Legends

What are the ingredients of a tall tale? Like any story, a tall tale includes characters, a setting, a problem and a solution. But in a tall tale, ordinary characters -- whether fictional or based on real people or occupations -- may face extraordinary challenges and prevail with outlandish solutions, or may conquer ordinary problems in inventive ways.

Meet Paul Bunyan, a lumberjack taller than the highest Minnesota pines, who is strong enough to fell ten trees with a single swing of his axe and has the ingenuity to conquer a swarm of beesquitoes.

Meet Pecos Bill. Raised by coyotes in dusty Texas, he grew up to be the roughest, toughest cowboy who ever lived. Whether riding a tornado, inventing the original cowboy song or conquering a gang of outlaw cowboys, Pecos Bill is a man of many talents.

Meet John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. Living in harmony with nature, he fulfills his dream of traveling west to plant apple orchards across the frontier to aid pioneers on their arduous journeys.