"Rackensack" (=Arkansas) query

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>The story behind Pukes = Missourians is that when the lead mines opened up
>in northwestern Illinois, lots of somewhat unsavory individuals went up from
>Missouri to work there.  Someone said that it seemed as if Missouri had
>puked up the worst of its citizens.

Sounds as good as any other story. There are at least two other stories.
One is really the same story but told about Missouri immigrants in early
California rather than in Illinois. The other story says that Illinoisans
were prone to drink immediately subsurface water straight out of the ground
-- thus they were "Suckers" -- while new immigrants from Missouri were
unable to tolerate it -- they vomited -- thus they were "Pukes". I find
this last story more amusing but less believable -- at a glance.

-- Doug Wilson