“Deacon’s Seat,” the session not ending until the men rolled into their bunks for sleep.
It was in the bunkhouses of the American lumber camps that the art of story telling reached its peak. No other industry has added so much to story telling as has the lumber camp. Throughout the country, Paul Bunyon has marched with banners flying, having been adopted in practically every state, where camps have been found. He stands out as the supreme mythical figure of the North American continent.
The next most interesting figure in this lumberjack folklore, which is really a product of logging camps in Wisconsin, is that unbelievable animal, the Hodag. With the Hodag, march the Hide Behind, the Sidehill Gouger and the Hoop Snake. Other tales which were of interest to the bunkhouse audience were the tales of unusual feats of strength, ghost stories, which drew heavily upon the imaginations of both the listeners and the story teller, and a multitude of stories that concerned the lumberjacks' work and aroused their interest. The men, who could best tell their tales, were the ones who held sway longest as crowned kings of the Deacon's Seat. If
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