Stormy history told of ’O' on Butte
Bj SUE GOODNIGHT
Emerald Staff Writer
On May 11, 1908, the campus
newspaper (then called the “Ore
gon Weekly”) announced that:
among other construction pro- 1
jects scheduled for the first:
Junior Weekend, a huge cement
“O” was to be built on Skinner's
Butte, a small hill just north of
Willamette St. The monogram
was sponsored by the Eugene
Commercial Club and on May 22
the block letter was built by the
University men.
A great event
The establishment of the “O"
on the Butte marked an event
that would figure prominently in
the future traditions of the
school. The traditional painting of
the letter was established on the
fifth annual "University Day”
when junior men gathered to
apply the first coat of lemon yel
low. The juniors continued to
paint it until 1912 when the class
of 1912 decided it was too messy
of a job and handed the dubious ;
honor to the freshman men. Each
frosh class painted the “O” under
junior supervision until 1922
when only frosh lettermen were
elected. Three years later the let-I
terman’s club, the "Order of the
O,” took over the job of super- :
vision.
Although Oregon’s sister j
school, Oregon State College, is
the one that usually causes fric
tion over the "O,” a visiting Cali- j
fomia baseball team in 1910 were ,
the first to tamper with the land-.
mark. They blocked out one side
of the “O,” thus transforming it j
into the California “C.” Not to be
outdone by a California college, i
the Beavers of OSC arrived un
noticed in 1911 and covered Ore
gon’s pride with several coats of
very sticky tar. The following
year brought a change in the
method of painting with the in
troduction of the “human paint
brush.” a method still used today.
In the second week of Novem
ber, 1929, the town of Eugene was
jolted by a violent 3 a.m. explo
sion. The lower right-hand coiner
of the “O”—one of the few large
sized pieces remaining after the
blast—came to rest on the floor
of a building near the base of the
Butte after entering through the
roof. The men from OAC were
naturally suspected although
there was no proof. And, on Nov.
13, the Oregon State Memorial
Union was found smeared with
paint, perhaps, it was thought, in
retaliation for the damage to the
“O."
A period of relative calm fol
lowed save for a few applications
of orange paint and tar. Then, in
1937, the peace was shattered in
an OSC raid on Oregon that was
later called the “Great War."
Over 1,500 Beavers invaded the
Oregon campus three days after
winning the annual Webfoot
Beaver game. Ducks poured from
classrooms to defend their alma
mater and hand-to-hand combat
broke out. Oregon was successful
in beating off the attack and,,
with & few Beaver captives,
gained one of their infrequent
revenges—having the “O” paint
ed with OSC bottoms!
ueaver suvren
The war years brought peace
to the campus except for occ%
sional OSC strikes. In November
of 1943. Oregon struck back. The
OSC mascot mysteriously disap
peared and immediately Oregon
was blamed. The Beavers came
down to the U. of O. campus
searching for their little beaver,
but failed to locate him. It was
during their search that the “O"
was again changed to a brilliant
orange.
Several blastings of the bat
tered “O” followed the “k i d -
napped beaver" incident, but the
end came on May 15, 1953 when
the “O” was blown up fof the last
time. It had been repaired the
week before from a “C" (for cow
college) and was in the form of
an upside-down "U.” Naturally
OSC wits suspected, but no proof
was available.
A proposal was made to re
move the “O” permanently as a
safety measure, but it was de
cided to reconstruct the “O" from
wood covered with metal. The
new, armored “O" wa3 relocated
some 50 feet from the site of the
original. On Nov. 8, 1954, the
“unblastable” letter wras partially
jurned and on Dec. 5, 1955 OSC
diehards unsuccessfully attempt
ed to blow it up.
Whole ‘O’ taken
But pernaps the greatest (or
worst) event, depending on what
side of the fence you’re on, was
the theft of the “O” by the Ag
jies. The presence of the stolen
"O" on the OSC campus was con
MERRY
CHRISTMAS
TIME is running out!
Do your Christmas shopping early . . . the
easy way ... by mail
Give the gift that goes on giving enjoyment
throughout the year.
Give a Magazine Subscription
Low cost High value
Fill in this form today and send it to
DUTCHER SUBSCRIPTIONS
242V2 East 14th — Eugene
LIFE
21 wks_1.91
1 yr_4.00
2 yr_7.00
TIME
27 wks_1.97
1 yr_3.87
2 yr_7.00
FORTUNE 7.50
SPORTS
ILLUSTRATED
17 wks_1.50
1 yr_4.00
2 yr _7.50
Send to
Name
Address ---
City, State
Send no money now .
Bill
Name_
Address _
City, State _
you will be billed later
firmed bv the dean of men. An
anonymous call to the “Barom
eter" said that the letter would
be burned on the rook bonfire the
next Friday or else be made into
a revolving trophy, changing the
colors from yellow to orange, de
pending on who won the “Civil
War" game. It turned out that
the "O” was sawed in five pieces
and stolen by nine OSC fratern
ity pledges.
In retaliation, four Oregon let
kidnapped O S C ' s Homecoming
queen and two princesses. The
I girls were held as hostages and
used in negotiations for the re
turn of the traveled O. After re
gaining the “O," the Ducks de
I cided it should bo burned as it
| was too contaminated by OSC's
possession.
I A new "O" of steel was built
! by Alpha Phi Omega, service
—
fraternity on campus, and is now
located beneath the cross on
Skinner's Butte. The new "O" is
26' by 30’ and weighs one ton. 1(
is inclined bo that painters could
3lide more easily. Dedicated at
8:45 a m. on May 17, 1058, a paint
job by the frosh followed. Until
its first paint job, the "O" was
covered by an orange colored
prime cord. Thus, a new "O" took
over the job of writ hing over P i
gnne, as Its predecessors have
done for over half a century.
The latest episode? The “O."
during the weekend of Nov. H
and 7, was turned a bright
orange.
I
CAMPUS COUPON
GOOD FOR
GOOD ONLY ' £00 GOOD ONLY
November 21 ■ November 21
on the purchase of any Columbia or Vorve record in stock
regularly $3.98 or more
LIMIT ONE COUPON PER RECORD
THOMPSON'S RECORD MART
82 West Broadway Next door to Wiltshiros
DUAL FILTER DOES IT!
Tarry/on
■ a
.r^v POPULAR'FILTER PRICE
4 t ?'• • •' ■■
Tareyton
1
dual filter
Niters as no single niter can...
for mild, full flavor!
Here’s how the Dual Filter does it: 1\ 2\
l It combines a unique inner filter of ACTIVATED CHARCOAI_defi
nitely proved to make the smoke of a cigarette mild and smooth ...
2. with an efficient pure white outer filter. Together they bring you the
best of the best tobaccos—the mildness and taste that pay off in pleasure!