Benny Beaver

Benny Beaver is the official mascot of Oregon State University. The adoption of a beaver as the university's mascot is linked to Oregon's history as a territorial leader in America's early fur trade. The Oregon Territory was well known for its large populations of beaver and the region became a stronghold, in the mid-1800s, for the Hudson's Bay Company's beaver trapping operations. Once Oregon acquired statehood in 1859, the beaver continued as t... more

Benny Beaver is the official mascot of Oregon State University. The adoption of a beaver as the university's mascot is linked to Oregon's history as a territorial leader in America's early fur trade. The Oregon Territory was well known for its large populations of beaver and the region became a stronghold, in the mid-1800s, for the Hudson's Bay Company's beaver trapping operations. Once Oregon acquired statehood in 1859, the beaver continued as the state's symbol and was later adopted as Oregon's official mammal in 1969. In addition to the industrial association, the beaver is known as a dam builder and this trait fits naturally with one of the university's leading programs, engineering. The university's yearbook staff was actually the first known organization on campus to adopt the beaver for a name and did so in 1915. The popularity of the yearbook's name eventually helped to solidify the beaver as the university's official mascot. The university's first documented use of a beaver... less