Home : Time Off For Play : OSU vs OU - Bedlam :

Cowboy Sports

Eaton, with steel gray, waist length braids and drooping moustache, symbolized the "Aggies" perfectly.

Frank Eaton

Model for the Oklahoma State University Cowboy

Three southwestern United States universities share the same emblem. Pistol Pete is the man who claims to be the living model for the logo-mascot. Laying claim to "Pistol Pete" are New Mexico State University, The University of Wyoming, and Oklahoma State University. All three use the cartoon of Frank Eaton.

The three universities acknowledge the likeness of the logo each of them uses and apparently are content to share the claim to the crusty, old cowboy "Pistol Pete". There is even some speculation that the salesmanship through the years of Collegiate Emblems, Inc., in Des Moines, Ia., may have had something to do with all three universities using the same cartoon character.

Dr. B. B. Chapman, historian of Oklahoma State University, has set out the Oklahoma State University version of how Frank Eaton became the living model for the cartoon logo:

The living emblem of the cartoon cowboy of OSU is 94-year-old Frank B. (Pistol Pete) Eaton of Perkins. Oklahoma A & M (Now OSU) in the Nineties adopted the orange and black colors of Princeton University. The college emblem was the tiger, which supposedly was copied from Princeton.

In the early Twenties, there was dissatisfaction among Aggies because the tiger did not truly represent Oklahoma. About 1923, Frank Eaton, on horseback headed an Armistice parade in Stillwater, Leslie L. Swim of Stillwater relates how a group of students saw Pistol Pete and the quest for an emblem ended. He recalls that permission was asked to use Eaton's picture and he consented. From the picture, a likeness was drawn and placed on college stickers, sweat shirts, banners, book covers, and finally on sweaters and pencils. Frank Eaton was a cowboy in his own right. The cartoon was made and it clicked.

Collegiate Emblems, Inc., in Des Moines, Ia., sent an artist and a photographer to Stillwater to look at Frank Eaton, Swim explained in a January 27, 1979, article in The Daily O'Collegian, official Oklahoma State University newspaper. The picture they came up with in 1923 is the decal that went on the market and is still being used today.

Gallagher-Iba Arena

The basketball and wrestling venue at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Gallagher-Iba Arena was completed in 1938 with a price tag of $1.5 million to hold 4-H meetings.

The ultimate combination of history, uniqueness, location and excitement, Gallagher-Iba has even survived a recent expansion to remain the nation's best facility to catch a game. How much tradition does the old barn out where the wind comes sweeping down the plains have? The first game, in 1938, featured Henry Iba's Cowboys besting Phog Allen's Kansas Jayhawks 21-15. The maple playing surface is the building's original and it has not only seen countless great games, it has seen practice sessions where Iba literally invented concepts such as motion offense and man-to-man defense.

Iba also encouraged the creation of one of the first student sections, where everyone wore identical orange suit coats and rang cowbells. It is truly college hoops hallowed ground. Before expansion, when Gallagher-Iba held just 6,381 fans, this was easily the loudest arena in the nation. A well-planned expansion called "Raise the Roof" changed none of the ambiance, kept all the original seats and sight lines and somehow increased the noise. The renovation of the building, once called the "Madison Square Garden of the Plains," has opened up the experience to even more of the passionate, loyal and down-to-earth Cowboys fans that have made this college basketball's best for 63 years.

Notable Coaches

1. Edward C. Gallagher was the Oklahoma A&M wrestling coach from 1916-1940. With his knowledge of physical principles like leverage and stress along with anatomy he all but invented the modern style of wrestling. He remains one of the most successful coaches in NCAA athletics history. Overall in his wrestling coaching career at Oklahoma A&M his teams went 138-5-4, including 19 undefeated seasons and 11 NCAA titles.

2. Henry Payne "Hank" Iba (b. August 6, 1904 in Easton, Missouri - d. January 15, 1993 in Stillwater, Oklahoma). As a collegiate coach at Oklahoma A&M and a three-time mentor of US Olympic teams, Iba did more than win national championships and gold medals. He transcended greatness. Mr. Iba's teams were methodical, ball-controlling units that featured weaving patterns and low scoring games. Iba's "swinging gate" defense (a man-to-man with team flow) was applauded by many, and is still effective in today's game. Behind dominating 7-foot center Bob Kurland, Iba's Aggies became the first to win consecutive NCAA titles (1945 and 1946). A&M teams won 14 Midwestern Valley titles, and were largely responsible for generating most of Iba's 767 victories, third best in NCAA Division I history. "Hank" also coached at Maryville College and the University of Colorado. He is the only coach in history to win two Olympic gold medals (1964 in Tokyo; 1968 in Mexico City), and he will also be remembered as the coach of the 1972 Olympic team that lost to the Soviet Union in a controversial ending.

3. Eddie Sutton (born March 12, 1936 in Bucklin, Kansas) is currently the head coach of the Oklahoma State University men's basketball program. He has designated his son Sean, currently his top assistant, as his successor, but has not yet set a date for his retirement. In Sutton's college career, he played for OSU under Henry Iba. In his college coaching career, he was the head coach of Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma State. He has the rare distinction of having taken two schools (Arkansas and Oklahoma State) to the Final Four, and was the first coach to lead four schools to the NCAA tournament.

