"Wabbish country"?

[asterroc]

I've been reading the Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card, and he keeps referring to a region of the US as "Wabbish country". Any clue where he means? I mean, New England's a real place in our reality, and it's not too hard to figure out where he means by "Appalacia", but "Wabbish"? I'm guessing the upper-Midwest, but if anyone knows better, let me know.

Comments

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Well, the series takes place in early 1800's, would the term Wab have been in use then? If so, it might be referring to Texas-ish area, but I don't think it'd be referring to as far as the West Coast.

Card did spend part of his childhood in California.

[marquiswildbill.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure of it's history, but I think it's a modern slur. When I first asked what it meant I was told "walked across border" which implies its a more recent term. Racial slurs (and offensive slang in general) seem to turn over pretty quickly in their common usage. It's also a CA term in origin (I've mostly heard it used by OC residents), and illegal immigration on a massive scale is a more recent phenomena (after they ran out of Okies)
Does the author give any hints like geographic features or anything?
My knowledge of America in the early 19th century is somewhat spotty because Napoleonic Europe is more interesting in my book.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

He mentions the "Hio River" (which made me think Ohio, but other things point towards Ohio being part of or near to the region of "Appalachie"), and there's also the "Hatrack River" (which I believe is made up). The "Missipi River" is described as being a long ways away, but Philadelphia isn't impossibly far. Taking a look at a map now, the Ohio River does run into the Mississippi River, so it could be that "Wabbish" is KY, TN, OH, IL that sort of area and west-ish, and "Appalachie" is between Wabbish and the coast (which is referred to as the "Crown Colonies").

The alternate history of the series is an interesting one. For example, George Washington at first fought the war of independence on the side of the Brits, then was convinced (I think by Ben Franklin, I've lost track a bit) to turn sides. So Washington released all his soldiers from their oaths so they could go over to the Americans, but Washington voluntarily submitted himself to the gallows as a traitor. Nearly everyone in America has little bits of magic such as hexes, and many people have more talent in what's known as a "knack." But only some have large amounts of talent and are called Makers, like Ben Franklin and the main character of the series, Alvin, who's supposed to be modeled after Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism, and Card's a Mormon).