'Where The Water Tastes Like Wine' - An American Folklore Game About Traveling, Telling & Collecting Stories

Listed as one of the best Indie games of 2017 by GDC (Game Developer's Conference) and Gameinformer magazine, Where The Water Tastes Like Wine sounds like no other offering we've heard of. I mean the all-governing currency is stories that you collect during your travels and tell around the campfires. What a fantastic mechanism!

And if you like Bluegrass, Blues, 'roots' and Woodie Guthrie inspired music, you'll probably want the game, just for the OST (official soundtrack).

You play a traveler wandering through the United States - and through a century of history and the Great Depression era - to meet a variety of people, each with their own stories to tell. Presented as a "bleak American folktale", the currency is stories you collect on your travels, and that you tell around the campfires. A fantastical undercurrent runs through the game, with anamorphic people and surreal encounters being a common occurrence. The map is a gorgeous illustrative overlay filled with trees, highways, and campfires that glow in the night. (We've included some development art in this post.)

          

Envisioned as "a bleak American folktale," Where The Water Tastes Like Wine is a gripping and morbid adventure game that lets players explore the landscape of the country, using stories they find along the way as currency. The brief snippet we played showcased gorgeous visuals, a lovely soundtrack, and fantastic short stories that were both moving and macabre. – (Javy Gwaltney, Gameinformer)

Sounds pretty interesting, right? Well it gets better. Turns out there are multiple characters to be found all over this America, both with folktales and personal stories to tell, and the developers employed a wide variety of excellent writers to be the 'voices' for each one. (You can read their impressive bios HERE.) This means the telling is done differently by each character and the flavor of the stories and the person change, just like they do when collecting stories in life.

Take a look at the trailer:

We get more insight into the game and the folktale aspect via a few different interviews. Excerpts are below with the source credited after each extract:

"The art suggests that there's more going on in the world than what we necessarily see," Nordhagen told IGN. "Every once in a while we see through the cracks in the world and get a peek at other realities. It's recognizably America, though - poker and trains, the Southwestern desert mesas, and something that suggests the colorful and idyllic farm produce labels of the beginning of the 20th century. It's the sort of America that might live in tall tales, in blues, folk, and bluegrass songs, and travelers' stories." (IGN)

"The title comes from a folk song, or, more accurately, lots of different folk songs," Nordhagen explained. "American folk culture is one of collaboration, sharing songs and stories but giving them your personal twist. It comes from many different cultures - the European settlers, the slaves that were forced to live here, the workers who have traveled here in search of opportunity, and of course the people actually native to this land." 

                 

"Many of the songs, stories, and poems deal with hardship, especially in the blues genre, and many are about traveling the country," he added, citing such influences as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Grapes of Wrath and On the Road. "There are many stories of other American wanderers that rarely get told - the spread of African Americans from the south, the movement of migratory farm workers, or the forced marches of native people. Where the Water Tastes Like Wine wants to capture the feeling of those songs, poems, stories, and wanderings in a game." (eurogamer)

Heroic travelers aren't the only people featured in the game. "Most of the romantic road stories out there are white males traveling and having adventures," he said. "That is a freedom only available to those people, but a lot of travelers don't have that freedom and I want to tell stories of people who have been displaced." (polygon)

Here are some screen shots:

Sounds ambitious - and wonderful! Right now the release date is yet to be set but this will be available for Steam, PC/Mac later in the year, and other platforms XBoxOne and PS4 sometime later after that. We're thinking of preordering!

To finish, here's an interview with the creator (known for his critically acclaimed previous game Gone Home) at the convention SXSW 2017 (South By South West) in which you can hear a little more about how this game came to be, and see some more of the art in motion and a little gameplay. It begins with a typical upbeat 'gamer' intro, but quickly gets into the meat of the interview. Totally worth watching we promise. Enjoy!

Tom Davenport's Pioneer Fairy Tale Films Now Available to Stream Free!

From the Brothers Grimm

Tom Davenport's Pioneer Fairy Tale Films

This is great news! I haven't had the chance to view all the films in the From the Brothers Grimm Davenport collection yet myself, as getting hold of copies has been challenging but I'm so glad Mr. Davenport has decided to share his films so freely so they can be much more widely viewed.

