THE 1937 CIVIL WAR RIOT: Getting Revenge On Lil’ Brother
Originally posted on CampusAttic.com on October 2nd, 2013
Rivalries
are special. Spawned from animosity, proximity, history and circumstance; an
extra level of vitriol is reserved for those “others” that bring out the best
(and worst) in people each year when a rivalry game comes about. When it comes
to the annual Oregon-Oregon State Civil War matchup, the 7th oldest collegiate
rivalry in the country, there’s a particularly lengthy history of incidents
validating the bitterness.
Today
youtube makes internet stars of Civil War off-field highlights and individuals,
like “No Natty
(Drunk Beaver Fan)” and “Oregon State fan flips
out,” but the rivalry’s most colorful moments today are
downright mild to what was once the norm when the Ducks and Beavers clashed.
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| The
1912 Oregon State-Oregon game was played in Albany. | | (©UO Special Collections) |
There
was a time (1911) where the Civil War football game was canceled outright for
fear it was simply too dangerous for those who would be in attendance after
fights and “general hooliganism,” instigated by Oregon State fans following
their victory in Corvallis, had occurred the year before. Games have been
played in Albany and Portland in the hopes that a neutral setting might stem
the inevitable tide of nastiness, with expectedly poor results. Regardless of
location the festive nature brought about when the Ducks and Beavers mingle
remains decidedly hostile.
But
perhaps no moment in time has personified all that encompasses the in-state
rivalry and proper namesake of “Civil War” better than the 1937 game and
subsequent riot; when Oregon State may have won the battle, but the Ducks won
the war. It was in fact the moment that the name Civil War was earned for the
rivalry, the now infamous moniker first being used by the Eugene Register Guard to describe the
chaotic events that followed the 1937 Oregon State-Oregon football game.
PREPARING THE FIELD
FOR BATTLE
1937
would prove a down year for both Oregon schools, the Oregon State College
(O.S.C) Aggies as they were then officially known, though the nickname Beavers
was commonly used, finished 2-2-3. The Oregon Webfoots fared worse, finishing a
dismal 2-5. For both teams, no matchup was more important than the October
23rd, 1937 rivalry game to be played at Hayward Field in Eugene. It was
homecoming for Oregon, and nothing would make the OSC faithful happier than to
spoil Oregon’s party.
 |
| Students
prepare the O on Skinner’s Butte for homecoming. (©UO Special Collections) |
Great
festivities were planned for the returning alumni, students, and fans.
Fraternity row was adorned with inventive homecoming signs poking fun at the
Beavers for the annual sign contest (Theta Chi won the award for best
homecoming sign), a Friday night dance featuring the music of jazz artist Paul
Whiteman was planned at Mac Court, finishing touches were being made by the
freshmen class on the annual bonfire pyre for the noise parade and pep rally,
the O on Skinner’s Butte was given a fresh paint job in keeping with homecoming
tradition, the formal dedication of the new library building, and
world-renowned Italian opera singer Amelita Galli-Curci was scheduled to give a
concert at McArthur Court the day after the game.
 |
| Paul
Whiteman performing at the Homecoming Dance 1937. (©UO Special Collections) |
Record
crowds were anticipated for the Hayward Field stands, with trains coming from
Portland and other communities packed to the brim with eager alumni. Luncheons,
dinners, dances, visiting old stomping grounds, seeing old friends, pep
rallies, noise parades, and football; it had everything a homecoming weekend
should be.
Hayward
Field, a dusty dirt patch turned mud bog when the fall rains came with nary a
blade of grass visible, was getting a much-needed facelift for the big day.
Students and faculty had worked hard to raise funds necessary to purchase sod
for the first time, with the new green grass field installed by grounds crew a
couple days before kickoff. The field itself would prove to be the first shot
fired, like Fort Sumter 75 years prior, in what would henceforth become known
after the weekend’s unscheduled events as the Civil War.
OREGON STATE PROVOKES
A CIVIL WAR
 |
|
The
new grass turf at Hayward got branded by Oregon State fans.
(©UO Special
Collections)
|
Oregon
State fans, wanting to make their own mark on the upcoming events, did so quite
literally, traveling to Eugene in the middle of the night and burning the
letters O.S.C. onto Hayward’s brand new grass field.
