Kemp Morgan
Kemp Morgan or Gib Morgan is a character from American folklore, particularly appearing in tall tales.
Kemp Morgan stories are said to have appeared in the oil fields of Texas and Oklahoma, where he was a folk hero similar to Paul Bunyan or John Henry.[1][2] Morgan was said to be a rotary oil driller with an amazing power of olfaction, allowing him to smell oil underground,[3] and the strength to hand-build a drilling platform covering four acres at the base, and so tall "it had to be hinged in two places to let the moon go by".[4]
Morgan is possibly a creation of fakelore, rather than a genuine folk hero.[3][clarification needed] In 1945, Texas folklorist Mody Coggin Boatright published a full-length analysis, Gib Morgan: Minstrel of the Oil Fields, which linked the collected tales with a consistent pattern of biographical and historical details, and then to "a man of flesh and blood": Gilbert Morgan (1842–1909), born in Callensburg, Pennsylvania, veteran of the American Civil War, and at work in the old fields for more than 20 years.[5]
References
- ^ Folk-say: A Regional Miscellany, 1929–32, ed. Benjamin Albert Botkin, University of Oklahoma Press, 1930, Volume 2 pp. 382, 385
- ^ Man, Bird, and Beast, Stith Thompson and James Frank Dobie, Texas Folklore Society 1926, Issues 5-7, p. 46
- ^ a b Brunvand, Jan Harold (1998). American folklore: an encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. 1105. ISBN 978-0-8153-3350-0.
- ^ Barr, Richard M. (16 October 1957). "A Rival For Paul Bunyan?". Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Florida. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ Pelagri, Clarence (29 May 1976). "Gib Morgan: A Legend in American Folklore". Oil City Derrick, Oil City, Pennsylvania. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- v
- t
- e
- Alaska
- California
- Salishan
- Johnny Appleseed
- Elfego Baca
- Daniel Boone
- Br'er Rabbit
- Jim Bridger
- Paul Bunyan
- Davy Crockett
- Mike Fink
- Geronimo
- John Henry
- Calamity Jane
- Casey Jones
- Molly Pitcher
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Ola Värmlänning
- Average Joe
- Cooter Brown
- Jack Robinson
- Sam Hide
- Uncle Sam
- Agropelter
- Axehandle hound
- Ball-tailed cat
- Belled buzzard
- Cactus cat
- Champ
- Dungavenhooter
- Fur-bearing trout
- Gillygaloo
- Glawackus
- Goofus bird
- Gumberoo
- Hidebehind
- Hodag
- Hoop snake
- Hugag
- Jackalope
- Jersey Devil
- Joint snake
- Sidehill gouger
- Snallygaster
- Snipe
- Snow snake
- Splintercat
- Squonk
- Teakettler
- Wampus cat
- Bloodstopping
- Campfire story
- Confederate gold
- Fountain of Youth
- Goatman (urban legend)
- Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine
- Lost Ship of the Desert
- Madstone
- Mercy Brown vampire incident
- Mothman
- Seven Cities of Gold
- Tailypo
- Westerns
![]() | This article about a fictional character is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e