These aren't your average fairy tale films. They're set in a 'pioneer-era America', with a lot of Appalachian flavor, and are beautifully done. (They also show what filmmakers can do without a massive budget if you know what you're doing! I'd love to see what Tom & his wife Mimi could do with the current technology-on-the-go now available like smart phones and Go Pros!) 

I would also like to make special mention that, though the Davenports are kindly making these available for free viewing, please consider a small donation to help with the archive cost of these films so the originals can be preserved. (And it's a nice way to thank the Davenports too.)

Here's what the Davenports have announced:

We made a series of adaptations of folk/fairy tales in the 1980s and 1990s that were popular in schools and libraries. My wife Mimi and I set them in our local rural Virginia community near Delaplane. 

We have made streams and would like to share them freely with you. Donations will help us preserve these films in a climate controlled archive and allow us to connect with you - a gift much appreciated by this old filmmaker. 

Tom Davenport

 

Suggested donation is $2 for a single film. $10 for the whole series. But any amount will be gratefully received.

There are 11 films and I'm including the synopsis and the trailer for each as a teaser, but encourage you to go to his site, donate what you can and view the whole films there. There's also a bonus MGM Guide (Making Grimm Movies Guide)  for how to make low budget films series you can find HERE, and a teacher's guide to use with high school and college film students as well.

Ashpet (45 mins)

Set in the rural South in the early years of World War II, Ashpet is a version of Cinderella, the world's most popular folk tale.

Bearskin (20 mins)

In a contest with the devil, a Civil War soldier must not wash nor pray for seven years.

Bristlelip (20 mins)

A haughty princess gets her comeuppance in a version of Grimm's King Thrushbeard.

Frog King (15 mins)

A princess breaks her promise to a frog.

Goose Girl (18 mins)

An evil maid forces a princess to change places on their way to her wedding.

Hansel and Gretel (16 mins)

An Appalachian version of the classic story of the courage and loyalty of two children abandoned in the forest.

Jack & the Dentist's Daughter (40 mins)

In this comic variant of the Grimm's story, The Master Thief, a poor laborer's son wants to marry the dentist's daughter.

Mutzmag (50 mins)

With nothing more than her plucky spirit and her pocket knife, a mountain girl outwits a witch and an ogre to save herself and her sisters.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel (15 mins)

Rapunzel imprisoned in a tall wooden tower by a witch, allows a young man to climb her long brown hair to visit her.

Soldier Jack (40 mins)

Jack catches Death in a sack in this Appalachian tale.
Willa (85 mins)

An American version of 'Snow White' where Willa joins a traveling medicine show to escape her evil step-mother.

You can find links to the full films HERE. Enjoy your Summer viewing! And support a 'pioneer' filmmaker while you're at it.
Fairy Tale Bonus of the Day:

There is also a book available about the films and filmmaking process via amazon HERE. Recommended by Jack ZIpes and including a forward by him (which you can read HERE), this is one for the FT library folks!

From the Brothers Grimm: A Contemporary Retelling of American Folktales and Classic Stories

Description: Retells ten fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm, placing them in the Appalachian Mountains and other American settings through the text and photographs from the Tom Davenport film versions."This collection will add a new dimension to any folktale section.  The ten tales have been Americanized and reset in Appalachia.  Imagine Cinderella as a poor, white Southern girl named Ashpet who is helped to romance by a wise black woman. Hansel and Gretel become children of a poor mountain family during the depression. Other stories include “Rapunzel, Rapunzel” and “Jack and the Dentist’s Daughter.” In its simplest form this book will be used with delight by speech students searching for a children’s story to read aloud. The book is also meant to spark interest in the video series that Davenport produced for PBS. B&W photos from the videos will encourage this. With or without the videos, language arts teachers will find many ways to use the tales. An accompanying teacher’s guide gives hints on using the book for kindergartners through senior high students, but it is also bound to be read just for fun. Recommended." (from The Book Report 1993)

Thoughts on American Fairy Tales

Cover from Puffin Classics Rip Van Winkle & Other Stories , artist unknown

I wanted to add a little note to the American Folktale Character Map post about American Fairy Tales but realized my 'little note" really needed a post of it's own. So consider this sort of a Part II - inspired by and following on from that post.