For added insult, they
also painted the Oregon O on Skinner’s Butte an unsightly orange, a site which
was traditionally protected at night during homecoming by freshmen tasked with
preserving the O’s integrity in the lead-up to the game, but had been found
conspicuously unguarded. OSC had stirred the hornet’s nest, it would not be the
only provocation.
OSC’s
unsightly graffiti aside, the mood remained festive for the weekend. The “Pep
Patrol” and Order of the O vigilantly kept up homecoming traditions, treating
violators of the unwritten rules to an unwelcomed dip in the senior fountain or
public paddling on the steps of Fenton Hall.
 |
| Student
gets paddled on the steps of Fenton Hall by the Order of the O. |
|
|
|
| (©UO Special
Collections) |
“Criminal
acts” such as not saying hello to every passer-by along Hello Walk (the path on
the old campus between Villard Hall and Friendly Hall), freshmen getting caught
wearing a tie or not in possession of their green beanie, and being deemed as
failing to show proper school spirit all resulted in unplanned baths and sore
buttocks for the rule-breakers.
Homecoming
weekend began with the formal dedication of the new University Library. Dr.
John Henry Nash of San Francisco provided the principal address, stating, “The
library is the very soul of an institution of higher learning.[1]” Friday evening festivities began with
the annual Noise Parade, a chaotic train of flatbed trucks overflowing with
students causing as much of an audible cacophony as possible.
The
parade was its usual affair, a tradition of rowdiness with fraternities and
sororities set up on truck beds with the most annoying, aggravating,
ear-splitting mechanisms and bells they could muster to drive through Eugene
making the loudest racket possible, in theory rallying the crowd for the next
day’s game while probably causing headaches more than anything.
 |
| The
1937 Homecoming Noise Parade Rally in downtown Eugene. (©UO Special
Collections) |
The
parade followed its typical route from campus to downtown then down Willamette
and back to campus by Hayward Field, where those that hadn’t been turned deaf
throughout town from the 120+ decibel consistent drone of parading greeks with
air horns awaited the start of the pep rally.
It
was tradition for the freshmen class to build a large bonfire near Hayward
Field, then guard it (along with the O on Skinner’s Butte) with their lives to
prevent any eager Beavers from prematurely igniting the tower. This was a
common practice, tried by both sides repeatedly, but only accomplished on a
couple occasions.
While
the frosh were unsuccessful in protecting the O, the bonfire went off without a
hitch. Speeches were made by Oregon football coach Tex Oliver and others, and
the rally squad with Puddles in tow (the live duck mascot, not the costumed one
we know today) got the crowd into a fever pitch for the lighting of the wooden
tower.
 |
| 1937
Homecoming sign. (©UO Special Collections) |
With
the bonfire sending embers into the night sky, people made their way to
McArthur Court for the big homecoming dance, featuring world-famous jazz
musician Paul Whiteman and his orchestra. It was an almost flawless opening
(OSC vandals aside) to another great homecoming weekend, which would quickly
turn sour the next day when Beavers had to spoil the party.
RAMBUNCTIOUS BEAVERS
WON’T LET SLEEPING DUCKS LIE
The
1937 Oregon State-Oregon football game proved to match the crowd expectations
and more, with the stands overflowing maxing out near 20,000 spectators, the
largest ever to witness a game at Hayward Field. The game however, would prove
disappointing to the festive atmosphere created by the crowd and supporters.
The
Oregon cheerleaders had a little antagonistic trick of their own up their
sleeves for the Oregon State fans in attendance before kickoff, parading a cow
on the back of a truck around the Hayward track mocking the OSC fans with
shouts relating the cow to that of a lost sibling or parent. Oregon State would
quickly get its revenge, several students kidnapping Puddles when its
caretakers weren’t watching the beloved Oregon mascot, holding the duck hostage
on the OSC sideline for much of the day.
 |
| Cheerleaders
parading a cow around Hayward Field. (©UO Special Collections) |
The
game would prove rather fruitless for Oregon though, unable to find a way to
stop Oregon State’s dynamic quarterback Joe “The Ghost” Gray. It was a 0-0
deadlocked campaign until the 4th quarter with some unlucky breaks leading to
OSU carrying the momentum for much of the game, until Gray connected on a
17-yard touchdown pass to give the Beavers a 7-0 lead.
