(upbeat music) - I'm Starla Sampaco in the Crosscut KCTS 9 newsroom.

Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe are the stuff of American folk tales, but Mossback's Northwest host Knute Berger wants to know who or what exactly was Paul Bunyan?

For generations of Northwesterners, Paul was a giant ax-wielding logger who turned forest into timber, reshaping America.

He supposedly dug Elliott Bay, and with the dirt, he built Mount Rainier.

Paul filled a need for epic American history, but is Paul Bunyan folklore, or fake lore?

Some say the folk who really talked about Paul Bunyan were profit-driven marketers.

Is Paul no more a myth than the Jolly Green Giant or the Michelin Man?

Paul and Babe aren't around to deal with climate change and vanishing forests, but he's not done yet.

Popular culture is fluid.

He's met Captain America.

Perhaps America is as ready as ever to worship a bearded plaid-shirted being on our screens.

I'm Starla Sampaco.

Find more episodes of Mossback's Northwest on crosscut.com.

(upbeat music)