By: Natalie Abner Tall Tale Characters

This tall tale figure was based on a real man who was once an Indian scout on the Ohio river. He claimed that he could wrestle alligators, ride a mouse like a horse, and outrun or outshoot any man in America. He was called “King of the Keel boatmen” Davy Crockett described him as “ half horse and half alligator” Mike Fink

He achieved his distinctive color after surviving a snow storm He used the Great Lakes as watering holes and helped straighten out curvy logging roads He was the animal companion of Paul Bunyan Babe The Blue Ox

He worked in an orchard as a young man in Massachusetts He was also a missionary in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois He as an American conservationist who brought apple trees to western Pennsylvania and other states to the west Pennsylvania and other states to the west His real name is John Chapman He always walked barefoot, and he wore a pail for a cap Johnny Appleseed

This folk hero was a real person who represented Tennessee in the U.S. House or Representatives He was an expert marksman who wore a trademark coonskin cap He was nicknamed the “King of the Wild Frontier,” and died at the Battle of the Alamo Davy Crockett

This folk hero was associated with the Big Bend Tunnel in West Virginia’s Allegheny Mountains. A statue of this folk hero stands nearby this tunnel He saved his friend’s jobs by defeating a steam-power hammer in a race He was an African-American folk hero, who “died with his hammer in his hand” John Henry

This legendary figure is based on a real man who grew up in western Kentucky He was an engineer on the Cannonball Express and died when it collided with a stalled freight train He was known for his skill with a train whistle Casey Jones

He was a legendary Texas cowboy who was raised by a pack coyotes His favorite food was dynamite, he sometimes rode a mountain lion, and he once lassoed a tornado He married Slue-Foot-Sue and often rode the horse, Widow Maker Pecos Bill

A tall-tale legend giant often accompanied by his pet, Babe the Blue Ox He was said to have flattened the Great Plains as part of his career as a lumberjack According to legend, this gigantic man dug out the grand canyon He and his pet created both the Great Lakes and Minnesota’s ten thousand lakes Paul Bunyan

He was a mythical West Virginia woodsman and Paul Bunyan’s cousin Supposedly, he was the champion griddle skater of the southern United States He built a log camp on a high mountain just beyond Eel River Tony Beaver

This legendary character shot at clouds while riding a catfish down the Rio Grande River She is the wife of Pecos Bill According to legend, when her husband’s horse Widow Maker, bucked her, she bounced up to the moon Slue-Foot Sue

This folk hero’s actual name was Martha Jane Canary she was an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok She skilled Indian fighter She also known as the toughest woman in the Wild West Calamity Jane

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