Page 8 of the book A University of Tradition The Spirit of Purdue, Second Edition, Copyright 2013 by Purdue University, tells the origin of "Boilermakers". The year was 1891, when Purdue beat Wabash 44 - 0, the local Crawfordsville paper, beneath the main headline, the secondary head was "Wabash Snowed Completely Under by Boiler Makers from Purdue." The Purdue team did not have any members from the Monon Shops. The Shops did not come to Lafayette until 1895. "The Lafayette papers quickly picked up on the unique moniker. By October 1892, the writers at The Purdue Exponent were using the name regularly. Purdue students fancied the name 'Boilermakers' and have been proud to be known as such ever since."
