The Joe Cain Procession

Initially organized by Julian Lee Rayford and sponsored by the Order of Inca, who didn't have a parade of their own at the time. This parade honors the man who is considered the one who revived Mardi Gras in Mobile after the Civil War. For those more familiar with New Orleans Mardi Gras, the Joe Cain procession is similar to a truck parade, in that it consists of many small groups instead of a parade of one organization.

Ft. Morgan after its surrender, during the battle of Mobile bay, September 1864. National Archives, No. 77-F-82-74.

Joe Cain as Chief, "Old Slac"

     It also includes bands, masked walkers, and many others. The first procession was held in 1968. Wayne Dean and the Society for the Beautification and Restoration of the Church Street Graveyard organizes this yearly event. 2010 is the 25th year that Wayne Dean will portrait Chief Slacabamorinico.

A Brief Story of Joe Cain

The civil war had halted all revelry. Joseph Stillwell Cain was a store clerk in Mobile, Alabama in 1865, who had noticed how much the war had mentally worn down the populace. He, like most of his fellow Mobilians, were still under Union occupation, but the mental war between the ex-confederate soldiers and union authorities  still raged and was taking a toll. During the occupation several edicts had come down from Union leaders in an effort to totally break the the will of the the Mobilians. To make matters worse, finding themselves "men without a country" following the end of the Civil War, members of any branch of the Confederate forces were forced to sign "Amnesty oaths", to restore their citizenship rights.

  After all, these were the people and soldiers that kept Union forces at bay, even after the battle and fall of Mobile Bay to the Union Navy in 1864. During the "bread riot of 1863, and the Union blockade which substantially reduced the trade in Mobile for the duration of the war, its people endured.  Disruption of foreign trade persisted after the war, as Union occupying forces, which took the city of Mobile in April 1865, closed the port to foreign trade until late in August 1865.

 Joe Cain knew however, that to openly voice any opposition to the occupation of Mobile by the Union troops would be viewed technically, as treason. The mental drain, however, had to be stopped, and the spirit and pride of the Mobilians has to be restored.

It was against this back drop that Cain, in 1866, decided the best way to accomplish this renaissance of the spirit, was to revitalize the Kraft parade, the celebration of Mardi Gras in Mobile, which had been halted during the conflict. One night, he led a group of revelers in a parade through the city, using a "borrowed" coal wagon and dressed in improvised costumes depicting a Chickasaw Indian chief from the local Wragg Swamp, he called himself Chief Slacabamorinico. The significance of choosing this character was a backhanded insult to the Union forces as the Chickasaw, had never surrendered during the civil war. He mocked the union military that controlled Mobile at the time.

 This celebration gave the Mobilians a much needed boost, when the Union leadership learning of the, "one horse stunt" were furious at the man, but couldn't touch him because he had voiced no opposition.  

  In 1867, Cain reappeared, this time with a group of confederate soldiers, who were also musicians, calling themselves the Lost Cause Minstrels (and they paraded until 1879).

The parade continued to give Mobile back it's spirit and pride and allowed the city to hold its collective head up, and continue to progress and to some degree, move on. 

Joe Cain is currently buried at Church Street Cemetery in Mobile, Alabama. 

The Joe Cain Procession was started in 1967 by a local folk singer, historian, writer named Julian Rayford. He wanted to bring recognition to the man who revived Mardi Gras activities in Mobile. Julian Rayford dressed as Chief Slacabamorinico in his coal wagon. Cain's Merry Widows follow, a mysterious group of women in black, throwing black roses and Mardi Gras beads. The number of participating groups has grown over the years, now at 32 (a limit set by the Mobile Police Dept.). Julian Rayford also petitioned for Joe Caine and his wife's body to be moved from Bayou La Batre to the Church Street Graveyard in downtown Mobile, which has been closed to new burials since 1898. Julian Rayford died in 1980, and his body was buried right next to Joe Cain's. After the Joe Cain Procession, Cain's Merry Widows partake in a Mardi Gras funeral at the grave site of Joe Cain. Weeping, dancing and tossing beads in memory of Joe Cain. 

Cain's Merry Widows #2
The widows will mourn in 2010 for the 36th year. These ladies toss moon pies, beads, and black roses to the procession revelers. The Merry Widows now ride in the procession in a mock trolley car.

Mobile is not the only city that celebrates Joe Cain. Nevada City, California also annually recognizes Joe Cain with a full weekend of revelry. The organizer of the event, who also portraits Chief Slac each year in California, sometimes does visit Mobile on Joe Cain Day and participate in the procession along side of our own Chief Slac on the coal wagon.