A
couple minutes later a fumble by Oregon receiver Victor Reginato on Oregon’s
own 23 yard line was recovered by OSC’s Jay Mercer, a Eugene High School
graduate. It took only one play for the Ghost to capitalize, running around the
left end and reaching paydirt. to extend the lead to 14-0. Oregon responded,
returning the kickoff for a touchdown, but it was called back on a penalty, and
a drive couldn’t be sustained against OSU’s defense.
It
remained 14-0 in the final minute with the teams near the south endzone, but
OSC fans decided it was time to celebrate, even with the game still ongoing.
While the crowd focused on the action at the opposite end, a group of Beaver
fans ran into the north endzone and began ripping down the goalpost. An at
first shocked crowd soon turned into an angry rabble pleading for a response
from the UO student section, which was quickly obliged with around 50 students
pouring onto the field to protect it from the rampaging Beavers.
A
brawl quickly broke out while the majority watched and shouted. One Beaver fan
standing on top of the goalposts had his pants completely ripped off by the
students yanking to bring him down from below, while projectiles and punches
were thrown on both sides of the melee, lasting well after the final whistle to
the now far less interesting football game compared to the bitter and
ever-expanding brawl on the opposite end of the field.
 |
| View
of the 1937 homecoming game from the Hayward Field grandstands. (©UO Special
Collections) |
Eventually,
despite the best efforts of Oregon students, the goalposts did come crashing
down, and were triumphantly carried through campus to 15th street by OSC
students. Their march of victory was a battle in of itself, students and local
townspeople crowding the street throwing ripe fruit and water balloons at the
invaders. The football game was over, Oregon had lost both the game and the
ensuing brawl, and eventually the triumphant OSC rooters triumphantly made
their way back to Corvallis.
But
the on-field fight Saturday would prove to only be the start of the conflict…
HOMECOMING CONTINUES
With
Hayward Field in tatters and missing one goalpost, the nearby streets covered
in rotting fruit, and fans exhausted; attention turned to the reunion dinners
held by fraternities and sororities Saturday evening for the returning alumni.
Homecoming weekend was rounded out with Amelita Galli-Curci’s concert at
McArthur Court the following afternoon.
She had arrived just in town just in
time to be in attendance for the game the previous day, and praised the festive
atmosphere at the school, despite the surprising and somewhat unsightly events
after the football match had concluded.
 |
| Amelita
Galli-Curci arrives in Eugene for 1937 homecoming. (©UO Special Collections) |
With
the concert over, Homecoming had come to a close. Fans maligned the 14-0 loss
to the hated Aggies from Corvallis, but undeniably the other festivities
surrounding the weekend had been an overwhelming success. Students prepared for
classes Monday morning, with thoughts of revenge for next year’s rematch.
That
should have been the end of it, but some Oregon State fans decided that they
just weren’t satisfied enough and needed just a little bit more. The scene in
Corvallis following the game and Sunday had been a jubilant celebration
stretching late into the evening, and when Monday morning came around some
2,000 students decided that they wanted to extend the party, get one more
chance to rub the win in Oregon’s face.
OSC ANTAGONIZING GOES
TOO FAR
OSC
students piled on to vehicles, some as many as 15 onto one car, and made the
slow 40 mile trip down to Eugene, arriving around 11am. Their arrival had been
tipped off to the UO and the local papers and police by an intrepid reporter in
Junction City, who noticed the odd caravan of corn-wielding students headed
towards Eugene.
 |
| Oregon
State students parading through Oregon’s campus. (©UO Special Collections) |
Waving
corn stalks at students as they paraded around the campus streets to shouts of
“DUCK SOUP!”, they were met with confused looks that turned instead to tacks
being thrown on the street in front of their vehicles and tossed water balloons
and tomatoes. Some Law students in class, noticing the racket being raised
outside, managed to hook up a firehose and sprayed the invading passers-by from
the second-story window.
Campus
Police Officer Rhinesmith haplessly tried to preserve order of an escalating
situation, while Dean of Men Virgil Earl tried to make it a friendly visit,
inviting the university band to form and play a welcoming song to the visitors.
