Mobile Mardi Gras 2014: Joe Cain Day Parade

Joe Cain Day: Order Of Pi: Glynn Wilson (click on the images for a larger view)

MOBILE, Ala. — The Order Of Pi Krewe, led by Queen Stephanie VanArsdale, went off on Joe Cain Day in Mobile, Alabama on Saturday. Joseph Stillwell Cain, Jr. “Joe Cain” (October 10, 1832 – April 17, 1904) is largely credited with the rebirth of Mardi Gras celebrations in Mobile, Alabama, stopped due to the Civil War. In 1867, following the American Civil War 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 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.