US state mottos and seals

I randomly discovered – I can’t even remember how – that the state motto for California is "Eureka” and is from 1849. This made me wonder what the other states chose for their motto and when. I would like to know the why too, but I simply don’t have the time to dig around (although as I write this, I think I might if I find a particularly odd one).

Anyway, here, for your pleasure, are all 50 state mottos and their seals. Just because.

Alabama

Audemus jura nostra defendere, 1923

We dare defend our rights

Alaska

North to the Future,1967

American Samoa

Samoa, Muamua Le Atua, 1973

Samoa, let Atua be first

Arizona

Ditat Deus, 1863

God enriches

Arkansas

Regnat populus, 1907

The people rule

California

Eureka, 1849

I have found it

Colorado

Nil sine numine, 1861

Nothing without providence

Connecticut

Qui transtulit sustinet, 1662

He who transplanted still sustains

Delaware

Liberty and Independence, 1847

District of Columbia

Justitia Omnibus, 1871

Justice for all

Florida

In God We Trust, 1868

Georgia

Wisdom, Justice, Moderation, 1798

Guam

Guam doesn’t have one, apparently. Nice seal, though.

Hawaii

Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono, 1843

The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness

Idaho

Esto perpetua, 1890

Let it be perpetual

Illinois

State sovereignty, national union, 1819

Indiana

Crossroads of America, 1937

Iowa

Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain, 1847

Kansas

Ad astra per aspera, 1861

To the stars through difficulties

Kentucky

United we stand, divided we fall, 1942

Louisiana

Union, justice, confidence, 1902

Maine

Dirigo, 1820

I lead

Maryland

Fatti maschi, parole femine, 1874

Strong deeds, gentle words

Bonus info: Apparently, Maryland had Roman Catholic founders, hence the Italian.

Massachusetts

Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem, 1775

By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty

Michigan

Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice, 1835

If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you

Minnesota

L'Étoile du Nord, 1861

The star of the North French

Mississippi

Virtute et armis, 1894

By valor and arms

Missouri

Salus populi suprema lex esto, 1822

Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law

Montana

Oro y plata, 1865

Gold and silver

Nebraska

Equality before the law, 1876

Nevada

All For Our Country, 1866

New Hampshire

Live Free or Die, 1945

New Jersey

Liberty and prosperity, 1928

New Mexico

Crescit eundo

It grows as it goes, 1887

New York

Excelsior, 1778

Ever upward

North Carolina

Esse quam videri, 1893

To be, rather than to seem

North Dakota

Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable, 1863

Northern Mariana Islands

This lot don’t have one either.

Ohio

With God, all things are possible, 1959

Oklahoma

Labor omnia vincit, 1893

Labor conquers all things

Oregon

Alis volat propriis, 1854

She flies with her own wings

Pennsylvania

Virtue, liberty, and independence, 1875

Puerto Rico

Joannes Est Nomen Ejus, 1664

John is his name

Rhode Island

Hope, 1664

South Carolina

Dum spiro spero, 1777

While I breathe, I hope

South Dakota

Under God the people rule, 1885

Tennessee

Agriculture and Commerce, 1802

Texas

Friendship, 1930

Utah

Industry, 1896

Vermont

Freedom and Unity, 1779

Virginia

Sic semper tyrannis, 1776

Thus always to tyrants

U.S. Virgin Islands

United in Pride and Hope, 1991

Washington

Al-ki or Alki

By and by

Bonus info: Chinook Jargon (a language originating as a pidgin trade language in the Pacific Northwest) and no date!

West Virginia

Montani semper liberi, 1863

Mountaineers are always free

Wisconsin

Forward, 1851

Wyoming

Equal Rights, 1893

Did I regret doing this halfway through? Yes, yes I did.

Zion in 8K

Beautiful, beautiful Zion.

You can see my photos from Zion (mostly the Angels Landing hike) below.

Native Americans from Buffalo Bill's Wild West

For years I've been fascinated with the great American West, and the history of America itself. It's a unbearably sad history, full of genocide and awful acts of betrayal, but spotted around it are moments of beauty, honour, and pride. If you'd like to read a devastating book on the Indian history of the American West, you can't go wrong with Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, but be warned; it'll make you want to crawl into a hole. 

It's also still a beautiful place to visit. If you know me, you won't be surprised to hear that I'm a particular fan of Arizona. You should go, drive into the desert, and soak up the silence, the beauty, and the great, great expanse of it all. 

"In 1898, photographer Gertrude Käsebier looked out of her studio window on Fifth Avenue in New York City and saw the cast of Buffalo Bill's Wild West parading past. Buffalo Bill, a.k.a. William Cody, was by that time a legendary figure of the American Old West, a legend he partially self-generated.

Cody's nickname arrived when he supplied buffalo meat to workers on the Kansas Pacific railroad. In 1872, Cody performed in the Wild West theatre production Scouts of the Prairie, and in 1883, aged 37, he founded his own circus-like show, called Buffalo Bill's Wild West. The show toured annually across the U.S. and Europe, performing in front of Queen Victoria and the future kings Edward VII and George V of Britain, and the future Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. In Rome, the cast met the pope. The show included sharpshooting acts, horse riding demonstrations and reenactments of American history. The performers included several Native Americans, many of them Sioux. 

What Gertrude Käsebier saw from her window connected with her memories of the Native Americans she had known in the 1850s and 1860s, growing up in Colorado and on the Great Plains. Käsebier wrote to Cody asking if she might photograph the Native American performers in her studio. They arranged a session. A number of the Sioux photographed had fought against the U.S. military. Chief Flying Hawk was a veteran of Great Sioux War of 1876, the Battle of the Little Big Horn of the same year and was present at the massacre of Wounded Knee — just eight years before Käsebier took his portrait." Via.