Brainerd, Minnesota is located in the middle of the state in Crow Wing County and is also considered by many to be the hometown of the tall tale hero, Paul Bunyan.  The town was founded in 1870 and has a population of 13,178 on the 2000 Census. In the Coen Brothers’ hit film Fargo, the story’s protagonist, Marge Gunderson, is a police officer from Brainerd who investigates three murders that take place along a highway leading into the town. While a portion of the movie is set in Brainerd, there was actually very little shooting done in the town due to the small snowfall in Brainerd during the winter of filming. Also in the film, there is a statue of Paul Bunyan with a sign reading "Welcome to Brainerd.” Brainerd has no such statue but, Paul Bunyan Amusement Park, located just outside Brainerd, had a huge statue of Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.