "modern lumbering, as a separate industry was really invented in
New York in 1790 and that most of the oldtime lumbermen trace their
ancestry to forefathers who were a part of this beginning of lumbering."
The Red River people were interested to learn from Mr. Neall that a
Walker built a mill in Maine in 1680; another Walker sold a two-thirds
interest in this mill in 1716 and three Walkers were saw mill owners in
New Hampshire in 1785. Following the Pine Cutters across New York and
Pennsylvania, Mr. Neall found that the land records enable one to pick
them out by their names "as distinguished from the Palatinate settlers
who came solely for the farm lands upon which the hardwoods grew." That
the Paul Bunyan stories go back to the beginnings of the industry is the
belief of Mr. Neall who heard them in his grandfather's logging camps in
Pennsylvania and quotes this ancestor as connecting Paul with the early
traditions.

DeWitt L. Hardy, "column conductor" on the Portland _Oregonian_, ran a
Paul Bunyan ser