9 Legends of American Folklore, 3-6

From Johnny Appleseed to Pecos Bill, the following stories of American folklore continue to engage and inspire.

3. Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett

Women in tall tales were few and far between, but there are some who made it into folklore as hard as nails, larger-than-life folks. Sally Ann Thunder is one that emerges, however infrequently, as the wife of Davy Crockett. In reality, Crockett married several times and none of the record books have him married to anyone with Thunder in her name. But stories do exist of a gun-totin', fast-talking lady who helped get Davy out of sticky situations and wouldn't miss a trick. She reportedly wore a real beehive as a hat and enjoyed wrestling alligators in her spare time.

4. Johnny Appleseed

If you dig too deep into the origins of American folk heroes, you might be disappointed -- the man known as Johnny Appleseed wasn't a magical scatterer of apple seeds from sea to shining sea, he was just a regular guy named John Chapman who worked as a nurseryman in the late 1700s. While that's not as exciting as the legend, Chapman's real life was interesting enough -- he owned land from Ohio to Indiana, worked as a Christian missionary, and helped make peace between Native Americans and white settlers.

5. Mike Fink

Tales of Mike Fink originated in the 19th century and were based on a real man born near Pittsburgh around 1780. The real Fink sailed keelboats on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and fought against various tribes of Native Americans. Fink was noted as being an exceptional marksman, though he was reportedly a rather hard-drinking and hard-living character. By many accounts it was Fink who started spreading tall tales about himself, which may explain his low standing among more noble legends like Paul Bunyan and John Henry. Still, tales of Fink being "half-man, half-alligator" and being totally impervious to pain keep him in the canon.

6. Pecos Bill

Pecos Bill, one of the most popular American tall tales, was lost while crossing the Pecos River with his parents. He was found by a pack of coyotes and lived among them until he met a cowboy and realized his true calling. No one was better at ranching than Pecos Bill because he had an uncanny ability to convince animals to work for him. Bill married a nice girl named Slue Foot Sue and lived a long life of ranching, herding, and singing by the campfire.

For some of the most well known figures in American folk lore, read on to learn about Geronimo and Davy Crockett.

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