The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1885-07-16
Why IIi1oI,an, A., CalIed nsIetsr,

1
For tidDy years the inhabitants -oi
Illinois lave been called Suckers, q
and numerous explanations Of the
origin OF the term have been given.
The enc most commonly quoted il
found IN Wheeler's Vocabulary oi
Fiction" taken from the Providence
| Journal, and Is as follows:
The Western prairies are In many
places full Of holes made by 'crGwfish'
a fresh water shellfish, (similar in
form 70 a lObsteT), which descend TO
the water beneath. In early times,
when travellers wended their way ov-
er these Immense plains, they very
prudently provided themselves with
q long hollow tube, and when thirsty
| thrust II into these natural artesians,
and thus easily supplied their long
ings. The crawfish well generally
contains pure water. aud the manner
In which the traveller drew forth
the refreshing element gave him the
name Of SUCKER"
This is very plausible, aud the
'dOwn-easterns," no doubt, accept II
as historical fact, but, as the old
settlers Of Illinois never heard Of such
thing until they saw IL i'm print, the
statement Is, to say the least, rather
doubtful.
Stephen A. Douglas, In q speech
made ut Petersburg, Va, during the
Presidential campaign Of 1860, offered
the following explanation
About the year l7SS, George ROg-
ers Clark applied TO the Governor OF
Virginia, aud suggested To him as
- a. - AZ
between Great Britain and the colon
les, 1t would be well for Us TO be Ia
possession Of the Northwest Territory
30 that when the commissioners came
TO negotiate q treaty we might set on
the well Known principle Of vii pOssi-
detis-each party holding all they
had In possession. He suggested to
the Governor to permit him TO go out
to the Northwest, conquer the cOun-
try and hold until the treaty OF peace,
when we would become POSSESSED Of
IL. The Governor consented, and
sent him across the mountains To
Pitisburg. From there he and his
companions fioated down the Ohio
on RATS to the falls, where Louisville
now Is. After remaining there a short
time, they again took TO their RATS
and fiOated down TO the Salines. just
below the present ShawneetOwn in
Illinois. There they took up their
march across the country To KRskas-
kia, where the French had an old
settlement, aud by the aid of a guide
reached the Oquaw River, and ell
camped some little distance from the
town. The next morning Clark got
his little army together aud took up
his line Of march for the French |
town Of KRskaskia. Ii was summer,
and very hot day, and ~ he entered |
the town he saw the Frenehmen sit |
ting ON their little verAndAs quietly |
sucking their mint juleps through |
straws. He rushed upon them cry
ing, Surrender, you suckers, you y
The FTenehmen surrendered, and
from that day to this IllinOisans have
been known as "Suckers.' -.
Mr.. Douglas spoke in very hu-
mOTOus vein, aud did not expect his
listeners to think he was reciting his
tory. The following account, how
ever, is vOuched for by early settlers
as being correct;
For number Of years after the
opening Of the lead mines 1t GaienA,
lived in tile southern part Of the
State. and i'm the settlements on the
were in the habit Of go
ing Ia their homes in the fall aud re-
turning to the mines In the spring:
One day, in the autumn of lS36, MI
old MissOurian, who was watching n
of illinois miners go on board
Of n southern bound boat at the Ga
lena wharf, asked them where they
were going. They replied we are
going down home Why said he,
you put me in mind OF the suckers
they come up the river in the spring
and in the fall 10 down again He
had references % q fresh water fish of
Lhe carp family, which mas the habit
The nickname of suck
er' was at once applied 10 lllinOisans
aud has stuck 10 them ever since. In
.he spring, the miners who had re-
nAined at the mines during the win
Ter, would say when the shoals Of
suckers we're seen ascending the river,
In few days We shall see the real
iockers coming up the river