There are many things you do not know about Illinois.
It has an official tree (white oak), bird (Northern Cardinal), flower (violet), animal (white-tailed deer) and an official fish (bluegill).
It also has an official song, “Illinois,” with words by C.H. Chamberlain and music by Archibald Johnston. Its first verse is this:
“By thy rivers gently flowing, Illinois, Illinois/
O’er the prairies verdant growing, Illinois, Illinois,/ Comes an echo on the breeze./
Rustling through the leafy trees, and its mellow tones are these, Illinois, Illinois./
And its mellow tones are these, Illinois.”
Illinois became the 21st state in 1818 and its 55,646 square miles, give or take, rank it as the 24th largest. With some 12.5 million citizens, it’s the fifth largest state.
It is 390 miles “tall” and 210 miles “wide.”
The state’s nickname is good: Prairie State. Its motto is not so: State sovereignty, national union.
Its oldest town is Cahokia, founded in 1699. The word Illinois is how French explorers interpreted the Native American word Illini, which means “men” or, even better, “tribe of superior men.”
–RK
