Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 August 1885 — Why Illinoisans are Called Suckers. [ARTICLE]

Why Illinoisans are Called Suckers.

For many years th'e inhabitan s of Illinois have been called ‘Suckers,’ and numerous explanations of the origin of the term have been given. The one most commonly quoted is found in Wheeler’s “Vocabulary of the Noted Names of Fiction,” taken from the Providence Journal, and is as follows: “The Western Prairies are in many places full of holes made by the “crawfish” (a fresh-water shellfish, similar in form to the lobster) which descend to the water beneath. In early times, when travelers wended their way over these immense plains, they very prudently provided themselves with a. long, hollow tube, and, when thirsty, thrust it into these natural artesians, and thus easily supplied their longings. The crawfish well generally contains pure water, and the manner in which the traveler drew forth the refresh i g element gave him the name of ‘Sucker ’ ” This is very plausible, and the “down-Easterns” no doubt accept it as an historical fact, but as the old settlers of Illinois never heard of such a thing until they saw it in print, the statement is, to say the least, rather doubtful, Stephen A. Douglas, in a speech made at at Petersburg, Va., during the Presidential campaig i of 1860, offered the following explanation: “About the year 1778 George Rogers Clark applied to the Governor of Virginia, and suggested to him that as peace might be declared at any time between Great Britian and the colonies, it would be well for us to be in possession of the. Northwest Territory, so that when the Commissioners came to negotiate a treaty we might act on the well known principle iof uti possidetis —each party holding all they had in possession. He suggested to the Governor to permit him to go out to the Northwest, conquer the country and hold it until the treaty of peace, when we wouh become possessed of it. The Governor consented and sent him across the mountains to Pittsburg. From there he and his companions floated down the Ohio on rafts to the falls, where Louisville now is. After remaining there a short time they again took to their rafts and floated down to the Salines, just below ihe present Sha wneetown in Illinois. There they took up their march across the country to Kaskaskia, where the French had an old settlement, and by the aid of a guide reached the Oquaw River and encamped some little distance from the town. The next morning Clark got his little army together and took up his line of march for the French town of Kaskaskia. It was summer, and a very hot day, and as he entered the town he saw the Frenchmen sitttng on their little verandasj quietlv sucking their mint juleps through straws. He rushed upon them crying, ‘Surrender, you suckers, you! The Frenchmen surrendered, and from that day to this Illinoisans have been known as ‘Suckers.’” Mr. Douglas spoke in a humorous vein, and did not expect his listeners to think he was reciting history. The following account, however, is vouched for by early settlers as being correct: “For a number of years after the opening of the lead mines at Galena, 111., the majority of the miners, who lived in the southern part of the State and in the settlements on the Mississippi,were in the habit of going to their homes in the fall and returning to the mines in the spring. One day, in the autvmn of 1826, an old Missourian, who was watching a number of Illinois miners go on board a Southern-bound

boat at the Galena wharf, asked them where they were going. They r-plied: ‘We are going down home.’ ‘Why,’ said he, ‘you put me in mind of the suck rs; they come up the river in the spring and in the fall go down again.’ He had reference to a freed water fish of the carp family which has the habit mentioned. The nick-name of ‘sucker’ was at once applied to Illinoisans and has stuck to them ever since. In the spring the miners, who remained at the mines during the winter, would say when the shoals of suckers were seen ascending the river, Tn a few days we shall see the real suckers coming up the river.’ ’,