The illusive spot whereupon the Northwoods demi-god Paul Bunyan built his camp and conquered the elements has eluded many a curiosity-seeker, Below is a brief account claiming the discovery of this land of legend.
ROUND RIVER NOW LOCATED
JUDGE REID FINDS FAMOUS CAMPING SPOT OF PAUL BUNYAN
[ March 23, 1922 ]
Judge Reid is attaining new fame today as the discoverer of Round River, the scene of Paul Bunyan’s famous experiences. The Vilas County News some time ago started to relate the fables of Paul Bunyan’s great lumber camp on Round river and then sought to locate Round river itself. In its issue of March 15th, is the following introduction: “Through ’Gene Shepard of Rhinelander, Finn Lawler of Eagle River and Judge A. H. Reid of Wausau, the whereabouts of the famous Round river, made in fame by Paul Bunyan, the noted American fabalist, has at last been found, and that to a certainty. After one had read the following from ’Gene Shepard and Judge Reid there can be no doubt as to its location on the Tomahawk.
“Since the starting of the Paul Bunyan stories this winter by the Vilas County News much hidden history has been brought forth—some pretty hard to swallow on account of the hugeness of the tales and some that is mighty entertaining reading from men who we know and respect as truthful and law abiding citizens. This latest coming from Judge A. H. Reid of Wausau, leaves no doubt in the mind of the reader as to the truthfulness of the find, especially as Mrs. Reid is said to have made the canoe trip with the judge. At present date we have had no opportunity to secure a verification from Mrs. Reid but must therefore take the worthy judge’s word as being facts.“
Judge Reid’s letter is addressed to ’Gene Shepard of Rhinelander, well known humorist of northern Wisconsin, and is printed in the Vilas County News as follows:
February 12, 1922.
Mr. E. S. Shepard, Rhinelander, Wis. Dear Good Shepard:
I have received your inquiry of the 5th.
Yes, I have no doubt that I rediscovered Round river and the site of Paul Bunyan’s camp of ’62. The truth of your history of Paul Bunyan and of his early logging must not be doubted. Finn Lawler accepted more proofs of the rediscovery and will no doubt make oath to the identification.
When at Hazelhurst one summer, my wife and I felt that life was getting monotonous. We could not catch any more muskellunge weighing more than 65 pounds, nor any bass or pike heavier than 20 pounds (although Gene Terrill and Jack Schwartz regularly claimed to catch bigger ones) so we sought adventure. We studied your description of the location of Round River and struck out in the direction of west by south and kept going some forty miles, more or less, and finally launched our canoe in a likely looking stream and drifted down into a promising looking country where the old stumps seemed big enough, though none exceeded at that point twelve feet in diameter. The next day, was cloudy so that we could not see the sun, and had to keep our bearings by compass laying on the thwart. We early noticed that we were on a curve and that the needle kept turning to the right continually, so our curiosity was aroused. The water was swift and we swept along at about a ten tulle gait for hours and hours with the needle still turning to the right, and just when it had about closed the circle, we reach-ed the old camp and knew it must have been Paul Bunyan’s and so camped for the night.
How did we know it? Well there was that four-sided forty you told about with stumps on its sides big enough to make that hundred million that Bunyan cut. Of course the camp had all been burned and the old stub with the woodpecker’s hole was gone, but the lay of the land was right and where the camp had stood there was still some fragments of the camp cook stove on which were baked the pancakes for that famous crew, and some of the stones that had been rolled down the hill on which the axes had been ground. On one of these was cut in bold type “P. B.“. We hunted for a corner and found one bearing the following hieroglyphs:
E. S. S. 37|38
F. L. and on top 40|38
82.
You probably can tell the meaning of these. We remembered about section 37. That camp must have been of some size. We started to walk round the remains of the foundation, but after going for nearly an hour we turned back because it was getting dark. We camped by the “roarin” water“ and in the morning found that a hodag had rifled our commissary and pretty nearly left us bare. This was the last thing necessary to complete our proofs and we prepared to push on. We knew that we now had the same right to fame as had Doc Cook and other famous ? * ! * ? ?—
How did we get back? Well that was easy. We just kept on turning down stream with the needle still swinging to the right and finally struck a straightaway stretch and knew that we had completed the circle and crossed our course, and was homeward bound. Strange that you and Paul never discovered that that river looped itself and came out all right into the Tomahawk. You gave up too easily.
Sincerely yours,
A. H. Reid,
Wausau, Wis.
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And Gene Shepard casts some interesting reflections in his letter which precedes Judge Reid’s in last week’s Vilas County News:
Friend Lawler,
Eagle River, Wis.
I am mailing you herewith a letter from Judge Reid who claims to have rediscovered Round River, and he is willing it should be published in the interests of the history of the lumbering and logging industry on the Wisconsin river and its tributaries.
I can easily see how the winding bed of the Tomahawk river could bewitch the water and any one traveling in a canoe on its surface. It seemed to me to be the crookedest river I had ever seen before or since. I paddled for a whole day and got out on the high grass-covered bank and saw a Norway tree about a quarter of a mile from where I had pulled up my canoe. I floundered through the grass, keeping the Norway tree in sight, until I reached it and it stood on a bend in the river and was my own camping spot the night before. Everything seemed to be bewitched and every bend I passed had an eddy Just around the point and the water would catch my light birch bark canoe and turn it around in a jiffy, and a light breeze would hold me awhile up against the grass on the bank. I finally got down to the higher banks and loaded the bok with some rocks and got along better, and I am thinking, that the Judge had some of the same experience with those bewitched waters.
He claims to have explored Round River, but I don’t think be knows whether it was on his trip out or on his way home. I think that he had become bewitched by those waters and crooked bends and there is no wonder that be thought be had looped a loop, in going down the Tomahawk and passing around the Pyramid on Round River—a thirty mile bend. Now from what be says, I believe he did go the rounds and pass the old camp site and camped by it one night, which leads me to the theory that just below the first big drop in Cedar falls the river split into two channels, the one turning to the right led him the grand rounds. You will remember that the portage trail led down out of sight of the river on the left side to a point below the lower drop in the falls. My theory now is that the Round river after its dizzy turn around the Pyramid came back to a point just below the upper falls and met the current of the Tomahawk in the eddy and traveled on down to the pointed island and split again and ran around the same old dizzy whirl, and the swift current in Cedar falls striking against the water from Round river with such force that it kept it going like a boy striking the rim of a hoop, with such force as to give the already dizzy water a strong current all the way around. The Judge I think was honest in thinking he had looped a loop, as he had passed the mouth of Round river without knowing it, and went on his way down to his home in Wausau.
Yours truly,
E. S. Shepard.
Editor Menefee is certainly to be congratulated on the interesting collection of Bunyan tales that he has collected since last December.
[ DISCLOSURE: THE FOLLOWING IS REAL!—believe me—READER INDISCRETION IS ADVISED! ]
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