A look at Oregon’s creative high school mascots
When I was a kid, I tried memorizing every high school mascot in my state. Don’t ask me why. I was a really weird kid. But I noticed that Oregon has a lot of creative mascots that reflect the unique character of their localities. When it comes to mascots, there are generally two types of flavors: animals (the Eagles, the Wildcats, the Bulldogs, etc.) or some type of warrior class (the Vikings, the Knights, the Trojans, etc.) Several schools in Oregon go above and beyond these generic titles. It’s one of the many reasons I’m proud to be an Oregonian.
I’ll start with my hometown high school: Grants Pass. Home of the Cavemen. The high school doesn’t have a monopoly on the caveman branding though. You see it everywhere you go in Grants Pass. On a hot summer day, you can take a dip at the Caveman Pool. In order to get to the south side of town, you have to cross the Caveman Bridge. If your car breaks down, call Caveman Towing.
Why the caveman motif? It all has to do with the nearby Oregon Caves National Monument. In 1922, a group of civic and business leaders formed the Oregon Caveman Club to promote tourism in the area. Members would attend parades and other functions dressed in animal skins and brandishing clubs. Its ranks even included presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Amusingly, photos of the Cavemen dressed in their animal skins somehow made their way to the Soviet Union, where they were used as a propaganda device to demonstrate American poverty.
Another mascot that deserves a mention is also a bitter rival of the Cavemen: the North Medford Black Tornadoes. Before Medford High School split into North and South, it’s official mascot was the Tiger. However, some newspapers referred to the teams as the “Pear Pickers,” after the region’s signature crop. During the 1928 state championship game, when Medford slaughtered Benson Tech 39–0, the sports editor for The Oregonian wrote “from out of the south, Medford swept over the field like a Black Tornado.” The name stuck, and in 1953, a poll conducted by the student body changed the mascot to the Black Tornado. When Medford was split into two high schools, North Medford retained the Black Tornado mascot, while South Medford became the Panthers.
A few miles southwest of Portland, you’ll find the bedroom community of Sherwood. In the years following World War II, Sherwood was home to a group known as Robin Hood and His Merry Men, consisting mostly of war veterans and Kiwanis Club members. While the Merry Men was primarily a social group that met up for elk hunting, they also had a civic side. Similar to the aforementioned Cavemen in Grants Pass, they would attend parades and travel to nearby towns to promote tourism. Beginning in 1953, the Merry Men started meeting as the Robin Hood Festival Committee. In 1954, with the help of the Sherwood Chamber of Commerce, they formed the Robin Hood Festival Association, and held the first official Robin Hood festival in July. That same year, Sherwood High School, which was previously known as the Bulldogs, became the Bowmen instead.
Making our way to Central Oregon, Bend Senior High School has adopted the Lava Bear as its mascot. A “lava bear” is a legendary creature said to prowl the lava beds and high deserts of Central Oregon. It is described as very small, with wooly light brown fur. In 1920, Irvin S. Cobb, a writer for The Saturday Evening Post, embarked on a hunting trip to Oregon with the sole purpose of finding a lava bear. Although he did not succeed, his belief in the creature’s existence was unshaken, and his chronicle of the experience in The Saturday Evening Post generated interest in the creature across the country. In 1923, a Forest Service trapper named Alfred Andrews trapped a live lava bear. Today, however, it has been determined that lava bears do not exist, and the specimens that have been captured or killed were really ordinary black bears, who’s unusual appearances were a result of malnutrition. Nevertheless, Bend Senior High carries on the legacy of the mythical lava bear, with (in my opinion) one of the most badass-sounding team names in the state.
On the northern Oregon coast, we have several unique mascots. First up, we have the Astoria Fighting Fisherman (or the Lady Fish, for their female teams.) Then we have their arch-rivals, the Seaside Seagulls. And finally, we have my favorite out of the three: the Tillamook Cheesemakers (who’s mascot is represented by a cow). Appropriate, since Tillamook is home to the Tillamook Creamery. I can’t speak much for their cheese, since I’m not a huge cheese eater, but their ice cream is pretty decent.
On the southern Oregon coast, you’ll find the remote town of Powers, near Coos Bay. Powers is home to the Cruisers. No, not the warship. In logging jargon, a “timber cruiser” is a person who estimates the value of timber in a tract of forest. Appropriate, considering that like many rural towns in the state, logging was the life-blood of powers. Yet while several schools in Oregon have loggers as their mascots, Powers is the only one with a timber cruiser.
I’d like to finish with a few honorable mentions. For these mascots, I couldn’t find any history behind their origin, but they still deserve to be included. If someone does find out how they originated, please let me know.
My last shout-out is to South Eugene High School, who were formerly the Axemen, but recently became the “Axe” to become more gender-inclusive. As much as I love political correctness, that seems a bit much. I mean, try it with the other teams mentioned on this list. The Grants Pass Cave. The Sherwood Bow. The Astoria Fisher. It just doesn’t have the same ring to it. And frankly, schools should devote more time to addressing the mental well-being of students instead of changing their mascots.