City officials, recognizing a potential continuation of the riot on Saturday,
asked police to provide an escort for the parading Beavers to avoid any further
conflict and attempt to lead them back out of town…it only somewhat worked, as
a few of the cars peeled off from the escort and made their way back to campus.
 |
| UO
law students hook up a firehose to spray OSC cars passing by. (©UO Special
Collections) |
The
scene turned ugly when classes got out around noon, with many of the OSC
students, now on foot, gathered near the pioneer mother statue on campus
smoking and looking to instigate trouble. Spotted by UO students, word spread
quickly of the invaders on campus, and another fight quickly broke out on the lawn
surrounding the statue. This fight did not escalate the way things had during
the football game two days prior, and quickly died down after only a couple
minutes of punches being thrown, but it would prove to be just the eye of the
storm.
Most
of the OSC fans had quietly headed back to Corvallis under the strong urging of
the Eugene Police Dept., but some 200 that had participated in the pioneer
mother brawl still remained roaming campus and Eugene. It was quite a list of
accomplishments for the OSC students all things considered.
In
a three-day stretch they had managed to:
1)
Paint the O on Skinner’s Butte orange
2)
Burn OSC onto the brand new grass turf of Hayward Field
3)
Kidnapped Puddles – the Oregon live duck mascot
4)
Won the annual football game
5)
Torn down a Hayward Field goalpost and paraded it through Eugene
6)
Started two fights on campus
7)
Held a victory parade through the UO campus two days after the game
For
any sane invader in enemy territory this should have been a wildly successful campaign,
but even the most passive of webfoots could only be pushed so far before it was
time to exact revenge.
 |
| OSC
fan captured by UO students. (©UO Special Collections) |
ALL OUT WAR IS
DECLARED
 |
| The
crowd starts to gather outside Seymour’s Cafe, where OSC fans had barricaded
themselves inside. (©UO Special Collections) |
The
straggling OSC crew left campus to find some food, taking over Seymour’s Cafe
in downtown Eugene for a victory meal. Little did they notice until it was too
late the group of angry students looking for blood gathering outside, fresh out
of class and hearing word of the recent fight on campus, still sour over the
events of Saturday. Within minutes Seymour Cafe’s was completely surrounded by
a rowdy mob of students, blocking all traffic and sending police scrambling
back to downtown after escorting the rest of the OSC ramble back north. They
could do little to quell the gathering storm.
As
the Register Guard described the following events, “They asked for it, got it!
The guerilla warfare soon made Eugene look like Shanghai.” While around 100 OSC
fans barricaded themselves inside Seymour’s with the angry mob outside trying
to get in, any straggling Beaver not inside the safety of the diner was
captured and dragged to the Millrace, and tossed into the icy cold stream.
The
barricades back at Seymour’s didn’t hold for long, with Seymour’s management
aiding in the removal of the OSC invaders out of their business before the
windows and walls suffered any more damage from the hundreds gathered in the
street demanding Beaver hide. All Oregon State fans were quickly captured in
the masses and either escorted or dragged to the Millrace for their
well-deserved dip in the frigid waters along with their brethren.
The
vehicles of the OSC students were overturned and vandalized, with the police
only mildly attempting to preserve order, knowing that after the events of
Saturday and returning to Eugene to instigate more trouble, those students
probably deserved their come-uppin’s.
 |
| A
captured Beaver is carried off to be Millrace’d. (©UO Special Collections) |
But
a dunk in the Millrace drink itself wasn’t proper humiliation after all the
affronts done by the outnumbered OSC’ers. The crowd made their way to the top
of Skinner’s Butte with all captured foes in tow. Hair clippers emerged and
many of the Beavers got their heads shaved, then were forced to paint the O on
the Butte back to yellow in the traditional manner…by sliding down it with
paint on their pants until trousers were completely tattered, some stripped of
most of their clothes before enduring the humiliating paint slide. This was a
fate normally reserved for freshmen initiations, but for the instigators none
would be allowed to escape until clothing and bodies were thoroughly ransacked,
freshly shaved, and almost completely covered head to toe in yellow paint.
 |
| An
Oregon State fan is forced to “Paint the O”. (©UO Special Collections) |
With
the O back to its pristine yellow and all Beavers cold, shivering, barely
clothed and shoeless, and bright yellow; they were unceremoniously sent on
their way back to their trashed overturned vehicles with a warning to get out
of town. The war was officially over, Oregon had gotten its revenge.
The
next day the frontpage of every Oregon paper ran with headlines similar to that
of the Register Guard’s, “OSC INVADES EUGENE: WAR FOLLOWS.” The articles would
for the first time describe the events of the clash between Duck and Beaver as
a “Civil War.” The term would stick, as both sides planned their revenge for
the 1938 rematch.
