The Swinged Cat State: South Dakota’s Forgotten Nickname

South Dakota's official nickname is The Mount Rushmore State. That choice was made in 1992 when the state legislature officially changed it from The Sunshine State.

Though that decision wasn't without controversy. Some were worried that if we dropped the name, people would think (or realize) that we were living on the tundra.

Quirky Unofficial Nicknames

But, while The Mount Rushmore State is the official nickname, our state has had some unofficial ones over the years.

South Dakota has been called the Coyote State (this has to do with a horse, actually), The Artesian State (referring to water wells), The Blizzard State (not DQ), and Land of Infinite Variety. All of them make sense. Our land is as varied as it comes, from the Black Hills to the open plains. And we are a state of makers, blizzards, and coyotes.

But the best nickname South Dakota ever got was way back in 1890. At the time, our first governor, Arthur C. Mellette, was in Chicago seeking some help for the state as it suffered under a drought.

The Swinged Cat Story

According to the South Dakota Historical Society Foundation, while in the windy city, ol' Art talked to a Chicago newspaperman. The gov was asked how things were in South Dakota, he replied, "Oh, South Dakota is a swinged cat, better than she looks."

Um....okay.

The next day, the readers of the Chicago Inter Ocean newspaper saw an article about Arthur C. Mellette, governor of the “swinged cat State.”

Now, to us, that almost sounds like gibberish. Slang from 130-odd years ago doesn't really translate to 2025. Because how could a cat that was swinging look good at all? Is this like that saying about not being able to swing a dead cat and hit something?

Old Time Slag

Nope, turns out that 'swing' at the time was slang for burned, or singed. So what the governor was saying was that South Dakota may look a little burned, but she is doing just fine.

I love that story. We should start a petition or something to get that nickname put on our license plates. I mean, Mount Rushmore is cool and all, but it would be so funny to add a little burned kitty to the mix.