Wisconsin
It's Been Spelled in Ways You Won't Believe

Jean Nicolet, noted French coureur de bois of the 1600s, probably was the first European to trek the wilds of what is now Wisconsin. Marquette and Jolliet arrived soon afterward. Algonquian natives told them of an area river which, in written French translations, was spelled "Mescousing."

And from that we get "Wisconsin?" Yep. There have been umpteen variations, but the spelling path basically proceeded from Mescousing to Mesconsing to Ouisconsing to Ouisconsin to Miskonsin to Wiskonsin to Wisconsin. It became a U.S. territory at the end of the Revolutionary War, a state in 1848.

And why is it called the Badger State? Well, badgers certainly lived there in abundance when the first Europeans traded and settled. But another theory is that 19th-Century lead miners in the southern Wisconsin hills were nicknamed "badgers" because they burrowed lair-style shelters in the hills for refuge against the bitter winters.

Return to the current issue of Blithering Antiquity

Return to the home page of Blithering Antiquity

Return to Hornpipe Vintage Publications

 ..

© 2004 Hornpipe Vintage Publications

All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this Web site may be used without express written permission from the editor.