In the book American Fairy Tales, compiled by Neil Philip*, are these interesting notes extracted from the preface by Alison Lurie:

"The idea of an "American fairy tale" may arouse disbelief. Fairy tales, for most of us, are theEuropean ones we read as children... 

However, Americans were writing fairy tales - though, like the European ones, the seldom contain actual fairies. Sometimes these tales featured old-fashioned props and characters: magic potions and spells, dwarves and witches, princes and princesses. But often they also included contemporary objects and figures: hotels and telephones, mayors and gold miners. And even from the beginning many of the best AMerican stories had a different underlying message than the ones from across the Atlantic. 

...In American fairy tales, there is often not much to be said for wealth and high position, or even good looks. The witch in Hawthorne's "Feathertop" turns a scarecrow into a fine gentleman and sends him out into the world, where he exposes the superficiality and snobbery of the well-to-do. In L. Frank Baum's "The Glass Dog", the poor glass-blower manages to marry a princess, but she "was very jealous of his beauty and led him a dog's life."  

Rootabaga Stories Part One by Carl Sandburg, 1990 reprint cover illus by Michael Hague

The implication of such stories is that an American does not need to become rich or "marry up" in order to be happy; in fact, one should avoid doing so if possible. Happiness is all around one already, as the boy in Laura Richards' "The Golden Windows" discovers: his farmhouse already has "windows o gold and diamond" and the setting sun shines on it. Today there is so much pressure on Americans to want more fame, power and expensive objects, to feel dissatisfied with themselves and their possessions, these American fairy tales still have something to tell us." (Alison Lurie - Professor of American Literature, Cornell University, from the Preface of American Fairy Tales: From Rip Van Winkle to the Rootabaga Stories compiled by Neil Philip, illustrated by Michael McCurdy)

by Niklas Asker

So it seems to me that the values and principles considered important in the folklore and tales that this country was built on are almost the opposite of what it means to be American today - at least on the surface. How does that happen? Likely there is a map that will show that evolution too, but for now it's interesting to see where the American imagination started, and what the driving force is today. I'm sure there's a path that leads from one to the other that makes sense but it's difficult to see at first. 

My impression is that these original 'new American' tales (that is, non-native-American tales) have these things in common with the current sense of American imagination and what might be called American fairy tales now: 

1) both then and now, Americans see their people as 'big', that is, being larger than who they were told they were and not subject to where they ended up (sometimes this is literal in the tales, sometimes it's not)
2) both then and now, American fairy tale characters want to change things around them, including, but not limited to, the institutions, the laws, the land and old values passed down from pre-American generations
3) both then and now, rather than look to history, lineages and heritage, American fairy tales prefer the 'now', complete with the use of contemporary places and objects in their tales, rather than 'alternate lands' or heirlooms passed down over centuries

This is just my personal impression only, of course. 

Bee-Man of Orn illustrated by P.J. Lynch

Although it's fairly easy to track Tall Tales in the US,  the idea of 'real American fairy tales' seems to remain elusive. America is very prolific in creating literature about itself, and yet books on American fairy tales are few. The ones that you can find are often very regional, for example the Appalachian Jack tales, or collections from the Deep South, but tales that could be considered to represent the country as a whole, seem to be difficult to track down, though it's not for lack of American writers trying to write uniquely American fairy tales.

Rags Habakuk and his blue rats- Michael Hague illustration
from "Rootabaga Stories" by Carl Sandburg

Why is this?

Perhaps I've missed a whole wing of the library, so to speak, with regard to this subject but if I have then I know I'm not alone. 

In talking to American teachers, American artists and American history buffs, when I bring up this question I initially get the reply "Wizard of Oz" and "Disney". Yet they realize straight away that the Wizard of Oz is just one story, not 'tales plural' (in the collective consciousness, that is, although the story is originally part of a series - it seems most people haven't read or aren't even aware of this) and most of the stories Walt Disney retold weren't American at all, not to mention fairly recent in America's history. After that there's usually a lot of silence with baffled looks and creased foreheads.

