 In the early fall of 1937, the Paul Bunyan
Carnival was organized with Hector Brown in charge. Various organizations in
the city were requested to take over certain parts of the program. Cyril
Dickinson, of the Dickinson Construction Company was delegated to build a statue
of Paul Bunyan. Earl Bucklen, (on right) mayor of Bemidji at the time, was used
as a model. All measurements were scaled up three-to-one. The statue was built
late in the fall and had to be covered with canvas while the cement was
hardening.
In order to get some idea of the labor and materials which went
into Paul's construction, Mr. Dickinson furnished the following
statistics:
Concrete footings to water level: 5 1/2 tons
Weight of statue
above footings: 2 1/2 tons
Height of statue: 18 feet
Built in the winter
of 1937, 737 man-hours were used in the construction of Paul Bunyan. The statue
is of wood framework above the footings, over which reinforcing bars form the
outline. Heavy steel laths are over the reinforcing bars and cement stucco is
applied to this. The reinforcing of the footings is of heavy steel and
continues up through the legs of the statue. This was intended to be reinforced
in such a manner as to withstand a high velocity of wind. The statue was painted
at the time of construction and is touched up each year before the summer
tourism season begins.
1951
Paul's shotgun rested beside him for many
years. Made of wood, it deteriorated over time and was removed. A replica of
the gun is on display in the Tourist Information Center.
Photo courtesy of Linda
Spindler, Bemidji |
During the fall of 1937,
the Bemidji Rotary Club was asked to build a statue of Babe, the Blue Ox. A
committee with Newell Johnson as chairman, delegated the task of building the
statue to James Payton.
The government of Headwaters Camp, a nearby logging
camp, owned a large pair of oxen and the largest was used as a model for the
statue. Measurements and pictures were taken and detailed drawings were made
scaling the ox on a three-to-one basis, the same as had been done with the Paul
Bunyan statue.
These scaled drawings were followed in detail, with the
exception of the distance between the front legs. This space was widened in
order to allow a truck to be operated beneath the statue.
The ox was built
with a skeleton of wooden ribs, sawed and nailed together at a local boat
company plant. After the structure of wood was made, it was covered with wire
lath. On top of this, was stretched a padding of fiber and wool, as was used in
insulating refrigerators. Canvas was stretched over this frame.
A smoking
pipe, built into the nostrils, created the impression the ox was breathing in
the cold air. The eyes were made of automobile tail lights and were connected
to a battery. The horns, made of tin, are 14 feet across.
Babe was mounted
on a one and a half ton International truck and was used in parades and shows
to
promote Bemidji
as a tourist destination. After traveling thousands of miles
around the country, the damage to the statue was so great it was placed
permanently beside the statue of Paul Bunyan on the lakeshore of beautiful Lake
Bemidji. The canvas and insulating material 'hide' was removed and a concrete
finish put over the metal lath and painted blue. Thousands of visitors come all
year around to see and be photographed with the historic statues of Paul Bunyan
and Babe, the Blue Ox. The National
Parks Service recognized these statues an official cultural resource worthy of
preservation, adding them to the National Register of Historic Places in
1988. |
Robert E. Jorstad was
assigned the job of building the sign through the National Youth Administration
program. Bob spent about 20 hours during January and February 1941. He was
attending the North School which was located on 15th and Delton Ave at the
time.
To this day, the
two statues stand together overlooking the activities of the thousands of
visitors who come to see and be photographed with Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue
Ox.
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