Show sa s1 r in jr lr am lae yale ay pro 4 Ime f 1 A A ja 0 tae ar vaara 2 F by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HERE are eight states in the union with nicknames related to birds or animal presumably because th they y are so characteristic of it those hose states that a person invariably thinks of t them hem together they ar are the following arkansas the bear tate delaware the blue lien ilen state iowa the Ilaw keye state louisiana the pelican state michigan the wolverine state minnesota the gopher state oregon the beaver state wisconsin the badger state but it Is a curious fact that in addition to every state having a pop popular U lar nickname there fire are some states which have symbols that are in no way connected with the nickname it if they were connected whenever you thought of Arkan arkansas sits you would think of a bear but the fact Is that whenever you think of that state the chances are that there rises to your mind the image of one ane of those lean lanky porkers corkers with its long snout and high sharp backbone which gives elves it the name of razorback for F or the razorback descendant of the pigs which the spanish explorer de soto brought to america and which escaped to the woods boods and ran wild for generations la Is arkansas native hog and as such has become that states symbol rather than the bear time was when the razorback was such euch a familiar figure in the arkansas landscape that it became a part of those popular legends which are responsible for fixing in the public mind certain ideas as often erroneous as riot not about the people in some one state or some section of the country hence the tradition of the ozark hill hillbilly billy whose shiftlessness has been per in the famous arkansas traveler story and a similar story in which the razorback figures la Is this one traveler through arkansas observing a razorback scratching itself against a post your hogs seem to be troubled with the alie mange ozark billy mange buthla stranger tranger cr that there Is in a razorback and hes just juat strop pin ln so go while it may be true that the razorback hog was once the most distinctive tive domestic domst lc animal in arkansas modern farming and modern live stock raising in arkansas Ar kantas have largely done away with him and he Is more of a relic and a tradition than a living fact act the tradition has been preserved lio wever by the athletic teams of f the university of arkansas which have become widely known as the razorbacks Razor backs especially since an arkansas football star made the all american in fact such has been the wide spread prad interest la in college athletics in recent recant years that the mascots and of athletic teams especially those of tho tha state universities have hare done much to fix in the public mind ind a certain state symbolism even though it may not always agree with that th at suggested by the tha official lelal off state nickname outstanding examples of those which symbolize both the state and the college athlete are ara the wol warines verines ve we rines of the university of michigan the tha gophers of the university of df minnesota and the badgers of the university of wisconsin la ctet there thera has conn come Z 4 s dav 5 ap pp A hwu to light recently the curious paradox that in all probability michigan the wolverine state does not now have a tingle single wild wolverine within its borders 1 that Is the discovery that fielding U yost famous football coach and athletic director at the university of michigan mode made according to an article which appeared recently in the detroit free press which says when professor yost started out to ascertain why michigan Is known as the wolverine state he ran up against two printed explanations it appears most likely that the name was given michigan because bales of wolverine furs used to reach the new york fur market from the trading post at sault ste marle although most of the furs were brought in from canadian trappers and not from michigan territory in the early days of exploration said yost a trading post was established alls aed at sault ste marle many wolverine furs were shipped to the new york market from this post A large proportion of these furs were supplied by canadian trappers although michigan had wolverines rines at this time As the result of these large shipments of wolverine furs this territory came to be associated with wol verines merines and eventually the state came to be known as the wolverine state this explanation does not coincide with the theory of A D P van buren in volume five of the michigan pioneer historical collections published in 1884 but dr norman wood of the university museum faculty who operated cooperated co with yost in hla his search for living wolverines rines in the state stata of michigan declares that the tha second explanation Is not at all plausible van barens explanation holds that the appellation wolverine state came about as the result of an incident which occurred at the old ten eyck tavern at dearborn A party from detroit stopped there one day and abid were served wolf steaks hla him story relates one of the men facetiously remarked W we have eaten wolves we must have the tha appetites of wolverines rines the story spread van buren says and the name came to be applied to the natives of michigan game wardens wardena trappers and tor far dealers were called upon to aid yost in his attempt to learn whether the wolverine Is extinct in michigan with two exceptions these men supported the findings expressed by dr A 0 roche of calumet who wrote ll 11 1 I waited to look this matter up pretty thoroughly I 1 have sten seen practically all the game wardens and hunters in these parts and not one has ever seen a wol wolverine verine up here mr yosts costs inquiry was made during his ques I 1 tor for a native michigan wol verina to bo be used as it a mascot for the michigan athletic teams a quest abi which e h was waa unsuccessful fal true live w wol 01 vertnes lave have been displayed at some of th the 8 big football games at ann arbor la in recent years yeara but they had been captured in alaska and borrowed from the detroit zoo for the tha occasion I 1 in contrast to the wolverines rines the gophers Go phera the badgers and the which symbolize the state its inhabitants and its university teams there are states stales in which all three are vastly different south dakota la Is the sunshine state but it has an animal symbol the compte and south dakotans Dako tans and the athletes of its state university are known as coyotes louisiana Is the pelican state but its inhabitants are more widely known as ag creoles cheoles Cr eoles than they are as pelicans for the chances are that mention of the latter word instead of painting a word picture of a state will more likely result in there being quoted the famous jingle about A wonderful bird to la the pelican its neck holds more than its be belicen bell lican can it can hold bold in its beak enough food tor for a week dut but I 1 dont be see how the th bellican helt bell can the largest state in the union Is called the lone star state but it has haa a symbol which never nevar falls to bring to mind instantly the name of texas kicked like a texas steer and wild as a texas longhorn long hirn are similes which are a part of our everyday ian language so ao the ideas of texas and longhorn steer are inseparably linked it Is wholly appropriate that this animal should be the symbol of texas for upon the vast cattle trade which began after the civil war was texas present prosperity based it if you dont say kicked like a texas steer then you probably say kicked like a missouri mule and every one knows of the dynamite that Is I 1 concealed in the heels of that animal which brings up the tact fact that M ali bourl the tha show me ale state to Is blessed with not just one state symbol but two and either one of them as surely spells missouri in hi the mind of the average american as longhorn steer spells texas one of them theia la Is the mule and the other li Is the houn dog not only Is missouri famous tor for the number of it its I 1 houn bon R do dogs 98 an and d the their 1 r high value for hunting purposes but there are two other reasons for the tha association of the words missouri and houn dog one Is the famous oration delivered by a famous mis senator vests eulogy on the dog delly delivered ered during a lawsuit over the killing of old drum the other Is the famous aoun dog song they gotta quit hickin my dog aroun which played an important part in the campaign for the nomination tor for president of another famous missourian champ clark senator vests oration which lias ian becom ft cl classic ASSI c in Ami american rican literature not only immortalized the missouri houn dog but has become a veritable monument to mans best friend to A IR 1 nal NOW guia |