In the afterword of the same book, Neil Philip writes: "One of the defining themes of the American fairy tale is this sense that ordinary life is something the fairy tale hero must learn to value and enjoy, rather than something from which he must escape."

Yet today's American tales and stories are all about escape, escapism and taking back "theirs". The "American life experience" that early fairy tale authors in the US held above any fairy tale fantasy, has been superseded by this need to, in a very odd way, make life the fairy tale - at all costs. It's become the measure of success. Even the current use of the phrase "a fairytale life" (fairytale being one word, a state of being instead of tales referenced) is uniquely American. And the pressure to do that is putting people under such severe strain that their lives are falling apart. 

I believe the remedy to this 'dis-ease' lies in tales - both the ones we all bring from our varied heritages all over the globe and the native tales of the people of the land, as well as these "new-American identity" literary fairy tales that showed that optimism and love of life. To take the medicine, though, somehow, we need to find our way back to those tales first.

America is still a relatively young country compared to most nations so perhaps it's as simple an issue as there hasn't been enough time yet. There have been writing movements (for want of a better term) that attempt to address this, and there are certainly modern anthologies and collections that have all the hallmarks of literary fairy tales and are uniquely American, but (sadly) most of these aren't tales people know collectively in the US and grow up with. Despite wonderful writing and storytelling, these tales are not disseminating through popular culture and the national collective consciousness the way fairy tales tend to. So how do you create (and nurture) a real American fairy tale?

I know my thoughts on the subject here are incomplete but it's a huge subject. I haven't addressed fractured fairy tales, mixed up fairy tales, the influence of Hollywood or the tales told in New York, and I've barely touched on Disney and Oz, but I think those are thoughts for another day. 

The Apple of Contentment by Howard Pyle

*Additional Note: Here's the description of the main book I've been referencing:

 

American Fairy Tales: From Rip Van Winkle to the Rootabaga Stories

Compiled by Neil Philip, Illustrated by Michael McCurdy, with a Preface by Alison Lurie:

An impressive collection of 12 stories representing the development of the American fairy tale from 1819 to 1922. Leaving behind the gloomy atmosphere and more formal language of their European counterparts, these literary selections reflect the landscape, egalitarian philosophy, and forward-looking optimism of America. Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" is firmly placed in the Kaatskill Mountains, while Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Feathertop" is filled with New England superstitions. The contentment of ordinary life is emphasized in Horace E. Scudder's "The Rich Man's Place" and Laura E. Richards's "The Golden Windows." The heroine of Louisa May Alcott's "Rosy's Journey" is solidly self-reliant, and the protagonists in Howard Pyle's "The Apple of Contentment" and Ruth Plumly Thompson's "The Princess Who Could Not Dance" are cheerful and independent. L. Frank Baum's "The Glass Dog" and Carl Sandburg's "How They Broke Away to Go to the Rootabaga Country" portray inventiveness and the pioneer spirit. Sandburg's tale, as well as M.S.B.'s "What They Did Not Do on the Birthday of Jacob Abbott B., Familiarly Called Snibbuggledyboozledom," employ a unique American idiom with their zany words and phrases. Independent readers may find the archaic writing of some of these selections difficult to deal with; others are quite readable. Each story is introduced by information about the author; sources are included. McCurdy's skillfully executed black-and-white woodcuts, both full-page scenes and vignettes, illustrate each tale. This volume provides a rich read-aloud for families who like quality literature, and will also be of interest to children's-literature students and folklorists.

The USA's Folktale Characters Mapped Out

(William Gropper)

Note: This post was reprinted in full with permission by Phil Edwards. The map is public domain care of the Library of Congress (so go use it if you need to!). The original post is HERE at Vox.

I also wanted to mention that you'll see most of these characters are specific folk heroes and not really fairy tales or fairy tale characters. In fact, that's one of the really interesting things about this map. Each of the names below the region is linked to an expanded explanation (usually Wikipedia) so if you were ever curious, here's your key to begin your study. (I've put some thought on this in the following post).

