The nickname for Ohio is The Buckeye State. Partly because many buckeye trees once covered Ohio's hills and plains. The name buckeye stems from native Americans - Indians called the nut "hetuck" (meaning buck eye, as the markings on the nut resemble the eye of a deer).

Ohio buckeyes photo © Jim Crotty, used by permission

But the national association between Ohio and the buckeye was born during William Henry Harrison's 1840 presidential campaign (Harrison was a Virginia-born Ohioan and military hero). Harrison's opponents claimed he was "better suited to sit in a log cabin and drink hard cider." Harrison's supporters turned this intended criticism into a promotion, dubbing him "the log cabin candidate." They fashioned Harrison's campaign emblem as a log cabin made of buckeye timbers with a long string of buckeyes decorating the walls. Harrison's backers also walked with buckeye canes and rolled whisky barrels in parades.

The campaign gimmick was successful and Harrison ("Old Tippecanoe" ) beat President Martin Van Buren's bid for re-election. Ohio has since been known as "the buckeye state." The buckeye is also Ohio's state tree. See state nicknames for all 50 states.