Wisconsin
Unofficial nickname. The name appears to have arisen from the early lead miners who worked at the Illinois Galena lead mines in the 1830s. These mines are close to where Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin meet. However, "badger" arose not from the burrowing in the lead mines, but because those from Wisconsin did not live in houses, but in caves in the hillside that looked like badger burrows. They earned the nickname at the mines, and took it back on their return to Wisconsin. In the 1820s prospectors came to the state looking for minerals and the miners lived like badgers in tunnels in the hillsides- the state animal is also the badger.  Below the state motto, "Forward" is a badger, the state animal. The state name was added in 1979. Federal Correctional Institution Joined union in 1848, quarter released in 2004 Commissioned December 1943 -- BB-64 20th among all States and Territories Unofficial nickname. Wisconsin is predominantly a dairy state, producing 40% of the country's cheese, and 20% of its butter. A Mohican Indian word meaning pure, clean water In mid-Oct, a spectacular concentration of sandhill cranes
|
