What year did NDSU start using Thundering herd?

[Scooter1]

OK.. I was just wondering what year the Bison started using the nickname "Thundering Herd"

Marshall is the "thundering herd" but didn't officially vote for the Name until 1965. They were the Indians, thundering herd, Big green, Boogercats (yes, boogercats) and there was also a push for green gobblers. When did NDSU start the herd name? They've been the thundering herd for as long as I can remember.

[tony]

I asked this very question not so long ago. Back then, I found an Oct. 26, 1928 blurb in the Bismarck Tribune that said:


... is no secret, however, that The Thundering Herd of yellow and green clad gridders will present a formidable more potent than that which opposed..."

Note: the Google archiving system scrambles up words and stuff. What's worse is that now I can't find the article anymore.

The Fargo Forum isn't in the Google archives yet so it's unsearchable - too bad because it'd be the best source.

Anyway, Marshall was a big deal back then and were being called the Thundering Herd everywhere (think there is an East Coast bias now? It's nothing compared to pre-WWII).

[Scooter1]

If this is true (oct 26, 1928), and you haven't steered me wrong yet, tony....

Marshall University was called Big Green and first was referred to by a sports writer as Thundering Herd in reference to a popular movie "Thundering Herd" in the late 1920's, based off a 1925 novel of the same name. The name quickly drew criticism because some thought that it didn't represent W Virginia very well. In 1933 a sportswriter started referring to The Big Green as the Boogercats and other sports writers followed suit. This was kept alive for a few years. Eventually they decided to go with Big green and thundering Herd. It wasn't until 1965 that the student body voted to go with Thundering Herd and take the Buffalo as their mascott. Now, here's the rub with this claim by Marshall...If the first usage of Thundering Herd was in refernce to the popular movie "Thundering Herd" there is a problem... that movie didn't come out until 1933. So, NDSU is actually the first sports team to be refered to as the Thundering Herd.

[tony]

Well, Marshall was definitely the Thundering Herd in 1925 and "Big Green" was very popular too. The Gophers and USC used it as an alternate nickname as well.

Back then nicknames were just that - they weren'tthe all-important marketing tools they are now. For example, NDSU was calling themselves the Bison in 1919, but the Bismarck Tribune used both the Aggies and Bison on the same page of a 1930 article. "Aggies" didn't go away for a looong time.

Anyway, 1925 is the same year that Zane Gray's book of the same name same out.

BTW, I might have to go and find that 1926 article because without the context, it's impossible to tell whether the "green and yellow" actually refers to NDSU.

[Scooter1]

Tony, I got my information about the first reference by Carl "Duke" Ridgley of the Huntington Herald-Dispatch referencing a popular movie (which actually came out in 1933) directly from the official Marshall website as being the first reference. So, I question the 1925 date you claim. I did find another article that talked about the year 1928 and then threw in that Duke Ridgley coined the term Thundering Herd but it is unclear if they were talking about 1928 or if they were thowing some added information that happened around that time span. 1933 would be around that time span.... the Boogercat reference was not mentioned in this article at all (for obvious reasons) I'll find it again and post it.

[tony]

Well, we have a long way to go before searching newspaper archives becomes easy/foolproof, but here is the google search I did:

http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=%22Thundering+Herd%22+Marshall+Hun tington&btnG=Search+Archives&as_ldate=1925&as_hdate=1926

The second item down is a good example.

[Scooter1]

This search is all over the place. One refernce has the name at 1919 in refernce to a Zane Grey novel that was published in 1925, If you do a movie search you find that it is listed as coming out in 1933 yet I found an article that is from November of 1926 that references a stellar cast for the Movie thundering Herd.:confused:

Also, it seams like everyone and their dog were refering to their team as the thundering herd around 1926....Notre Dame...NDSU...Marshall..Southern Cal...Gophers...I guess it's safe to say that we all copied Zane Grey.;)

[met1990]

I think the media guide makes a reference as to when NDSU started using it? Anyone have a copy handy? It was either in there or the football game program.

[roadwarrior]

The media guide does not give a date when it was first used.

[Scooter1]

It's to bad that my 95 year old grandmother wasn't a Bison fan. She can go back in her diaries and tell you what the weather was like, who called, who came to visit all the way back to 1925.

[extremerouge]

It's to bad that my 95 year old grandmother wasn't a Bison fan. She can go back in her diaries and tell you what the weather was like, who called, who came to visit all the way back to 1925.
haha that's awesome!