Members of a basketball team pose with Paul and Babe in Bemidji, March 16, 1969. Original caption: “Lumberjack players visited Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox after winning the Region Eight basketball championship. The players (left to right): Jerry Oelrich, Tony Burke, Tom Hill, Wayne Olson, Greg Beaumont, Jimmy Yost, Al Lyseng, Dwight Degerman, Craig Groslie, Dave Rose and Gary Vogel. Squad member Bill Hubbell was not in the photo.” From the folder “Bemidji” in box 145 of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Edina newspaper photographs collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.

Kodachrome slide of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues, Bemidji, undated but ca. 1950s. Found by Flickr user Thomas Hawk and uploaded April 10, 2022.

Bemidji's Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues in summer, ca. 1955.

Edith Ebringer of Bemidji and Dorothy Blanchard of Thief River Falls light the Paul Bunyan statue's pipe, Bemidji. Photographed in the 1940s.

A group poses in front of the Paul Bunyan statue in Bemidji on January 13, 1938. From the folder “Bemidji” in box 145 of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Edina newspaper photographs collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.

Babe the Blue Ox statue, Bemidji, 1938.

Paul Bunyan statue in Bemidji, 1973

Babe the Blue Ox statue is driven down Nicollet Mall as part of “On To Nicollet” festivities in Minneapolis held on August 4, 1937, and featured in the August 7, 1937 edition of the Bemidji Pioneer. Original caption: “Darlene Gary, drum major for the Bemidji, Minn., “On-to-Nicollet” deegation [sic], battles ‘Babe,’ Paul Bunyan’s big blue ox in the loop as the fans from out-of-town paraded on their way to Nicollet park this noon. ‘Babe’ stopped marching near the West hotel, Bemidji headquarters, and refused to budge until Little Miss Gary prodded him and told him he would be late for the Miller game.” From the folder “Bemidji” in box 145 of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Edina newspaper photographs collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues, Bemidji. Photo by Wikimedia Commons user Nejones1987, June 14, 2019. CC BY-SA 4.0

Harold LeVander’s official portrait (oil on canvas) as governor, ca. 1971. Painted by Barbara Brewer Peet.