The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-06
NICKNAMES OF STATES
SOME STRANGE EPTTHETs OF CITI-
 HENS NOT TRACED TO SOURCE.
Titles of Comnsnweulths That were SuEgested by Romance-Others That Were Decidedly -
 Prosaic.

Chicago Chronicle.
 George Washington delivered an ad- dress before the Common Council of New York city in 17S4 In which he said.
 q pray that Heaven may bestow It's choicest blessings on your city; that the devastation of war in which you
 ,uuun 1t may soon be without a trace; that well-regulated and beneficial commerce may enrich your citizens and that your State-at present the seat of empire-may set such examples of wis dom 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 Amer ica as a nation began to make history. somebody wrote a romance and called it Las Sergas de Esplanadian" and somebody else published 1t in 1510 In
 this tale beautiful pagan queen ! called salafla. living in a Kingdom call- ed California, furnished an army of amazonians to Esplanadian, Emperor of the Creeks, to aid in defending Con- stantinople against Eastern infdels.
 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 ac-
 auire. and thus he called the iand which he discovered on the Pacific coast California From that day to this 1t has been known as the golden State and its people have been nick | named gold hunters"
 Tar Heels and Hoosiers. It is an interesting matter for in- | vestigation, this of how the States or the Union came to be called what they are today, tho manner in which they acquired their various nicknames and why their respective citizens are char acterized by the more or less odious epithets that cling to them. In other words. why are Nc~.h Carolinians call ed "tar heels," citizens of Colorado called "rovers." Indianians "hoosiers," or Missourians 'pukesT'
 It 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 a consptcu- ous feature of the territory, and these had been previously named by the h. dians.
 The State of Colorado was named for the river The word means red" AS
 a general thing Colorado streams are clear. limpid and reflect the blue of the heavens and natures green. But when mountain storms arise there Is rolled through these disturbed waters Quan- titles of red sand. Hence the name. Colorado was admitted into the Union the year of the centennial, ana
 hence its nickname. the centennial State" Its people are called "rovers. an epithet that was called lnto pefns
 by the Pike's Peak gold fever. To Missouri, named for the river the Indians 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 Missou-
 rians who had gone on before remark ed that the State had taken 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 l 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, Eye put
 me In mind of suckers They go up the
 river in the spring, spawn and all re- turn down again in the fall.' The Illf- noisans became suckers" The State is known as the Prairie State on ac- count of It's sweeping land.
 Just why Indianians are called "hoo- siers" Is a matter that has not been entirely settled. In the earlier days the word 'husher" was a common Vest ern term for bully. and this is offered by some authorities as an explanation of the term hoosier. Others say that 1t Is the result of contraction Of the
 question, Who's yeT'
 Hawkeyes. Iowans. "drowsy ones," are hawkeyes | because an Indian chief of. that name
 once spread terror among travellers abroad in h!s land. Kansas have been jayhawkers since the days of the Civil | War, when the guerrilla bands inaugu- | rated 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 ac- count of It's great productiveness. Denizens of the land where the blue grass grows, Kentucky. are called "corn crackers" because a rail with this pe-
 culiar name is the game bird of that
 region. Sometimes they are called red
 horses" but nobody seems to know
 why.
 When La Salle entered the Gulf of
 Mexico in 1882 he founded the fort of St. Louis and named 1t for Louis XIV. or trance, ana tue buFfOun0lnB IeFtl-
 tory he called Louisiana The inhabi-
 tants of this country originally where
 French and Spanish settlers, and their
 descendants even today are called Creoles.
 To Henrietta Marie wife of Charles I, of England, and daughter of Henry
 ", of France both Maine and Mary
 land are indebted for their names. The latter Is Mary's land The former was derived from Mayne. the name of the cess People of this the lumber State are foxes" both on account of the abundance of this animal and because
 the lives of many were passed in the
 woods. Marylanders are "crawthum-
 pers." name applied to Holsters by fishermen.
 Massachusetts is the Indian name
 for blue hills" It Is the baby" State, because 1t was once Nassachu- setts Bay Colony. and the people are
 beans" on account of the favorite dish which every one knows is theirs. To say nothing of their knowing con siderable more than beans" is the popular conception.
 Michigan Is the lake" State and the people are wolverines" Minnesota, the North Star" on accopnt of the insignia of it's seal. Its people are "gophers," the allusion being to the honey combed condition of the State due to the small bodies of water
 TadpOIes.
 Mississippi Is the bayou" State and its citizens are ''tadpoles." Nebras- kans are called bug -eaters," because a bird so named and believed to be of ha fra