Tall Tales from Rogue River

by Stephen Dow Beckham

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0870715127
• ISBN13: 9780870715129
• Release Date: April 1991
• Publisher: Oregon State University Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Excellent compilation of tall tales made up on muleback.

Hathaway Jones was a rural mail carrier in at the turn of the century. He delivered "mail" and various mail order catalogue items from West Fork to homesteaders, miners et al along the Rogue River. He had lots of time to make up stories as he led his pack string of anywhere from two to 15 mules and horses. Most were stories on himself.Tall Tale telling is an American tradition being recognized with swaps all over the country. It helps stir the imagination and the stories are great, especially when told around a campfire.Also gives incentive to make up your own tall tales. Look around you and you'll see lots of stories just waiting to be told. This book provides the incentive to do just that.

There was a good reason he was the biggest "liar" in America!

Folks around the Rogue River STILL talk about this guy. Some even do impersonations of him. Hathaway Jones could have been the Aesop and the Garrison Keillor of his time.This book is a wonderful way to teach children how to use their imaginations with everyday things to create exciting stories. For adults, Hathaway's humor makes great reading next to the fireplace or around a campfire. A note of thanks to Steven Dow Beckham for compiling these stories. Hathaway Jones was truly a remarkable man and it would have been a shame to have lost the wit and wisdom of this simple mail carrier.