Annie Christmas
Annie Christmas was a keelboat pilot on
the lower Mississippi, a strong women and
bully killer. She was six feet eight inches
tall, and weighed 250 pounds. Her
mustache was blonde and curled, the
finest and widest on the river. Just let
her hear a man say," I'm the bully of the
town!" and he never said it again. Read
more to find out about this strong,
fearless women.
This is an example of a part of the story,
Annie Christmas. You can tell this at your
storytelling festival:
Annie was a three-barrel flatboat
unloader. She could walk a gangplank with
a barrel of flour under each arm and one
on her head. Once in a fit of impatience
she towed a keelboat all the way from
New Orleans to Natchez, ". . . and it sure
skimmed along fast," the people said. "As When you say this, show your muscles
strong as Annie Christmas" was a saying and emphasize it.
in the river towns.
Her necklace was something to tell tales
about. Annie had a bead necklace which
she wore to parties. Every bead in it
Say gouged and chawed slower, and
represented an eye she'd gouged out in a
louder.
fight, or an ear or a nose she had chawed
off. When she died, the necklace was
When you say thirty feet long, open your
thirty feet long-a true momento-and it arms as wide as they can go, and say it
could have been longer, only some of the with expression.
fights were so easy Annie didn't feel it
was honorable to record them.
Annie was a wonderful fighter. She could
lick any bully on the river ( and did ). She
too had the right to wear the red turkey
feather in her hat which was the badge
of honor of the river champions. She
even scared Mike Fink off the lower
Mississippi; if he ever showed up there,
she said, she'd pole him home lashed to
the bottom of a keelboat. She would
have, too.
When you say (and did) say it with an
assuring voice.
When you say she would have to, say it
with an assuring voice too.
Swamp Angel
When Angelica Longrider was born she
was only barely taller than her mother.
Even though her father bought her an ax
to play with in the cradle she didn't build
her first log cabin until she was two. No
one had ever guessed she would be a
great woods woman when she got older.
Read more about Angelica Longrider in
this story. Hope you enjoy!
On August 1, 1815, When Angelica
Longrider took her first gulp of air on
this earth, there was nothing about the Shake your head when you say " There
baby to suggest that she would become was nothing".
the greatest woods woman in Tennessee.
The newborn was scarcely taller than her
mother and couldn't climb a tree without Exaggerate when you say "She was
help.
SCARCELY taller than her mother"
Although her father gave her a shiny Exaggerate again when you say "She was
new ax to play with in the cradle, like any a FULL TWO YEARS OLD before she
good father would, she was a full two
built her first log cabin!"
years old before she built her first log
cabin. But by the time she was full
grown, she was second to none in
buckskin bravery, performing eye-popping
wonders in the bogs and back woods of
Tennessee.
When she was twelve, a wagon train
got stuck in Dejection swamp. The
settlers had abandoned their covered
Almost yell "IT'S AN ANGEL!"
wagons and nearly all hope besides.
Suddenly, a young woman in a homespun
dress tramped toward them out of the
mists. She lifted those wagons like they
were twigs in a puddle and set them on
high ground.
"It's an angel!" cried the gapedmouthed pioneers.
Ever since that time, Angelica
Longrider has been known as Swamp
Angel. To this day, stories about Swamp
Angel spring up like sunflowers along
wagon trails. And every one of them is
true.
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan was a lumberjack. Paul was
born in Maine. He was a very large
fellow. Paul ate a lot when he was small.
Later on in the story he gets a sidekick,
Babe the Blue Ox. Their teamwork gets
a big lumber mill, which they made. Their
lumber mill was a big success. Then they
move on. They had many adventures
together. We hope you enjoy this
story.
In this tale you will learn how Paul Bunyan Whenever there is a exclamation point
got his wonderful sidekick Babe the Blue stress those words.
Ox.
When you say the very first sentence,
make it feel like you are lonely.
Paul was very lonely chopping and walking
all by himself. He wished he had a friend When you say "Then like magic" say it has
his size, not like the children back where you are getting more excited.
he used to go to school. Then like magic,
Paul said "Maybe if I had a friend my
size..."
Blue snow came down day after day, and When you say "Paul tripped over
his prayer was answered.
something" you can either scratch your
head in wonder or you could say "Can you
While he was walking in the wonderful
guess?"
blue snow, Paul tripped over something.
He suddenly heard a mooing sound. He After you say "He took a closer look
took a closer look down. What he saw, of down," you can look down.
all things, there was two enormous, hairy
ears poking through the snowdrifts! Not
only were they big and hairy, they were
When you say the last sentence make it
blue! Paul took the two blue ears and
feel like you are feeling very happy.
pulled. What came out of the snow
nobody would believe. It was a baby blue
ox!!! Not only was it blue, it was huge!
Paul decided to take it around with him as
a pet or sidekick. Paul called the ox,
Babe the Blue Ox. Paul then shouted and
laughed, "Babe, we'll be wonderful
friends!"
That is the tale of how the famous Paul
Bunyan got Babe the Blue Ox.
Casey Jones
Casey Jones was an engineer. He always
got his train, Number 382, in on time.
