Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-28
NICKNAMES OF STATES
SOME STRANGE EPITHETs OF CIT
ITEMS NOT TRACED TO SOURCE.
Titles Of Commonwealths That Were
Suggested by Romance; Others That
Were Decidedly Prosaic.

4
| I pray that heaven may bestow it's
| choicest blessings on your city; that the
| devastation of war In which you found it
| may soon be without a trace; that a we'll
| regulated and beneficial commerce may
| enrich your citizens and that your state
/ at present the seat of empire-may set
I such examples of wisdom as shall have a
tendency to strengthen the Union"
And from that day to this New York
has been known as the empire state
Back In the early days, before America
| as nation began to make history, some
| body wrote a romance and called II Las
| Sergas de Esplanadian." and somebody
! else published 1t in 1910 In this tale
beautiful pagan queen called Calaila, lv
| ing In Kingdom called California, fur
| nished an army Of amaZonanS to Espla-
| madam, emperor of the Greeks to aid In
| defending Constantinople against eastern
| infidels. This land of the pagan queen
| was filled with gold.
| Cortez, the explorer of later date had
| read and been impressed by this tale
| When he set out upon his expedition Of
adventure his mind was thrilled at the
| thought of new riches he was to acquire
| and thus he called the land which he dis
covered on the Pacific coast California
! FROM that day to this 1t has been known
| as the golden" state. and it's people have
| been nicknamed gold hunters"
Tar Heels and Hoosiers.
1t Is an interesting matter for investi-
| cation. this of how the states of the
| Union came to be called what they are
called today, the manner in which they
| acquired their various nicknames and
| why their respective citizens are charac-
| terized by the more or less odious cpl
! thets that cling to them, In other words
why are North Carolinians called tar
heels" citizens of Colorado called ''rov-
ers.' Indianians "hoosiers" or Missouri
| ans 'pukes"?
1t is recalling facts In history to an
swer In the first place. most of the
| states which form this Union took their
names originally from the stream or
mountain that formed conspicuous fea-
ture of the territory, and these had been
| previously named by the Indians.
The state of Colorado was named for
the river. The word means red" AS a
general thing Colorado streams are clear
| Impfd and reflect the blue Of the heavens
| and natures green. But when mountain
| storms arise there is rolled through these
| disturbed waters quantities of red sand
| Hence the name
| Colorado was admitted into the Union
| the year of the centennial, and hence it's
nickname, the Centennial state" Its peo-
| pie are called "rovers," an epithet that was
| called into being by the Pixies Peak gold
| fever
| To Missouri, named for the river the In
/ dams called Big Muddy and her people
| is attached the reprehensible nickname of
| "puke." This dates back to 1927, the time
| when the Galena lead mines were drawing
| people from all over the country. So many
| of these came from Missouri that other
| Missourians who had gone on before re-
| marked that the state had taken a sudden
| "puke.
! Several years previous to this time there
| had been big exodus from these same
| mines that had given rise to the nickname
of the citizens of Illinois or Tribe of
| Men" A large party while boarding the
| steamer at the Galena wharf was asked.
! Where ye going?'' ITO hum, was the
| reply Well" was the rejoinder of the
| old miner "ye put me in mind of suckers.
| They go up the riven in the spring. spawn
| and all return down again in the fall. The
| Illinoisans became suckers" The state
| is known as the Prairie state on account Of
! it's sweeping land.
| Just why Indfanians called "hoo-
| siers' is a matter that has not been en-
| tirely settled. In the earlier days the word
| ''husher'' was common western term for
| a bully and this is offered by some au-
| thorities an explanation of the term
| hoosier. Others say that 1t is the result
| of a contraction of the question, Who's
| ye?"
| Hawkeyes.
| Iowans "drowsy ones" are hawkeyes,
| because an Indian chief Of that name once
| spread terror among travellers abroad in
| his land. Kansans have been jayhawkers
| since the days of the civil war, when the
| guerrilla bands inaugurated a lawless
| method of warfare. On the other hand, as
| If to atone for this unpleasant epithet, the
| state has been dubbed the garden of the
west" on account of its great productive
ness.
Denizens of the land where the blue
| grass grows, Kentucky, are called corn
| crackers" because a rail with this peculiar
| name is the game bird of that region.
| Sometimes they are called red horses
| but nobody seems to know why.
When La Sale entered the Gulf OK Mexico
| in 1852 he founded the fort Of St Louis and
named 1t for Louis XIV of France ana the
| surrounding territory he called Louisiana.
| The inhabitants of this country originally
were French and Spanish settlers, and their
| descendants even today are called Creoles
To Henrietta Maria, wife Of Charles OF
| England and daughter of Henry Nv or
| France both Maine and Maryland are In
debted for their names. The latter IS Mary
| land. The former was derived from Mayne'
| the name of the patrimonial estate or the
French princess. People of this the lumber
state are foxes" both on account of the
| abundance of this animal and because the
| lives of many We're passed in the woods.
Marylanders are "crawthumpers, a name
| applied to Holsters by fishermen.
| Massac husetts is the Indian name for
| blue hills" 1t Is the bay" state because
| 1t was once the Massachusetts bay coll
| ony" and the people are beans on ac
! count of the favorite dish which every one
| knows Is theirs To say nothing of their
| knowing considerable more than beans"
| Is the popular conception.
Michigan is the lake state and the
people are wolverines" Minnesota. the
| north star" account of the insignia of
| Its seal Its people are ''gophers," the al
| fusion being to che honeycombed condition
| OF the state due to the small bodies OF
| water
Tadpoles.
! Mississippi is the bayou state and Its
citizens are "tadpoles." Nebraskans are
| called bug eaters" because a bird SC
named and believed to be of evil omen by
the rural population frequents that part cs
the country. People living in Nevada are
sage hens" in New Hampshire, granite
| boys" in Vermont. Green mountain
boys" in South Carolina, "weasels;" in
| Virginia. "beadles;' In Wisconsin, bad
| gers
| New Jerseyites are clam catchers" be-
| cause this is the principal occupation of the
| poorer classes. Ohioans are called buck
| eyes because Of the abundance of tree
| by this name. the nut of which bears a
| strong resemblance to a bucks eye. North
| Carolinians are called tar heels" This
| sobriquet goes back to war times when
| the people came out of the pineries to fight