In Indiana

Whatever may have been the original acceptation of Hooshier this we know,
that the people to whom it is now applied are amongst the bravest, most
intelligent, most enterprising, most magnanimous, and most democratic of
the Great West, and should we ever feel disposed to quit the state
in which we are now sojourning... it will be to enroll ourselves
as adopted citizens in the land of the "HOOSHIER."

---Indiana Democrat, October 26, 1833

There are lots of thoeries on the now lost origin of the word, but

given the name of the state itself, I suspect "Hoosier" was once

an Indian word: cornucopia. Plenty for everyone.

I also like the "after the bar room brawl" version of "Whose ear?"

Heh. It doesn't make sense to me that it is an Anglo Saxon slang from the South.

If that were true, wouldn't it be as common as hillbilly or cracker, instead

of referring only to the people who live in Indiana?

Also interesting:
True, there are Buckeyes of Ohio, the Suckers of Illinois and the Tarheels of North Carolina --
but none of these has had the popular usage accorded Hoosier.