Name-a-Day Calendar, October 19: Washington State Cougars
Page 347 of 365
Chosen in: 1919
Chosen by: Either a sportswriter or a newspaper cartoonist; it’s unclear
The school now known as Washington State University was founded in 1890 and began playing football in 1894. It was originally founded as an agricultural school,1 so its earliest teams were often called the Farmers or the Aggies and sometimes called more informal monikers such as the Hayseeds and the Potato Diggers (the school is only about five miles from the Idaho state line).
In the 1910s, Washington State had a few athletics coaches of Native American descent, most notably John Reinhold “Chief” Bender and William Henry “Lone Star” Dietz.2 During this period, the school’s teams were usually called the Braves, Chiefs, or Indians, though none of the three were anything close to official. This practice ended following the 1917 season, when Dietz left to serve in World War I.
In 1919, seeking a more permanent identity, Washington State ran with the first thing that came their way. Following a 14-0 win at California on October 25, the story goes that sportswriters compared Washington State’s football players to cougars and a cartoonist reportedly sketched a cougar in their honor. None of the sources that make this claim offer any proof to back it up, and I couldn’t independently confirm this happened, so I guess I just have to take their word for it.
On October 28, just three days later, the school officially announced that the cougar would be their new mascot. The Washington State Cougars have roamed the Palouse ever since.
Washington State has cycled through several cougar mascots—some live, some costumed—but they eventually settled on a costumed cougar named Butch T. Cougar.
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It was known as the Agricultural College, Experiment Station, and School of Science of the State of Washington until 1905, when it was renamed the State College of Washington. It became Washington State University in 1959.
It should be noted that the Native American heritage of both of these individuals is disputed.