4. Gary Ward, who led Oklahoma State to 10 College World Series appearances, 985 wins, 17 Big Eight championships (16 in a row), 18 seasons with 40 or more wins, and twelve of his teams finished in Baseball America's top 10. In the 1970's, Ward guided the Yavapai College Roughriders to a record of 240-83, two National Championships in '75 and '77, and earning NJCAA Coach of the Year both times. He mentored a total of 56 All-Americans, 14 of which were first team. While at OSU, Ward coached 97 players who were selected in the major league draft, 9 of which were selected in the first round and 17 players made it to the major leagues. Ward is also a member of the New Mexico State University's Athletic Hall of Fame. He was born September 19, 1940, in Ramona, Oklahoma. He graduated from Ramona High School in 1958 and New Mexico State in 1963. He earned his master's from NMSU in 1968. Ward has been married to the former Catherine Gardner for over 40 years. He has three children, Rocky, Roger and Sherri.

Oklahoma State's athletics department has long been known as one of the most tradition-rich programs in the country - not just in one or two sports, but throughout its Department of Athletics. While competing in the Big Eight Conference, the Cowboys and Cowgirls won 135 team titles and crowned 500 individual conference champions.

Priding itself on producing talented running backs, greats such as Bob Fenimore, Ernest Anderson, Terry Miller, Thurman Thomas and 1988 Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders have roamed the offensive backfield at "Tailback U". If Bob Fenimore seemed like he was all over the field, it is probably because he was. Fenimore excelled on the offensive side of the ball, the defensive side of the ball, and in special teams play. His exceptional talent and play earned the "Blond Bomber" All-America honors in 1944 and 1945.

In OSU's undefeated 1945 season, he was the national leader in both total offense (1,641) and rushing (1,119), while ranking seventh in punting (39.0) and 13th in scoring (72). His 18 interceptions during his OSU career are still a school record, and his 4,627 career yards has been eclipsed only by Mike Gundy (7,749). Fenimore was a first round draft choice of the Chicago Bears in 1947.

Only three players in Big Eight history have rushed for 4,000 yards during their career and Terry Miller is one of them. Mike Rozier of Nebraska (4,780) and Thurman Thomas of Oklahoma State (4,595) are the only two league players to better the 4,581 yards Terry Miller gained while establishing himself as one of the nation's best in the late 1970s. Miller was a first-round draft choice of the Buffalo Bills in 1978. His jersey number 43 is one of three retired numbers at Oklahoma State.

With Bryant "Big Country” Reeves and Randy Rutherford on the court, Oklahoma State went 27-10 and once again finished second in the league. But thanks to a sticky defense and a squad meshing parts, the Cowboys' postseason offered a fun ride. Oklahoma State claimed the championship of the Big Eight Tournament and went on to make their first Final Four appearance in over 40 years as OSU fell to eventual national champion UCLA in the national semifinals.

After back-to-back seasons with less than 20 wins, Oklahoma State returned to the NCAA Tournament in 1998 with a 22-7 record and runner-up finish in the Big 12 Conference's second year of existence. The 1998-99 season followed the same path as the Cowboys went 23-11, including 10-6 in the league, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

OSU advanced to the Elite Eight in 2000, compiling a 27-7 record, and finishing third in the conference, despite a 12-4 record. The success continued into the new century. Oklahoma State returned to Final Four in 2004 with a stunning 31-4 record that included Big 12 championships in the regular season as well as the conference tournament. The Cowboys made another Sweet 16 appearance in 2005 and claimed yet another conference tournament title.

Since Dick Weis took over the cross country and track and field programs in 1983, more than 50 All-Americans, four NCAA champions, one world-record holder and one Olympian have emerged from the program. The men's cross country team has also contributed to the legion of national titles with its victory at the 1954 national meet.

The Cowboy wrestling team is among the most storied programs in all of college athletics. The Cowboys produced the sport's first-ever four-time champion, Pat Smith (John W. Smith's younger brother). Over a six-year span, which started while he was still a student at Oklahoma State, John Smith was the best wrestler in the world. He now ranks alongside other Distinguished Members whose names emerge in any discussion of "the greatest American wrestler ever.” Although that distinction is arguable, Smith’s career record is not. Partly because of opportunity, but primarily because of skill, it is beyond comparison. From 1986 through 1992, Smith won: Two Olympic gold medals. He was the first American to do so in 80 years, and both of his golds came against the world’s best. Four world titles. No other American has won more than three. Six consecutive world-class championships. No other American has won more than two in a row. Two gold medals in the Pan American games, in two attempts. Two gold medals in the Goodwill Games, in two attempts. Five national freestyle championships, in five attempts. Two NCAA crowns and 90 consecutive collegiate victories. He became the first wrestler voted the James E. Sullivan Award as America’s outstanding athlete.

The Cowboy baseball program is one of the most successful in the country. The program has also produced two of the game's best collegiate players, Pete Incaviglia and Robin Ventura. One of the game's most revered power hitters, Incaviglia rewrote the NCAA record books en route to being named the "Player of the Century" by Baseball America. After amassing a 58-game hitting streak, Ventura earned "Player of the Decade" honors and finished third in the player of the century voting. Under the tutelage of former skipper Gary Ward, the team was a model of consistency.

Oklahoma State’s first national golf title came at the Wichita Country Club as the Cowboys claimed a two-round one-stroke victory. George Hixon led the Cowboys, finishing one shot out of first place after posting a first-round 67 to lead the tournament after one day. The championship was sandwiched by runner-up finishes in 1962 and 1964 for OSU under Labron Harris.

The OSU tennis teams have consistently been front-runners in conference and national competition. On the men's side, the Cowboys have 12 Big Eight titles and more than 120 individual conference champions to their credit. Included in that group is three-time national champion Pavel Kudrnac.

---

top of page

back a page