TABLE OF CONTENTS John Henry 4 Alfred Bulltop Stormalong 6 Pecos Bill 8 Paul Bunyan 10 Davy Crockett 12 Johnny Appleseed 14 Annie Oakley 16 Betsy Ross 18 James Beckwourth 20 Casey Jones 22 Molly Pitcher 24 Brer Rabbit 26 Fact Sheet 28 Glossary 30 For More Information 31 Index 32 About the Author 32
1 JOHN HENRY BECOMES FAMOUS FOR RACING MACHINE away at the mountain for three years The work was so difficult hundreds of them died Henry was known as the strongest and most powerful man on the job According to legend Henry could cut through 10 to 20 feet 3 to 6 m of rock in a 12-hour workday One day a salesman brought a new John Henry was known as the strongest man on the railroad According to storytellers he could knock down a mountain with a hammer Some historians think the African-American folk hero was based on a real man who was born in the 1840s or 1850s as a slave After the Civil War he went to work for the C O Railroad As a steel driver his job was to pound on a steel spike or drill with a hammer Then workers put explosives in the drill hole to blast away the rock The real John Henry was said to be among approximately 1,000 workers who dug a passageway through Big Bend Mountain The men chipped 4 Railroad workers in the late 1800s told John Henry’s story for inspiration
steam-powered drill to the tunnel Henry raced the machine to see who could cut through the rock the fastest He won He died shortly afterward from exhaustion But his story lived on Railroad workers sang about John Henry as they worked His strength was an inspiration In the years since stories about John Henry’s life have been told in books plays films and songs Singer Paul Robeson played the title role in the 1940 musical John Henry 400 Approximate number of recordings of a song about John Henry that have been made Possibly based on a real African-American railroad worker Helped dig the Big Bend tunnel in West Virginia in the 1870s Known for winning a race against a steam powered drill LEGENDS A legend is a kind of story that is passed down Some legends are believed to be based on a real person or event Parts of the story may contain true facts Other parts have been made up or exaggerated Sometimes it is difficult to tell which parts of a legend are true and which are made up 5
