View source for Fabian Fournier

{{Short description|Canadian–American lumberjack}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Fabian Fournier
| image         = File:Fabian_Fournier.jpg
| alt           =
| caption       = Fournier in 1865
| birth_name    =
| birth_date    = c. 1840s
| birth_place   = [[Quebec]], [[Canada]]
| death_date    = c. 1875
| death_place   = [[Bay City, Michigan]]
| nationality   =
| other_names   = Saginaw Joe
| occupation    = Lumberjack
| years_active  = 1865-1875
| known_for     = Unusual jawbone and possible inspiration for Paul Bunyan
| notable_works =
}}
'''Fabian "Joe" Fournier''' was a [[lumberjack]], born in [[Quebec]],<ref name = "SCM">{{cite web |url=https://www.sindecusemuseum.org/blog/fabian-fournier |title=FABIAN "JOE" FOURNIER'S JAWBONE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE TREE CHOPPER'S CHOPPERS |last=Counts |first=Meredith |date=October 1, 2021 |website=sindecusemuseum.org |publisher= |access-date=April 4, 2022 |quote=}}</ref> who would later emigrate to the [[United States of America]] and work as a lumberjack in [[Michigan]]. He has often been said to be the man who inspired [[Paul Bunyan]] in at least some part.
==Life and career==
According to historian D. Lawrence Rogers, Fournier was an infamous brawler.<ref name = "HD">{{cite web |url=https://www.hourdetroit.com/community/birth-of-a-legend/ |title=Birth of a Legend|last=Waraniak |first=Jeff |date=August 29, 2016 |website=hourdetroit.com |publisher= |access-date=April 14, 2022 |quote=}}</ref> An early reference to his life by Stewart H. Holbrook describes a legendary battle between him and 'Silver Jack Driscoll', noting Fournier's signature move as the [[headbutt]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Holbrook |first=Stewart H |author-link= |date=1942 |title=Holy Old Mackinac |url= |location= |publisher= |page= |isbn=}}</ref> Fournier was said to be 6 feet or taller, putting him far above the average height of his day and was noted for his strength.<ref name = "HD"/>
==Death and legacy==
Fournier was killed in either November 1875 or the summer of 1876,<ref name = "SCM"/> allegedly by Adolphus "Blinky" Robertson, a stone mason who struck him in the head with his mallet on a dock in Bay City, Michigan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mybaycity.com/scripts/p3_v2/P3V3-0200.cfm?P3_ArticleID=618 |title=Bay City Folklore in Library's Children's Literature Research Collection |last=Rogers |first=Dave |date=November 21, 2004 |website=mybaycity.com |publisher= |access-date=April 14, 2022 |quote=}}</ref>
The lumberman became somewhat of a folk hero in his own right after his death, known for his love of fighting and his supposed double row of teeth. Another moment Fournier was often mythologized for was biting out a 'chunk out of a wooden bar' with his double row teeth.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rogers |first=D. Laurence |author-link= |date=1993 |title=Paul Bunyan: How a Terrible Timber Feller Became a Legend |url= |location= |publisher= |page= |isbn=}}</ref>
In a collection of Paul Bunyan stories by [[Harold Felton]], Fournier is present as a distinct figure in a recount of the Round River story.<ref>{{cite book |last=Felton |first=Harold |date=1943 |title=Legends of Paul Bunyan |url=https://archive.org/details/legendsofpaulbun00felt |url-status= |location= |publisher= New York, A. A. Knopf|isbn= |archive-url= |archive-date=}}</ref>
Fournier's remains were allegedly hosted at the [[University of Michigan]] at some point, where he became an oddity in dental sciences.<ref name = "SCM"/>
Fournier's status as the man who inspired Paul Bunyan was challenged by Michael Edmunds in his 2009 book, ''Out of the Northwoods: The Many Lives of Paul Bunyan'', stating that Bunyan stories were likely already circulating by the time Fournier became known among lumberjacks.<ref name = "ONW">{{cite book |last=Edmunds |first=Michael |author-link= |date=2009 |title=Out of the Northwoods: The Many Lives of Paul Bunyan |url= |location= |publisher= |page= |isbn=}}</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Paul Bunyan]]
[[Category:American loggers]]
[[Category:Canadian loggers]]
[[Category:American people of French-Canadian descent]]
[[Category:People with supernumerary body parts]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fournier, Fabian}}
[[Category:1840s births]]
[[Category:1875 deaths]]
[[Category:Michigan folklore]]
[[Category:American folklore]]
[[Category:Tall tales]]