Denver Boone - The Original Denver Boone

The Original Denver Boone

Shortly after the demise of DU's football program came the rise of its hockey program. The school began its search for a mascot. Basketball coach Stan Albeck, was inspired by Walt Disney characters and got in touch with a Disney artist through a DU contact. Disney Studios drew up the designs for DU (the only group licensed to use the character, which Disney called "Pioneer") and gave it to the DU Theatre Department, which developed the first costume.

DU's Special Events Committee held a contest in the fall of 1968 to find a nickname for the new Pioneer. Steve Kiley, then an undergraduate at DU, won the contest with the "Denver Boone" title. Kiley is rumored to have thought of the name "while exercising his elbow and looking at the bottom end of a glass". Despite his name, Denver Boone was not a symbol or endorsement of any of the positive or negative characteristics of Daniel Boone, "one of the most misunderstood characters of the period surrounding the American Revolution".

DU student Doug Hirsh volunteered to help out the effort and soon became the first in a long line of Denver Boones. Many of DU's sports uniforms depicted Boone and countles editions of the Clarion contained his likeness. Boone made appearances at May Days, Winter Carnival, and countless other DU activities.

Boone was nearly eliminated during the 1983-84 school year as the student body rejected the "wimpy" Boone and strove for a more masculine prototype. Efforts to replace Boone, which included a contest sponsored by the Clarion, proved unsuccessful as very few alternative mascots were developed. Then in 1985 and '86 (as the hockey team gained notoriety), insecurities turned back into pride. A poll among students showed that the vast majority of students supported Boone.

Boone needed a re-introduction, and Lambda Chi Alpha Chapter's president Pete Castro came to the forefront to become DU's latest Boone. After passing out flyers at hockey games explaining why DU should save Boone, Castro took it upon himself to haul the decrepit Boone head out of storage, give it a fresh paint job and continue a long standing Pioneer mascot tradition.

Boone continued to serve until the late 1990s as the institution's official mascot.