| HOOSIER - pronounced hoo'zher - is an inhabitant or native of Indiana, and the name of
our National Forest. No one is quite sure where the term originated for sure, but there
are five primary theories.
I. One story goes that a contractor named Sam Hoosier, on the Ohio
Falls Canal in Louisville, preferred Indiana workers over any others because he believed
them to be the most reliable and hardworking. The workers from Indiana became known as
Hoosier's men and proudly carried the label home.
II.
A similar story involves the National Road, which got it's start in Cumberland ,
Maryland, and slowly extended westward as the United States expanded (today, we know it
only as U.S. 40). It truly was a "national" road, in that it was
"mcadamized" (we'd call it an "asphalt" road today), quite an
innovation for the nineteenth century. It was far ahead of it's time, easily providing the
best transportation route of it's era. The road had reached Columbus, Ohio, just about the
time that Indiana was in it's final stage as a territory.
As plans were made to extend the highway to Richmond, Indiana, the call went out for
laborers. Knowing that the Federal Government would pay "top dollar", workers
for a contractor in the Indiana Territory reportedly named Robert Hoosier asked their boss
if they could go work for this higher wage in the neighboring state of Ohio (Ohio attained
statehood 13 years before Indiana did). Mr. Hoosier gave his consent, asking them to
return to work for him when this section of the road was done.
Just as in the Sam Hoosier story, the crew of Indiana workers proved to be industrious,
conscientious, and efficient. The Federal foreman referred to the group as
"Hoosiers" meaning they were workers that Robert Hoosier had allowed to join the
National work crew. It wasn't long before people along the National Road used the term to
describe the folks living in the territory to the west.
III. Some say the word was derived from "hussar" which was a term used on the
Kentucky frontier for people who were public nuisances. Hussars were hard drinking
carousers. This theory carries the implication that a large share of such folks came from
Indiana.
IV. The most common belief is that the term was a
greeting. When approaching a man's home
in those early frontier days, you shouted from afar, "Hello the cabin" to avoid
being shot. The inhabitants would then shout back "Who's yer?" (who's there). As
it got slurred together over time, the country folk came to be called Hoosiers.
V.
Another plausible explanation for
“Hoosier” is that it sprang from Kosciusko County in the northern part of
the state. Indeed Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a Polish noble who fought with George
Washington in the Revolutionary War, may have been the first “Hoosier.”
(This explanation was provided from research by Eugene Eoyang, professor at
Indiana University).
“Hoosier” reflects the American penchant over the years of mispronouncing
words and place names from other languages. and is a corruption of the
Polish word, “huzar” or “hussar” (Hungarians, hussar,, Russian hussar,
French hussard) which before the 15th century, according to the Oxford
English Dictionary meant “freebooter, freelance”.
Then, in the second half of the 15th century, it acquired the meaning of
“light horsemen.” It is this sense that the term could be applied to the
dashing, heroic light Calvary regiments who “fought with George Washington
in the Revolutionary War.”
The military connotations of “hoosier” are strikingly reinforced in the
Journal of the Kosciuszko Guards by William S. Hemphill. William S. Hemphill
was born in 1832 and died in 1907. There is no indication of the exact year
in which the journal was written, but it was, presumably, sometime in the
years following the end of the Civil War in 1865 and before his death in
1907. The word “hoosier” or “hoosiers” occurs frequently in the journal.
Indeed, the Indiana regiment who fought in the Civil War named their camp
“Hoosiertown.”
Perhaps, the most telling anecdote is of a splendid Massachusetts
regiment who disdained to soil their hands with the chore of moving a
massive rock. So the regiment from Indiana, referred to as “Hoosiers”, sets
about the project. The soldiers from Massachusetts merely looked on. “A
large, fine looking man,” Hemphill recalls, “wearing a common soldier’s
blouse and slouch hat, on passing, had paused to watch the proceedings.” He
began to berate the leader of the Massachusetts regimen, a second
lieutenant. Abashed, the second lieutenant takes on airs, and threatens to
teach the interloper some manners, but upon noticing that the “burley form
of the Hoosier looked rather formidable, decided to appeal to Hemphill, who
was in charge of the Indiana regiment. “Sergeant,” the second lieutenant
said, “this is one of your men; arrest him and take him to your commanding
officer. I will prefer charges against him and have him properly punished!”
Hemphill took no action; as he reported later, because “I was full of
laughter that I could make no answer.” When the interloping Hoosier realized
how upset the second lieutenant was, he makes a pretty speech—if not an
apology, then of polite remonstrance—ending with these plainspoken words: “I
guess the Sergeant will not arrest me, but if you wish to prefer charges
against me, you can do so. I am Lieut. Col. George Humphrey, of the 12th
Ind. Inf. at your service.”
Hemphill adds: “It was a complete take down; and the Lieutenant’s turn to
apologize. The Hoosiers all joined in the laugh, and three cheers were given
for Col. Humphrey; while the crest fallen Yankees quietly returned to their
camp to wonder what kind of men the Hoosiers were anyhow.”
Whatever the real story, people from Indiana now have a strong affinity to the name and
throughout the state, many businesses and agencies have Hoosier in their name.
It reflects not only people willing to roll up their sleeves and get the job
done, teamwork, and perhaps also military prowess and loyalty. The name
seems
a distinctive and honorable label for Indiana's only National Forest.
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r9_hoosier_website@fs.fed.us
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