All of America's folk heroes, in one map

by Phil Edwards

This 1946 map, made by William Gropper, shows all of America's most famous folklore and myths in one gorgeous image. It's not comprehensive, but it's still a fascinating look at the myths that made America, highlighting real people who reached folkloric status as well as those who were invented in stories and song.

You can hover to zoom (zoom function only available at the original post) or see a larger version of the map here. Every region's folk heroes are identified below. Your state probably has a hero — and it may be one you didn't know about already.

The Northeast

William Gropper's American Folklore Map. (Library of Congress)

Evangeline (Maine): Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem immortalized the tale of this Acadian girl searching for her lost love.

New England Witches (Massachusetts): The Salem witch trials, from 1692 to 1693, saw the trial and execution of 20 people for witchcraft.

Bowleg Bill (Massachusetts): This Wyoming ranch hand ended up in Massachusetts, where he rode on tuna fish and whales. The tale is found in a popular book published in 1938.

Rip Van Winkle (New York): Washington Irving's 1819 story of the sleepy Van Winkle was set in the Catskill Mountains.

Captain Kidd's Treasures (New York): Pirate William Kid hid some of his treasure on Gardiners Island, a small island just off Long Island.

Sal of the Erie Canal (New York): Featured in the song "Low Bridge," Sal the mule is symbolic of the mules that helped build New York cities such as Utica and Buffalo.

Charter Oak (Connecticut): This tree was famous for supposedly holding Connecticut's Royal Charter of 1662, until it fell in a storm in 1856. It appears on the state quarter.

Old Stormalong (Massachusetts): Alfred Bulltop Stormalong was a giant sailor who cruised New England, fighting the Kraken. He's often called "Old Stormy."

Molly Pitcher (New Jersey): Born in New Jersey, Molly Pitcher (a.k.a. Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley) became legendary for carrying water to soldiers during the Revolutionary War.

Joe Magarac (Pennsylvania): This folk hero was a Pittsburgh steelworker who first appeared in print in 1931. In some depictions, he is actually made of steel.

Famous Winds of Michigan (Michigan): Less folklore than weather phenomenon, this refers to the winds that occur off Lake Michigan.

Johnny Appleseed (West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois): Appleseed, a.k.a. John Chapman, legendarily planted apple trees across the United States. Some claim his apples were used for hard cider.

Tony Beaver (West Virginia): A woodsman from Eel River, he is occasionally called a cousin of Paul Bunyan and is known for his passion for griddle skating. (For those who've forgotten, that involves skating on a griddle, usually with butter-greased feet or bacon shoes.)

Mike Fink (Pennsylvania and Ohio): This semi-mythical man was a tough fighter and boatman. He enjoyed practical jokes, shooting cups of whiskey off his friends' heads, and being strong.

Daniel Boone (Kentucky): Most closely associated with Kentucky, Boone was an explorer who also served in the Virginia General Assembly. Like Davy Crockett later on, Boone's legendary exploits overshadowed his real ones.

The Sissy From the Hardscrabble County Rock Quarries (Indiana): This tale has a simple moral: compared with the tough men who work the quarries, a man who rides panthers and uses a rattlesnake as a whip is a wimp.

The Southeast

William Gropper's American Folklore Map. (Library of Congress)

Captain John Smith (Virginia): The English colonist who led the Virginia colony in Jamestown became legendary for his leadership and the tales of his interactions with Pocahontas.

Lost Colony of Roanoke (North Carolina): The lost colony of Roanoke was located in modern North Carolina. The disappearance of its colonists remains a mystery.

Old Black Joe (South Carolina): Stephen Foster wrote a song about the slave Old Black Joe. Though Joe is not associated with a specific state, the map places him in the Southeast. The song gained a second life when Al Jolson performed it in the movie Swanee River.

Brer Rabbit (Georgia): Popular throughout the South, Brer Rabbit succeeds by tricking his adversaries. The cunning rabbit appears in some form in both African and Cherokee tales.

