The Legend of John Henry
There are two John Henrys - the man and legend surrounding him. Pinning down the legend is not easy; it's as varied as the thousands of people who have studied, sung and recorded it over the years.

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Information about John Henry

- Researchers believe that John Henry was born a slave in the
1840's or 1850's. It is important to remember that no one
knows for sure if John Henry existed. That is one of the things
that makes the legend so intriguing.

- According to the legend he grew to stand 6 feet tall, 200 pounds - a giant in that day.

From NPR's Present at the Creation - John Henry:

Though the story of John Henry sounds like the quintessential tall tale, it is certainly based, at least in part, on historical circumstance. There are disputes as to where the legend originates. Some place John Henry in West Virginia, while recent research suggests Alabama. Still, all share a similar back-story.

In order to construct the railroads, companies hired thousands of men to smooth out terrain and cut through obstacles that stood in the way of the proposed tracks. One such chore that figures heavily into some of the earliest John Henry ballads is the blasting of the Big Bend Tunnel -- more than a mile straight through a mountain in West Virginia.

Steel-drivin' men like John Henry used large hammers and stakes to pound holes into the rock, which were then filled with explosives that would blast a cavity deeper and deeper into the mountain. In the folk ballads, the central event took place under such conditions. Eager to reduce costs and speed up progress, some tunnel engineers were using steam drills to power their way into the rock. According to some accounts, on hearing of the machine, John Henry challenged the steam drill to a contest. He won, but died of exhaustion, his life cut short by his own superhuman effort.