Some are quick-witted, some fast on the draw and even still others who evoke more disdain than admiration. Regardless, the legacy of American folkheroes and folk-outlaws is a complicated one. Above all, however, the common thread seems not to be if a figure is good or bad, strong or clever, mythical or real but rather lies in his or her continued ability to ignite the public's imagination.
American folkheroes are larger-than-life figures who have since affixed themselves onto the nation's popular consciousness. However some of those, once hailed by earlier generations, may not be so well received today. For the champion of one often is inevitably the adversary of another. Still, it should be noted that changing times must not always give way to condemnation. In fact, figures largely shunned by their contemporaries may yet still be redeemed under a modern lens. It is in this spirit the following is offered. It is a catalog of the complicated, yet very human, figures half shrouded in fantasy and fact who illuminated the minds of the common people and were immortalized in story.
† Indicates an individual as having, or likely having, taken life.
- Molly Pitcher †
- John Henry
- Paul Bunyan
- Geronimo †
- Yo Mama
- Casey Jones
- Daniel Boone †
- Johnny Appleseed
- Bass Reeves †
- Davy Crockett †
- Jim Bridger †
- Doc Holliday †
- Kit Carson †
- Otto Walta
- Judge Roy Bean †
- Jean Lafitte †
- Juan Bobo
- Abraham Lincoln †
- Amelia Earhart
- Joe Pullen †
- Edith Macefield
- Virginia Dare
- Anne Bonny †
- Babe Ruth
- Billy the Kid †
- Black Hawk †
- Muhammad Ali
- Father Pierz
- Marcus Whitman
- Blackbeard †
- Elfego Baca †
- Ponce de León †
- Arkansas Traveler
- Timothy Dexter
- Punxsutawney Phil
- Bat Masterson †
- Bloody Mary
- Wild Bill Hickok †
- Man Calling From the Attic
- John McLoughlin
- Joe Hill
- Curse of the Billy Goat
- Antonine Barada
- Dad Hood
- Captain John Smith †
- Francis Marion †
- Jackson Sundown
- Bigfoot Wallace †
- Pocohantas
- George Custer †
- Coronado †
- Billy Puget
- Santa Claus
- Nat Turner †
- Annie Taylor
- Buffalo Bill †
- Sacagawea
- Jody (from American military cadences)
- Barbara Allen
- Betsy Ross
- Juan Cortina †
- Julia Bulette
- Paul Revere †
- Crispus Attucks
- Benjamin Banneker
- Winona
- Black Bart †
- Theodore Roosevelt †
- Gib Morgan
- Doctor Mudd
- Bruce Lee
- Death Valley Scotty
- Jim Bowie †
- Andrew Jackson †
- Joe Sixpack (idiomatic)
- Butch Cassidy †
- Jedediah Smith †
- Peg Leg Joe
- Philo McGiffin †
- Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow †
- José Maldonado Román †
- Cooter Brown (idiomatic)
- Wyatt Earp †
- Br'er Fox
- Tamanend
- Hannah Duston †
- Sojourner Truth
- Sitting Bull †
- Sic Transit
- Benjamin Franklin
- Big John Moriarty
- Jesse James †
- Hiawatha
- John Brown
- The Hookman
- John Sutter †
- Br'er Rabbit
- Annie Oakley
- Ola Värmlänning
- Old Man Elliott
- Sundance Kid
- Kilroy
- Modesta Avila
- Bonnie and Clyde †
- Sam Hide (idiomatic)
- Railroad Bill †
- Texas John Slaughter †
- Captain Kidd †
- Tecumseh †
- No Way, Jose (idiomatic)
- Henry Box Brown
- Chuck Norris
- Private John O’Keefe
- Mike Fink †
- Erin O’Keefe
- Sweet Betsy from Pike
- Emperor Norton
- Emily D. West
- Marie Laveau
- Calamity Jane †
- Jigger Johnson
- Ethan Allen †
- Nathan Hale †
- Mr. T
- Jack Robinson (idiomatic)
- Nat Love †
- D. B. Cooper
- George Washington †
- Sam Bass †
- Private 'Sans' Sanchez
- Le Bonhomme Sept Heures
- Ragman
- George P. Burdell
- Katie Cruel
- Harlem Globetrotters
- Ida Red
- Barnacle Bill the Sailor
- The Butcher’s Boy
- Frog (who) Went a-Courting
- Frankie and Johnny †
- John Hardy †
- Miss Sue from Alabama
- Mary Mack
- Old Joe Clark
- Gentle Annie
- Buffalo Gals
- Daisy Deane
- Cindy Ann
- Li'l Liza Jane
- Billy Boy
- John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
- Miss Lucy
- Flora, the Lily of the West
- Fair Charlotte
- Miss Susie
- Jimmy Crack Corn
- Darlin' Cory
- Gasparilla (José Gaspar)
- John Gómez
- Bartholomew Roberts
- Iron Mike Malloy (Durable Mike)
- Barney Beal
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