Boll Weevil (South Carolina): The plague of the South, the boll weevil preyed on the vulnerable cotton crop and was immortalized in many popular songs.

John Henry (Alabama): The legendary steel-driving man is mentioned in several folk songs and tales. He supposedly died when battling a steam-powered engine. Legends place him in West Virginia, Virginia, or, as on this map, in Coosa Mountain Tunnel in Alabama.

Man Without a Country (Off the coast): Edward Everett Hale's story about Philip Nolan is an allegory about an Army lieutenant who renounced his country during a treason trial and was forced to live at sea.

Ponce de León (Florida): Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer who served as the first governor of Puerto Rico, but he probably appears on a folklore map due to his search for the fountain of youth.

Pirate Lafitte (Gulf of Mexico/Louisiana): Pirate Jean Lafitte operated in the Gulf of Mexico and had a warehouse in New Orleans. He was both a smuggler and a pirate.

Casey Jones (Tennessee/Mississippi): This real engineer from Tennessee famously guided the Cannonball Express, which collided with a freight train in Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones' attempts to stop the train made him a legend.

Huck Finn (Mississippi): Mark Twain's famous character lived in the antebellum South and rode along the Mississippi River with his friend, the slave Jim.

Davy Crockett (Tennessee): Both folk hero and real politician, Davy Crockett represented Tennessee in the House of Representatives, explored the frontier, and died at the Alamo. Later, more mythical acts were attributed to him (like jumping on alligators).

Arkansas Traveler/Arkansaw Bear (Arkansas): The state historical song of Arkansas, "Arkansas Traveler" tells of how a local welcomed a lost city traveler. "Arkansaw Bear" is the tale of a boy named Bosephus who met a bear, Horatio, who could talk and play a fiddle. The two became fast friends.

The Midwest

William Gropper's American Folklore Map. (Library of Congress)

Little Brown Bulls (Wisconsin): This traditional song of Wisconsin lumberjacks details logging along the river. The central story is a contest between some "big spotted steers" and "little brown bulls" to see which could haul the most wood.

Hiawatha (Undefined): The prehistoric Native American leader is usually placed somewhere in New York, though this map puts him in the Midwest. He's a famous symbol for his leadership of the Iroquois confederacy.

Paul Bunyan Festivals (Minnesota): The legendary lumberjack has a home throughout the Midwest, but Minnesota might have the strongest claim on him and his trusty friend, Babe the Blue Ox. Bunyan first appeared in print in a 1916 promotional pamphlet for the Red River Lumber Company.

The Three Ravens (the Midwest): This version of an English ballad tells the story of three ravens who saw a slain knight. (In the Midwestern United States, the knight is occasionally replaced with a horse.)

The Old Gray Mare (the Midwest): This folk song tells the story of an aging mare or mule. Some sources place the song in New Jersey, others credit Stephen Foster, and still others say it comes from a campaign song.

Deadwood Dick (South Dakota): Popularized in dime novels by Edward Lytton Wheeler, the character became a symbol of the infamous cowboy town of Deadwood, and many real cowboys used the name. He's also a pseudonym for African-American cowboy Nat Love.

Calamity Jane (South Dakota): Frontierswoman and fighter Martha Jane Canary became a folk hero for her strong personality.

Febold Feboldson (Nebraska): The Swedish plainsman and cloudbuster was also a farmer and frontiersman who pioneered in the Old West.

General Custer (Montana): The Civil War general hailed from Ohio and was killed at Little Bighorn, Montana. "Custer's Last Stand" remains an infamous battle in American history.

The Pacing White Mustang (The West): Emblematic of the American West as a whole, the pacing white mustang represents the wandering of the West. Described by Washington Irving in 1832, the mustang first appeared in Oklahoma as a near apparition with a wandering soul, too fast to be caught.

Buffalo Bill (Kansas): An infamous figure in the Wild West, Buffalo Bill rode in the Pony Express, fought in the Civil War, and explored the frontier. He began touring in 1883, in a show that burnished his legend as a cowboy.

Git Along Little Dogies (Midwest and West): A traditional cowboy ballad, the song refers to motherless calves and the cowboy's call while herding them.