REPERCUSSIONS, AND
THE ONGOING CIVIL WAR CONTINUES
The
OSC invaders didn’t escape the riot without some war reparations. Many were
called into court in Junction City to face the wrath of Carl Bilrup, Justice of
the Peace. But recognizing the bad haircuts, yellow paint chips, and black eyes
sported by those involved, Bilrup was surprisingly lenient on the gang, warning
them not to “parade a main state highway with gangs of excited boys and girls
clinging to radiators and running boards. Enthusiasm is beautiful, but as for
rowdyism, it isn’t done.”
 |
| OSC
students traveling to Eugene to start what became the 1937 Civil War riot. (©UO
Special Collections) |
Only
light penalties deemed to be all in fun and boys will be boys were issued, but
with the stern warning that it better not happen again. Despite the fun college
spirit, it had been fortunate that only light property damage and no major
injuries or deaths had occurred, if future events were to happen again the
participants might not be so lucky next time.
Community
members did display concern to temper “the old college spirit” of Joe College,
citing how lucky it was for all involved to have escaped without serious injury
or death; just a few bumps, damaged vehicles, and bruised egos.
Letters
to the editor for the papers in both communities received pleas to end the
annual affair citing public safety, but this was dismissed by most. It had been
tried once before, in 1911 after fights broke out after the game, and a year
off did little to prevent hostilities. As much as some loathed the riot scenes,
the real tragedy would have been not having an opportunity to get even on the
football field the next year and future battles.
The
years would go by, and only in 1943 and 1944 would there be seasons that Oregon
State and Oregon didn’t renew their rivalry, neither school able to field a
team with most of the male student body oversees fighting in World War II. In
1945 the teams played twice in a shortened and rushed season where both schools
could barely field rosters of athletes fresh from the front-lines at war’s end,
but in the time since there has always been the annual Civil War game.
The
antagonistic incidents between fans would continue as they do to this day, both
big and small. That’s what makes rivalries great, and despite the occasional
outcry when it is pushed a little too far, thankfully nothing has gone quite as
over the top as the incidents of 1937. It is indeed a civil war.
 |
| Recap
of the 1937 Civil War riot from the 1938 Oregana (UO yearbook). (©UO Special
Collections) |
Other notable
incidents in the Civil War series:
- 1940 – Following
Oregon’s Civil War victory in Corvallis, members of Beta Theta Pi
fraternity tore down the goalpost at Bell Field and brought it all the way
back to Eugene, parading the OSC goal post throughout Mac Court during a
postgame celebration dance.
- 1946 – Oregon
State students kidnap Oregon’s beloved duck mascot, Puddles.
- 1954 – A group
of about 50 Oregon students made the trip up to Corvallis during OSU’s
homecoming, and in the middle of the night prematurely ignited the Beaver
bonfire. Some of the UO students were captured, had their heads shaved,
and painted orange and black. One famously was forcefully paraded through
OSU’s campus wearing a sign that read “I’m a Dumb Duck.”
- 1960 – Oregon
students pose as reporters during OSU’s homecoming, approach the
homecoming royal court for a photograph, and promptly kidnap the
homecoming queen and the other members of the court. A ransom note was
received by OSU student body president Dick Seideman shortly thereafter
demanding that he ride to the corner of 13th & University at the UO
campus on a kid’s scooter and make a public appeal for the return of the
homecoming queen. The Homecoming Queen was returned unharmed after a stay
at a parent’s house, without OSU’s student body president having to ride a
child’s scooter to Eugene.
- 1972 – In a
reverse of roles of the 1937 riot, in the final moments of the 1972 Civil
War game in Corvallis game Oregon students stormed the field and attempted
to tear down the south goal post. When the Duck crowd then tried to go
after the north end goal posts they were met at midfield by a large
contingent of OSU students, sparking a postgame brawl on the field.
- 2000 – The
rivalry in the stands leads to bitterness among the mascots, as a fist
fight breaks out between Benny Beaver and the
Oregon Duck during the game. Both mascots are ejected.
- 2010 – Duck fans
storm the field in Corvallis after Oregon’s victory, sending the UO to the
BCS national championship for the first time in school history. During the
celebration, a fan sets an OSU shirt on fire, damaging the field.
 |
| Students
parade the Oregon State goalposts around Mac Court in 1940. (©UO Special
Collections) |
