X5501

Indiana Statehood

“The Wabash Cannonball”

Cover Announcement 

Indiana became a state in 1816, so this stamp celebrates its Bicentennial. Tribes of Native Americans inhabited the state from about 8000 BC. The first recorded history begins in the 1670s when French explorers claimed the territory for their country. About a hundred years later, England was victorious in the French and Indian War, and what is now Indiana was ceded to the English. When the United States won the Revolutionary War several decades later, the entire region was ceded to the U.S.

My individually hand painted cachet features "The Wabash Cannonball" which is the subject of an American folk song that originated in the late 1800s. It's an account of a fictional train whose route passed through Indiana along

the shore of the Wabash River. It is a signature song of the Indiana State University Marching Sycamores and the

Purdue All-American Marching Band.

In a 1904 version, the title Wabash Cannonball was used for the first time. The Carter family made one of the first

recordings of the song in 1929. and a very popular version was recorded by Roy Acuff of Grand Ole Opry fame in

1936. It is part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock'n Roll" list and is ihe oldest song of all those listed.

Trains are a favorite topic for first day cover collectors, and now a Collins exists for the famous Wabash Cannonball. ln October of 2013. the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society had a steam engine-pulled train retrace the Cannonball's former route between Fort Wayne and Lafavette, lndiana. And, on a personal note, my father was a talented country singer and The Wabash Cannonball was one of his (and my) personal favorites.

"Oh, listen to the jingle, the rumble. and the roar

As she glides along the woodlands, o're hills and by the shore"

The Wabash Cannonball - Collins #Y5501 at $15.00.