# Missouri and Wisconsin - most forgettable US states **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 12, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558 "2009-10-12T18:23:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/1 "2009-10-12T18:23:47Z")
Trying as hard as I could to find activities that would keep me from studying as I should, I decided to jot down as many US states as I could remember. I find that a useful exercise to give a go every once in a while. I’m not from the US and I’ve only visited briefly, spending time only in MA, CT and NY, but since I moved to North America now, I am planning on visiting a good deal of the remaining 47 states. Anyway, I came up to 43 pretty quickly, then gave it another thought after which I came up with Tennessee, Wyoming, Minnesota and Oklahoma. Then I thought of South Park, which in Colorado, which brought the count up to 48, at which point I gave up and tragically resumed studying. Back home, I consulted the Internet, which briefly informed me that the states I’d not gotten were Wisconsin and Missouri. Now this thread is here to turn Wisconsin and Missouri from states that I know nothing about into states that I know something about, so that next time I’ll do this exercise I will actually make it up to fifty. So dopers, tell me about Wisconsin and/or Missouri - and I’m not looking for the stuff that Wikipedia will tell me, but rather for some intriguing and fun little details that stand out. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/2 "2009-10-12T18:27:08Z")
The entire state of Wisconsin has a three drink minimum. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/3 "2009-10-12T18:45:58Z")
Didn’t the outlaw Jesse James come from Missouri? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/4 "2009-10-12T18:55:49Z")
Missouri is the “Show Me” State, and Harry S Truman is the only president from the “Show Me” State. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/5 "2009-10-12T18:56:19Z")
I saw gigantic moths in Missouri, each wing was the size of one of my hands. And it gets really seriously humid there in the summer. I’m thinking specifically around the Hannibal area. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/6 "2009-10-12T18:59:21Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > I’m not looking for the stuff that Wikipedia will tell me, but rather for some intriguing and fun little details that stand out. Perhaps the image of [adults wearing foam cheeseheads](http://api.ning.com/files/DlQWGz0dAak992pqkVWmOzNeSIWFMQ2-BdLE5yhH2D4_/cheesehead2.jpg)will help cement Wisconsin in your brain. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/7 "2009-10-12T19:04:51Z")
Missouri- St. Louis, St. Louis Arch, St. Louis Cardinals, Tom Sawyer and the Mississippi River, St. Louis Rams. Wisconsin- Milwaukee, Green Bay Packers, America’s Dairyland, Frank Lloyd Wright, Harry Houdini, Lake Michigan. (Whenever I do the same activity I am apt to forget Montana, Wyoming, or Kansas) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/8 "2009-10-12T19:09:38Z")
Indiana has slipped my mind from time to time. Once a group of three smart people (including myself) were playing online list games and we all forgot Utah on the US states question for about fifteen minutes until two of us nearly simultaneously slapped our heads. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/9 "2009-10-12T19:17:01Z")
Largest producer of cranberries in the USA. Largest producer of cheese in the USA. Birthplace of the most circuses in the USA. Many important naturalists lived here. John Muir Aldo Leopold Jackson Turner Gaylor Nelson We had Owen Gromme the painter. Writers Laura Ingalls Wilder August Derleth Zona Gale The Wisconsin Dells area is Wisconsin tourist mecca. The 4th tallest waterfall east of the Mississippi is Big Manitou Falls. Colby cheese was invented in Colby Wisconsin. The first kindergarten was in Watertown. The Bray Road Beast We have way over 10,000 lakes. One of 3 main modules of MIR space station ever made. I’m done because there is too much to add. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/10 "2009-10-12T19:17:22Z")
Nebraska is the one I always forget. Never met anyone from Nebraska and really couldn’t tell you anything about it except that it’s west somewhere. It’s sort of a wanabee Kansas, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/11 "2009-10-12T19:21:23Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Largest producer of cheese in the USA. I thought California claimed this title. > [@](#): > > Writers Yeah, them and everybody else. ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/12 "2009-10-12T19:21:48Z")
[Sporcle.com has a name the 50 states game](http://www.sporcle.com/games/states.php) and gives the [most missed (all states listed in order of % gotten) states.](http://www.sporcle.com/games/states_results.php) It looks like Minnessota, Missouri, and Connecticut are the most missed. In the case of Connecticut I’d guess that it’s because a lot of people can’t spell it. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/13 "2009-10-12T19:25:06Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Didn’t the outlaw Jesse James come from Missouri? As did [The Outlaw Josey Wales](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outlaw_Josey_Wales). ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/14 "2009-10-12T19:26:48Z")