The Southwest

William Gropper's American Folklore Map. (Library of Congress)

Big Foot Wallace (Texas): A ranger famous for his exploits in early Texas, William A. A. Wallace fought Native Americans and Mexicans. Over time, his adventures became more legendary.

Frankie and Johnny (Missouri): The story of feuding lovers was most famously inspired by a murder in St. Louis, when a 22-year-old woman shot her 17-year-old lover. It became famous through the folk song of the same name.

John Brown (Kansas): John Brown is more a figure of history than folklore, but his raid on Harpers Ferry became a legendary moment in American history. The famous abolitionist was later executed.

Jesse James (Missouri): From Missouri, James was the Old West's most infamous outlaw and a celebrity even when alive. His death at the hands of Robert Fort secured his place in American folklore.

Kemp Morgan (Oklahoma/Texas): The Paul Bunyan of the oil fields, he could smell oil underground and drill for it more effectively than any normal man.

Sam Bass (Texas): This train robber and outlaw was shot in 1878 when scouting a train robbery. He died the next day and became one of a few infamous stagecoach robbers.

Pecos Bill (Texas): The most iconic fake cowboy, Pecos Bill appeared in print in the short stories of Edward S. O'Reilly. He rode a mountain lion and lassoed a twister, among other exploits.

Kit Carson (Colorado): The frontiersman roved the mountains of Colorado and became a legendary guide in his lifetime thanks to his help guiding explorer John C. Frémont. Carson later took part in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War, and was involved in many conflicts with Native Americans in the West.

Fin Mac Cool (Texas): An Irish hunter and warrior whose original name was Fionn mac Cumhaill, Fin Mac Cool appears on this map in Texas. A Paul Bunyan figure in Ireland, he may appear in a localized incarnation on the map.

Roy Bean (Texas): This saloon keeper/judge supposedly held court in a saloon along the Rio Grande. He became infamous as a hanging judge (despite little evidence that he did so much in real life).

Death Valley Scotty (California): Walter Edward Perry Scott became known by this name for his many gold-mining scams and his notable mansion in Death Valley, California.

The West

William Gropper's American Folklore Map. (Library of Congress)

Babe the Blue Ox and Paul Bunyan (the West): Though Bunyan is best associated with Minnesota, he's depicted here wandering across the Pacific Northwest, where numerous logging opportunities would be available.

Johnny Inkslinger (the West): Like Bunyan, Johnny Inkslinger probably belongs in Minnesota or Wisconsin. Still, his unusual story is worth a mention: he was Paul Bunyan's timekeeper and accountant. He made his pen by connecting it to a barrel of ink with a rubber hose.

The Famous Idaho Potato (Idaho): Less folklore than industry observation, the Idaho potato is the best-selling potato in the United States.

Coronado (California): Francisco Vazquez de Coronado searched for the Seven Cities of Gold in the 1500s, a quest that took him from Mexico to California and even to Kansas. Though he never found the seven cities, his efforts made him famous.

The Celebrated Jumping Frog (California): The frog was immortalized in Mark Twain's story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," which became notable as a fable about gambling (and a very impressive amphibian).

Mormons (Utah): Why include Mormons on a map about folklore? It probably reflects the epic migration to Utah and the hardships suffered in the process. Mormons' identification with the state continues today, but it was probably even stronger in 1946, when the map was made.

John A. Sutter (California): Born in 1803, Sutter became symbolic of the California Gold Rush, and later established a fort that would become Sacramento.

Gold Rush (California): The catalyst for much of the settling and exploration of California, the 1840s Gold Rush captured the nation's attention and spurred Western migration (and the American imagination).

What the map means

The map of folklore shows the state of the American imagination (and Gropper's fascinations) in 1946. Notable gaps include the Pacific Northwest and the two future states of Hawaii and Alaska. Some inclusions — like Old Black Joe and Mormons — make for an unusual fit for modern eyes. But overall, it shows the iconic figures — real and fictional — that shaped the American imagination in the '40s and continue to do so today.

___________________________________________________________________

Check the next post HERE for my thoughts on American Fairy Tales that looking at this map inspired.