Feboldson, Febold, << FEE bohld suhn, FEE bohld >>, is a giant Swedish hero of many tall tales of Kansas and Nebraska. Feboldson performed fantastic feats that reflect the clever ways in which the American pioneers solved various problems. In one story, Feboldson started tree planting in the Great Plains region by tossing handfuls of cottonwood seeds into prairie dog holes. Another tale tells how he devised a way of digging postholes by using a creature called the happy auger. When the happy auger sat down, it spun around on its drill-like tail, forming a perfect posthole.
Feboldson may be based on an actual Swedish pioneer of the 1800’s. The character was developed in the late 1920’s by two Nebraska journalists, Don Holmes and Wayne T. Carroll. Paul R. Beath, a Nebraska lawyer, compiled Febold Feboldson: Tall Tales from the Great Plains (1948, 1962).
