Does This Make Mizzou More or Less Southern?

From the late 1800s thru the early 1920s, Mizzou had more than one mascot. They had an alternate moniker and mascot that was nearly as well known as their official tiger mascot. They were known as the Missouri Morels.

A morel is an incredibly delicious mushroom that sprouts in mid to late Spring with the mayapples. Finding morel mushrooms is like finding a treasure chest of gold. Morels are that tasty!



Each Spring in Missouri, scores of people from the northern part of the State to the southern area trek thru vast acreage of forest with plastic grocery bags hoping to stumble upon a treasure trove of Morchella.

This pasttime is so popular in Missouri, that Mizzou's student section and football fans used to chant the following during kickoffs:

"Missouri...Mizzou...Morel Mushrooms"

Missouri legend indicates that Quantrill and his raiders survived long distances thru unforgiving forests by eating morel mushrooms. In fact, they were referred to as Missouri Phantoms because they'd disappear into a forest and seemingly never come out again. People thought they had surely died of starvation, when in fact they were sitting in dry caves frying morel mushrooms and singing songs about killing Kansans.

Question is, does this make us more southern or more northern?