[ul] [li]The Republican party started in Ripon, WI.[/li][li]The Peshtigo fire was the most deadly in American history, yet is overshadowed constantly by the famous Chicago fire, started on the same day.[/li][li]Wisconsin has an excellent public school system. [/li][li]Obviously, it’s the Dairy State. Good cheese.[/li][li]It’s said that Wisconsin has more lakes than Minnesota, but this is [arguably inaccurate](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_state_has_more_lakes_Minnesota_or_Wisconsin).[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/15 "2009-10-12T19:37:31Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Wisconsin- Milwaukee, Green Bay Packers, America’s Dairyland, Frank Lloyd Wright, Harry Houdini, Lake Michigan. Also, Arthur Bremer, Ed Gein, and Jeffry Dahmer. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/16 "2009-10-12T19:37:45Z")
Missouri has (well, had) Mark Twain. The other 49 states can suck it, we win on points just for that. 😛 We also had author Henry Bellaman, who was from my hometown, and who wrote _King’s Row_, which was made into a decent little movie starring Robert Cummings, Ann Sheridan, and Ronald Reagan, who used his best line from that movie (“Where’s the rest of me??”) as the title of his autobiography. I tried to make that last sentence run on longer but, you know, I ran out of useless trivia. Wisconsin has cheese curds. They’re really good. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/17 "2009-10-12T19:41:35Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Nebraska is the one I always forget. Never met anyone from Nebraska and really couldn’t tell you anything about it except that it’s west somewhere. It’s sort of a wanabee Kansas, I guess. I’m no fan of Nebraska (having to drive across it is coma-inducing), but I have to stick up for the city of Omaha, because it’s really nice. Not too big, not too small, and a surprising array of restaurants, cultural attractions and businesses. Plus it’s the home of Warren Buffett! YMMV of course, but it’s definitely a city worth checking out. The states that are most forgettable to me are Delaware and Rhode Island, but I’m not an east coast gal anyway. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/18 "2009-10-12T19:46:22Z")
_On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin! Plunge right through that line! Run the ball clear down the field, A touchdown sure this time. On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin! Fight on for her fame Fight! Fellows! - fight, fight, fight! We’ll win this game._ …one of the most popular (modified) school fight songs in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/19 "2009-10-12T19:50:43Z")
I’m from MO. We have at least one really great boating lake - Table Rock. The water is clean and clear and very very deep in some spots. Yeah it’s near Branson which is corny but also can be fun. I’m not a fan of the Ozarks but if you have a gigantic boat and don’t like swimming it’s just fine. Too choppy for smaller boats and some e-coli issues sometimes…but the state park thing there is beautiful. Also there is of course the rivers to boat on, which is what my family does nowadays. Easy boat ride to all sorts of interesting places off the river in MO and IL. There are a lot of wineries here. Hermann, Augusta, and I’ve also been to some in Jefferson City and Columbia areas. The St. Louis zoo is pretty sweet and FREE. Forest Park is truly a gem and I am glad it’s here. When the weather is nice here being there is wonderful. Nothing like a picnic with good food and wine sitting by the Grand Basin watching all the people. Driving across the state on I-70 is truly horrible, I will admit. It’s St. Louis, then nothing, then Columbia (which only takes like 10 mins to drive by), then nothing, then Kansas City. The whole cross-state drive is about 4.5 hours on a shitty highway. But I went to college in Columbia so I am used to it. And Columbia does suck but there are also some good parts like Rock Bridge park. And driving around one minute you can be in a heavily populated area and another minute be somewhere that feels like you are in the middle of nowhere. We have some good sports (Cardinals, sometimes Blues) and some shitty ones (Rams! and the Royals kinda suck too) but we are really into it, which is fun. If you like having 4 seasons then MO may be for you. Or, rather, if you like retardedly unpredictable weather. Sometimes its 60 in both December and July. Sometimes its 100 in the summer. But then a few days later it may be 80 and absolutely perfect. Some winters are horrid for ice and snow and some years we hardly get any. I dunno, MO is good for people who like to be outside. There is tons of wilderness and open land and parks, rivers and lakes and streams, bigass hills. Our bigger cities tend to have awesome stuff but you have to find it. I don’t see how a tourist would ever understand what St. Louis is really like unless they hook up with a good local friend to show them around. STL is a city of neighborhoods and the good is spread all around. I think that’s why a lot of us STL people are defensive when people rag on our city - a lot of them really don’t know what they’re talking about. I wouldn’t call our city the best, and I will possibly get out in a few years, but we don’t deserve all the hate we get. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/20 "2009-10-12T19:59:44Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Largest producer of cheese in the USA. > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > I thought California claimed this title. California is number one for milk and butter. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558.md?page=2)