Another season of West Virginia football is in the books. Unfortunately, the 2024 season was not all cheers for the Mountaineers. West Virginia ended the season with a 6-7 record, going 5-4 in conference play. They were 3-2 on the road, but at home they were 3-4.
But win or lose, one thing always stays strong in Morgantown: the Mountaineer mascot, rifle in hand and spirit unshaken.
What Is the West Virginia Mountaineers’ Mascot?
Let’s start with the basics. The West Virginia Mountaineer isn’t just a guy or a girl in a buckskin outfit. This is a living, breathing embodiment of school pride. Since the 1930s, one person has been chosen from the WVU student body.
The Mountaineer shows up to football games, basketball games, and all kinds of university events, ready to rally the crowd and wave the muzzle-loading rifle. But this was not always the case.
Before the fancy rifle and tailored buckskin, it was flannel shirts, coonskin caps, and whatever could pass for frontier gear. The volunteers who came early on, like Burton “Irish” Crow, Lawson Hill, and William “Buckwheat” Jackson, showed up at the games for the love of it.
Then came Boyd “Slim” Arnold in 1937, who changed the West Virginia Mountaineers forever.
Slim, who was a PE Major, was the first to wear the traditional buckskin uniform. He later went on to serve three straight years as the Mountaineer. Before Slim did the same, Lawson Hill in 1934 made selection a formal deal.
And by 1937, the Mountain Honorary made it official that every year, a Mountaineer would rise. In 1950, WVU even got a bronze Mountaineer statue, which now proudly stands on the Mountainlair lawn.
Why Is the West Virginia Mountaineers Mascot the West Virginia Mountaineer?
As the world already knows, West Virginia is the Mountain State. The Mountaineer mascot captures that. Since 1934, the buckskin-wearing, rifle-toting figure has become more than just a mascot. It’s a symbol.
And let’s not forget that the West Virginia Mountaineers’ gear is a custom one. It is made of real deer hide buckskins, hand-made moccasins, a coonskin cap, and an American-made black powder rifle.
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Every appearance is an ode to the courage, strength, and legacy of a state that doesn’t back down. And no, this is not just about touchdowns. It is about showing up and reminding the world that the Mountaineer spirit is alive.
And that, folks, is why the Mountaineer doesn’t just represent WVU. It is WVU.
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