Pioneer Pete
From 1867 to the early 1920s, the University of Denver's sports teams were known informally as the "Fighting Parsons" or "Ministers" in homage to the school's Methodist founders. In 1925, a student contest was held to formalize the nickname, and "Pioneers" was chosen in homage to the University of Denver's western settlers, who founded the school 12 years before Colorado became a state and Colorado was a sparsely populated territory.
DU's first live mascot was a bearded character who came to be named "Pioneer Pete" who first appeared in the 1930s. Pioneer Pete resembled a rugged, coonskin capped trapper, revived from Colorado's early pioneer days. His likeness was most closely associated with the DU football program. When the DU football program ceased operations in the early 1960s, Pioneer Pete disappeared as well.
Read more about this topic: Denver Boone
Famous quotes containing the word pioneer:
“New pioneer of days and ways, be gone.
Hunt out your own or make your own alone.
Go down the street.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)