Jumbo State (Texas nickname)

Texas was called the “Jumbo State” in the late 1800s because it’s a big state, like the famed “Jumbo” elephant was large.
 
 
NetState.com
The Jumbo State: In 1882, P.T. Barnum brought the largest African elephant ever kept in captivity from London to the United States to be used in his circus. The elephant’s name was Jumbo. The elephant came to signify anything that was unusually large. Texas, the largest state in the Union, became known as “The Jumbo State” at that time.
 
21 October 1892, Washington Post, “The Situation in Texas,” pg. 4:
One of the healthiest signs of the times from a political view is the big family row now in progress in the Jumbo State of Texas.
 
4 May 1904, Washington Post, pg. 6:
In truth, men who know the political situation of the Jumbo State well, say that Mr. Culberson can come to the Senate for life, so strong is the hold he has upon his countrymen, and so unbounded the confidence they repose in him.
 
5 September 1913, Washington Post, pg. 4:
“For a few brief weeks the people of Texas expected and confidently believed that this year the Jumbo State would make a record in cotton production.”