Joe Cain

Joseph Stillwell Cain, Jr. (Joe Cain) (October 10, 1832 – April 17, 1904) is largely credited with the initiation of modern way of observance of Mardi Gras celebrations in Mobile, Alabama, following the Civil War. In 1868, following a visit the previous year to New Orleans and while Mobile was still under Union occupation, Joe Cain paraded through the streets of Mobile, dressed in improvised costume depicting a fictional Chickasaw chief named Slacabamorinico. The choice was a backhanded insult to the Union forces in that the Chickasaw tribe had never been defeated in war. Joe was joined at some point by six other Confederate veterans, parading in a decorated coal wagon, playing drums and horns, and the group became the "L. C. Minstrel Band", now commonly referred to as the "Lost Cause Minstrels" of Mobile.

Joseph Stillwell Cain, Jr. was born on October 10, 1832, along Dauphin Street in Mobile, Alabama. He was a son of Joseph Cain, Sr. (1799–1856) and Julia Ann Turner (1795–1877). Joe Cain (junior) married Elizabeth Alabama Rabby (1835–1907). He helped to organize the T.D.S. (Tea Drinker’s Society), one of Mobile's mystic societies, in 1846; however, their banquets were part of Mobile's New Year's Eve celebrations, rather than being held on Mardi Gras day. Other groups had developed Mardi Gras parades, but the Civil War had brought them to a halt.

Cain was in New Orleans in 1867 for the Fireman's Day parade. He stayed over until the next day which was Mardi Gras that year, saw the celebration in the streets, and he returned to Mobile determined to revive the spirits of the citizens and to create a similar celebration of Mardi Gras for the people. He conceived the fictional character of Chief Slacabamorinico ("slaka-BAM orin-ah-CO") while he was the city clerk at the city market.

The chief, as Cain in costume with a plaid skirt and feathered headdress, paraded through the city streets on Fat Tuesday in 1868, celebrating the day in front of the citizens of the city and that of the remaining occupying Union Army troops.

A band of fellow Confederate veterans (including Thomas Burke, Rutledge Parham, John Payne, John Bohanan, Barney O'Rourke, and John Maguire) later accompanied Joe Cain as "Old Slac" riding through town on a decorated coal wagon, playing horns and drums, parading and celebrating. The group became known as the "Lost Cause Minstrels Band" in Mobile.

...
Wikipedia