Casey was born in Cayce, Kentucky. His
real name was John Luther Jones. He was
the most famous engineer. Many believe
this character was based on a true
person. We hope you enjoy this story.
These are two of Casey Jones'
Adventures:
This is the first of the adventures.
On April 28, 1900, there was a downpour.
The track might be washed out. The
bridges might collapse. And there were
sharp turns. But Casey kept on driving
Say Casey made it through as if you're
right through. Finally, Casey made it
celebrating. Exaggerate the words on time.
through on time. There was cheering all
around.
At about midnight, a messenger came.
The return trip engineer was sick. Casey
Say the speeds louder and louder as the speeds
was out the door in less than two
get higher.
minutes.
Casey was told he was an hour and a
Say nothing in a horror voice.
half off schedule. He was also told to
watch out for two freights near Vaughan.
Casey was going 50,60,70 mph. He was
making up time quickly. At a town called
Sardis, Casey stopped for passengers.
70,80 90 mph. 80,90,100 mph. As Casey Say crashed very loudly. Use hand motions to
neared Vaughan, he saw the two freights. show the train crashing.
Suddenly, the freight's brakes locked.
Casey was still going full speed. Sim saw
the lights of the stalled train. Casey
pulled the airbrake. Nothing. Casey
shouted "Jump, Sim!" Sim jumped into
the dark.
382 crashed into the freights. The
sound was deafening. Not one passenger
was killed. Casey Jones died with one
hand on the airbrake and one hand on the
whistle. Sim was unconscious, but still
alive. And so ends the tale of Casey
Jones.
Mike Fink
Mike Fink was a steamboat captain who went
on many adventures. He had a steamboat
named Lightfoot which is where he lived. Mike
battled many people, won many contests, and
bragged a lot. We hope you enjoy this exciting
tale.
One story about Mike Fink you can tell is
The Mississippi River Trouble :
When you say irritable old alligator, make sure
The trouble with the Mississippi was that you make it sound like an irritable old alligator.
there was too much bad weather. An
irritable old alligator was stirring up the This is where the story is introduced.
waters with a tail as long as a mountain is
When you say Mike Fink make sure you say it
high. It could whip up a mighty fierce
loud and exaggerate.
storm. Even the sturdiest pioneer
hesitated to cross the river. Families in Make a large motion down with your hand when
you say anything.
covered wagons came to a halt on the
east bank of the Mississippi and go no
farther. The settling of the West came
When you tell the part when Mike speaks say it
to a standstill. Things were in a fine
loud and manly.
mess-until Mike Fink took charge.
Mike wasn't afraid of anything, not even
that irritable alligator. He jumped right
into the stormy waters one day, tied up
the alligator's tail with a heavy rope, and
walked back to shore, dripping wet and
boasting for all to hear.
"I'm the snapping turtle of the Oh-hio. My boat's the Lightfoot, and I can lick
any man or any alligator on any river any
time!"
Pecos Bill and His Horse Lightning
Pecos Bill was a very famous cowboy of
the wild west. Many legends were told
about him, like when he lassos the moon!
This tale is dedicated to when Pecos Bill
got his horse, Lightning. The Think Quest
Team hopes you enjoy this story.
Here is a story about his horse so sit
back and enjoy!
Pecos Bill had once lived with the
wolves who had taught him everything
about live. It was a very different
experience when a cowboy named Chuck
came along and found him in the NeverEnding Desert. He thought he should
become a cowboy like him. Chuck had
taught him to speak as best he could
(which didn't help much at all). He gave
Bill some clothes and cut his hear. One
day Chuck asked excitedly, " hey come
Introduce your story here.
Say excitedly.
Make nah sound like yeah.
try and ride a horse! " Pecos Bill thought
Exaggerate.
this was inappropriate because he could
Pause before of and sound
out run any horse and answered nah
dissapointed.
which sounded like yeah.
Chuck tried harder
and harder to get Bill on the horse. Still
stubborn as he was, he wouldn't give in.
Chuck after what seemed like an hour
day finally went in to eat.
After a couple of days
Bill was so talented they made him the
leader of their pack. Of course no one
could be the king of the range for that
long without a horse. He went out to the
open range to herd up some wild
mustangs. He found one that he liked
very much and threw a saddle on it's
back.
That was Bill's first
lesson of cow-punching. He fanned the
ears of the mustang with his hat, rearing,
back-flipping and side-winding. The
cowboys taught him to yell yippee and
ride 'em. Pecos Bill thought his first
horse was too tame. He went to the
ranch and found a golden mustang.
This horse was no usual
one. Like Bill it had a mind of his own!
Plus, there was no way it was going to let
Bill on his back. The horse was mighty
and after a long time he decided that Bill
wasn't so bad. They became very quick
friends. The horse was so fast! Pecos Bill
gave the horse a great name to fit it's
attitude. "Lighting, that's what I'll call
Show index finger to represent 1.
Exaggerate yippee and ride 'em.
Say strongly until your done with back.
Pause, then say Lightning.
you," and so he did. Together they rode
the Western Range through the good and
bad times and never broke apart from
each other. For many years to come they
walked the desert never apart.