Even the most disinterested Oregon resident could probably name the mascots for both of Oregon’s major college sports teams. The University of Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers are synonymous not only with sports teams, but with the state of Oregon in general. But, according to local legend and lore, it wasn’t always that way.
In the late 1800s, Oregon was known as “The Webfoot State,” probably as an observation based on the copious amount of rain the region received. Around the start of the 20th century, U0 students began referring to themselves and their yearbook as Webfoots. Several student elections confirmed the Webfoot choice, beating out alternatives as Timberwolves, Lumberjacks, Trappers, Pioneers, and Yellowjackets.
When Oregon unofficially adopted the “Beaver State” nickname in 1909, Oregon students actually changed the name of their yearbook to “The Beaver” for a brief time before reverting to the previous name. The Oregon legislature officially adopted the “Beaver State” nickname in 1969.
H. Gregory, sports editor for The Oregonian in the early 1900s, is generally given credit for the Webfoot nickname for the school’s athletic teams. Area sportswriters then morphed the Webfoots into the Ducks in their headlines and stories, and the nickname stuck.
In the 1920s, students began escorting Puddles, a resident of the nearby Millrace, to athletic contests to serve as the team mascot. Live ducks, perhaps descendants of Puddles, were common spectators at various sporting events until the 1940s, when pressure from the Humane Society put a stop to live mascots.
Oregon’s first athletic director, Leo Harris, made a deal with Walt Disney to use the likeness of Donald Duck as the team’s mascot. Following Disney’s death in 1966, a formal contract granted the University of Oregon the right to use the image. The UO athletic department has not always accepted the Duck image.
Jerry Frei, head football coach from 1966 to1971, wanted Donald to portray the “Fighting Ducks” image with teeth in his bill. Dick Harter, basketball coach from 1971 to1978, wanted nothing to do with the Duck nickname, insisting that his team be called the “Kamikaze Kids” instead.
During the 1890s, Oregon State University was called “State Agricultural College” and the first team mascot was Jimmie the Coyote. OSU archives list the coyote’s owner as M.H. Kriebel, which may suggest the possibility that a live mascot was used.
By 1916, the college had changed its name to Oregon Agricultural College and, perhaps coinciding with the unofficial adoption of a new state nickname, became known as the Beavers. OSU historical documents refer to live beaver mascots with names such as Beavo and Billy.
The live mascot was replaced in the 1940s with a cartoon version nicknamed Benny, whose grinning image was upgraded to the “Athletic Beaver” or “Angry Beaver” in the late 1990s to more accurately represent the athletic teams. In 1951, OSU student Ken Austin began appearing at athletic events dressed as “Benny Beaver,” a tradition that continues today.
From the early 1980s until the mid 1990s, “Bernice Beaver,” a female beaver mascot, joined Benny on the field. During her tenure, Bernice wore a wedding dress at Homecoming games with Benny sporting a tux.
OSU also had a human mascot near the turn of the 20th century in the person of John Richard Newton Bell. Bell, a local Presbyterian minister and ardent OSU supporter, began a tradition of tossing his top hat in the Marys River after each Civil War football victory. The hat tossing social event, which is documented in yearbooks and newspaper archives, grew into one of the most anticipated rituals in Corvallis. OSU recognized Bell in the 1920s, naming its football field Bell Field, used until the early 1950s when Parker Stadium, now Reser Stadium, was built.
Both of these educational institutions have used one of the states’ various nicknames as the name of their athletic teams. We can all be thankful that a name that once graced Oregon license plates, “Pacific Wonderland,” wasn’t pressed into similar service.
Can you imagine the University of Oregon “Pacifics,” or the Oregon State University “Wonders?” No, neither of those names work for me. On second thought, diehard football fans from the 1970s and 1980s might think the “Wonders” moniker might be appropriate. Given the dismal records of both teams during this time, the fans might “wonder” how they managed to recruit anyone to play for them.
Published 2006
It Happened in Oregon... 