Johnny Kaw

Johnny Kaw is a fictional Kansas settler and the subject of a number of Paul Bunyan-esque tall tales about the settling of the territory.

The stories were initially printed in the city newspaper, The Manhattan Mercury, during the centennial and later collected into a self-published book by Filinger, who created Kaw to be Kansas' answer to other heroes like Bunyan and Pecos Bill.

Elmer Tomasch of the Kansas State University Art Department provided ink drawings to illustrate the stories and the book.

Kaw was said to have dug the Kansas River Valley, planted wheat, invented sunflowers, and grown giant potatoes.

The statue seen today was built in 1966, eleven years after the Manhattan Centennial celebration that inspired George Filinger to write the story of Johnny Kaw.