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Bear Down

University of Arizona Athletics’ most enduring tradition is the slogan and battle cry, “Bear Down.” More than a casual piece of encouragement, the rally cry has roots over a century old, to the Roaring ‘20s, and pre-dates another venerated exhortation, “Win one for the Gipper,” by two years.

Historic black-and-white photograph of an early Wilbur Wildcat mascot standing beside a cheer leader holding a "BEAR DOWN" sign at a University of Arizona event.

John “Button” Salmon

In the fall of 1926, John Byrd “Button” Salmon was the newly installed student body president at the University of Arizona, a promising student and member of note of several of the school’s honor societies. He also was a varsity quarterback, a baseball catcher and generally acclaimed popular campus figure.

Black-and-white newspaper clipping with the headline: “BUTTON SALMON HURT IN WRECK.” The text appears in large, bold capital letters within a bordered newspaper column.

The Tragedy

In early October after the Wildcat varsity defeated the freshman squad in an annual match at the time, Salmon and several friends were returning from a visit to Phoenix, and an automobile crash north of Tucson near Florence left the young athlete critically injured.

 
Salmon, then 22, lost his battle and died the morning of Oct. 18. A memorial service was held on campus that week, drawing a reported thousand mourners, and a line of cars stretched miles to his burial plot.

MOCK DNU

The Rally

The coach at the time, J.F. “Pop” McKale, had visited Salmon in the hospital regularly before his death, and later told the squad the young athlete’s last message to his teammates was, “Tell them... tell the team to bear down.”    

It’s unclear whether McKale invoked the phrase to the team before one of several games that year, a contest in Las Cruces against New Mexico A&M (NMSU) that same week, or two weeks later before a game against New Mexico in Tucson. The Wildcats won both.

A Motto is Born

Bear Down as a phrase and song has been inexorably a part of Arizona athletics, woven into its fabric year after year, since October 1926. Since 2000, Arizona Athletics has awarded John Button Salmon Awards to 23 former coaches or administrators for exemplary leadership and service to the university, in honor of the tradition’s namesake.

“Button” Salmon died generations ago but his message still echoes across every Arizona athletic venue, in every corner and through every building on campus, and in the thoughts of tens of thousands of Wildcat supporters past, present and future.

TRADITIONS

OLD MAIN