What started as a simple promotional gimmick for a 1937 winter carnival in Bemidji, Minnesota, transformed into one of America's most iconic roadside attractions. The Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues became the second-most-photographed sculptures in the United States during the 1940s, trailing only Mount Rushmore. These towering figures not only put Bemidji on the national map but also inspired dozens of similar giant statues across Minnesota and the Midwest in the decades that followed.
The story begins in 1932 when Bemidji teachers and civic leaders organized a modest winter carnival featuring sporting events centered around an annual basketball game between St. Cloud Teachers College and local school teachers. After being held only twice, the event was revived in January 1937 when Bemidji Rotarians decided to sponsor something special: an 18-foot-tall statue of the legendary lumberjack Paul Bunyan to mark the return of the winter games.
Construction of the statues was a community effort involving local businesses and leaders. Cyril Dickinson and workers from his lumber company oversaw the building of Paul Bunyan, while Jim Payton, manager of Bemidji Electric Company, took responsibility for creating Paul's companion, Babe the Blue Ox. The builders used a three-to-one scale, modeling Paul after Bemidji Mayor Earl Bucklen and Babe after an ox from Headwaters Camp. However, poor lighting during construction led to an error in scaling Paul's neck, resulting in the statue's characteristic appearance of having little to no neck at all.
Within just three weeks, the concrete-and-plaster Paul was installed on the shores of Lake Bemidji, joining the Fireplace of States that had been constructed in 1934. Babe was built differently, consisting of a wooden frame wrapped in wire netting and covered with wool and canvas. This lighter construction allowed Babe to be mounted on a car, making him the carnival's mobile ambassador throughout the festivities.
The 1937 carnival was an enormous success, attracting roughly 15,000 people over four days. Babe became a crowd favorite with his spectacular features: auto tail lights glowed from his eyes, and vehicle exhaust poured from his nostrils to create the illusion of breathing cold air. When Babe toured downtown Bemidji, workers had to remove his fourteen-foot-wide tin horns to prevent them from pulling down street decorations.
National recognition came quickly after a full-page spread about the statues appeared in Life magazine on February 1, 1937. This coverage brought Bemidji into the national spotlight and launched Babe on a tour that included the St. Paul Winter Carnival and later the Minnesota State Fair. In all parades, Babe was escorted by highway patrol officers and Bemidji Fire Marshal Pete Johnson, who served as his designated "bull whacker."
By 1938, the carnival had grown dramatically, attracting 100,000 attendees. That year, Babe was joined in the parade by a sixteen-foot-long black duck and corresponding rifle crafted by the community of Blackduck, located twenty-five miles northeast of Bemidji. People joked that Bunyan must have hunted near their town, with the giant duck as his prey. This duck became the first in a series of giant statues erected in area towns, all inspired by the Paul Bunyan legend and the success of the Bemidji sculptures.
Babe's traveling days ended in 1939 when organizers cited damage to the statue and mounting expenses. The ox was permanently installed next to Paul on the Bemidji waterfront, where he continued to overlook the carnival until that event also ceased in 1941 as World War II drew attention and resources elsewhere. Despite the end of the carnival, the statues' fame continued to grow.
The sculptures received another major boost in 1945 when they were featured again in Life magazine. The Eastman Kodak Corporation officially named them the second-most-photographed sculptures in the United States, cementing their status as a premier tourist destination. This recognition helped establish the statues as enduring symbols of American roadside culture and Minnesota tourism.
Development around the statues continued through the decades. In the 1950s, an amusement park featuring Bunyan-themed rides was constructed on fill added between the statues and the lakeshore. Numerous other businesses in the area drew their names and inspiration from the logging legends, creating a Paul Bunyan-themed tourism district.
However, the statues' popularity also brought ongoing tensions within the community. In 1974, plans to renovate the park highlighted a persistent conflict between those favoring natural preservation and others supporting commercial development along the city's lakeshore. These concerns resurfaced in the 1990s when a new tourist information center replaced the original Bunyan house.
The most recent controversy erupted in 2015 when the City of Bemidji installed a two-foot berm and boulders in front of Paul and Babe, intending to provide tourists with better angles for selfie photography. The move sparked fierce community outrage expressed through letters to newspaper editors, Facebook posts, and Twitter discussions using the hashtags "Paulmageddon" and "Babeghazi." Citizens opposed to the renovations argued that the new landscaping would crowd the statues and make large-group photography more difficult.
Ultimately, the Bemidji city council sided with the critics and voted to reverse the changes. The decision cost the city $65,000 to redesign plaza plans, remove 100,000 pounds of boulders, and regrade the plaza to prevent flooding. City Manager Nate Mathews explained the community's attachment to the statues, saying, "There's an emotional connection to that statue. It's really kind of a sacred place to Bemidjians."
Today, the Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues remain beloved landmarks that continue to attract thousands of visitors annually. Their story reflects not only the power of creative marketing and community pride but also the complex relationship between tourism development and local identity. As prototypical examples of American roadside attractions, they helped establish a template that influenced similar projects across the country, making Bemidji's 1937 winter carnival promotion one of the most successful tourism initiatives in Minnesota history.
