We have all heard the tall tales of Paul Bunyan, not a real historical figure, but an American and Canadian lumberjack and folk hero. Many historians believe Bunyan was based in part on a real French-Canadian timber man named Fabian Fournier. Others say the genesis of the story was in Minnesota, but at least a few argue that the story's beginnings may have been in central Pennsylvania.
Remember that Williamsport was considered the lumber capital of the world in the middle and late 1800s. The city had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the United States. One lumberjack who worked at the time, Joseph "Cherry Tree Joe" McCreery, was born in Muncy and grew up helping fell trees and float them down the west branch of the Susquehanna River.
He eventually grew to be more than six feet tall, weighed 200 lbs. and had a full beard. Because "Cherry Tree Joe" was eventually something of a folk figure in the area, some historians speculate that the mythic lumberman Paul Bunyan legends were based on McCreery's real life.
