John Henry 

is an American folk hero. An African American freedman, he is said to have worked

as a "steel-driving man"—a man tasked with hammering a steel drill into rock to make holes for
explosives to blast the rock in constructing a railroad tunnel.
The story of John Henry is told in a classic blues folk song about his duel against a drilling
machine, which exists in many versions, and has been the subject of numerous stories, plays,
books, and novels.[1][2]
Legend[edit]
the legend of John Henry (Talcott, West Virginia)
According to legend, John Henry's prowess as a steel driver was measured in a race against
a steam-powered rock drilling machine, a race that he won only to die in victory with a hammer
in hand as his heart gave out from stress. Various locations, including Big Bend Tunnel in West
Virginia,[3] Lewis Tunnel in Virginia, and Coosa Mountain Tunnel in Alabama, have been
suggested as the site of the contest.
The contest involved John Henry as the hammerman working in partnership with a shaker, who
would hold a chisel-like drill against mountain rock, while the hammerman struck a blow with a
hammer. Then the shaker would begin rocking and rolling: wiggling and rotating the drill to
optimize its bite. The steam drill machine could drill but it could not shake the chippings away,
so its bit could not drill further and frequently broke down.
History[edit]
The historical accuracy of many of the aspects of the John Henry legend are subject to debate.[1]
[2]
 According to researcher Scott Reynolds Nelson, the actual John Henry was born in 1848 in
New Jersey and died of silicosis and not due to exhaustion of work.[4]
Several locations have been put forth for the tunnel on which John Henry died.
Big Bend Tunnel[edit]
Location: 37°38′56″N  80°46′04″W
Sociologist Guy B. Johnson investigated the legend of John Henry in the late 1920s. He
concluded that John Henry might have worked on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway's (C&O
Railway) Big Bend Tunnel but that "one can make out a case either for or against" it.[5][3] That
tunnel was built near Talcott, West Virginia, from 1870 to 1872 (according to Johnson's dating),
and named for the big bend in the Greenbrier River nearby.
Some versions of the song refer to the location of John Henry's death as "The Big Bend Tunnel
on the C. & O."[3] In 1927, Johnson visited the area and found one man who said he had seen it.
This man, known as Neal Miller, told me in plain words how he had come to the tunnel with his
father at 17, how he carried water and drills for the steel drivers, how he saw John Henry every
day, and, finally, all about the contest between John Henry and the steam drill.
"When the agent for the steam drill company brought the drill here," said Mr. Miller, "John
Henry wanted to drive against it. He took a lot of pride in his work and he hated to see a
machine take the work of men like him.
"Well, they decided to hold a test to get an idea of how practical the steam drill was. The test
went on all day and part of the next day.
"John Henry won. He wouldn't rest enough, and he overdid. He took sick and died soon after
that."
Mr. Miller described the steam drill in detail. I made a sketch of it and later when I looked up
pictures of the early steam drills, I found his description correct. I asked people about Mr.
Miller's reputation, and they all said, "If Neal Miller said anything happened, it happened."[6]
When Johnson contacted Chief Engineer C. W. Johns of the C&O Railroad regarding Big Bend
Tunnel, Johns replied that "no steam drills were ever used in this tunnel." When asked about
documentation from the period, Johns replied that "all such papers have been destroyed by
fire."[5]
Talcott holds a yearly festival named for Henry, and a statue and memorial plaque have been
placed in John Henry Historical Park at the eastern end of the tunnel.[7]