Oct. 2, 2009
By Ashley Ralston-Alvarez
Beaming in the sunlight outside of McKale Memorial Center is a piece of school history, a statue of a man that can be easily overlooked by any student. But shouldn't every Wildcat know the tradition that they stand behind?
The University of Arizona is known around the country for many things but the pride we choose to "Bear" revolves around the legacy of John "Button" Salmon.
In 1926, UA senior John "Button" Salmon was student body president, a member of Sigma Nu fraternity, a member of the senior honorary Bobcats, the starting quarterback for UA football and the starting catcher for the Wildcat baseball team.
The day before the first game of the 1926 football season, Salmon and three friends were involved in an automobile accident and their vehicle flipped into a ravine. Although Salmon's friends were not injured, Salmon suffered a severe spinal cord injury.
After the accident, football coach J.F. "Pop" McKale visited him in the hospital every day. During McKale's last visit, Salmon's reported last message to his teammates was, "Tell them...tell the team to bear down." John Salmon died on Oct. 18, 1926.
The following year, the University of Arizona immortalized the words "Bear Down" by writing them on the roof of the new gymnasium, which soon became known as Bear Down Gym. Also, the student body approved "Bear Down" as the new slogan for all Wildcat athletic teams. It also became the inspiration for the Bear Down fight song. In 1939, the Arizona state legislature issued a decree that "Bear Down" would be the exclusive property of the University of Arizona.
"It's such a tragic story because you never know what his future would have held," said Michele Schulze, winner of the Homecoming 2008 Bear Down Award. "His legacy becomes a myth of epic proportions."
According to the Bear Down Bulletin published in winter 1987, when John "Button" Salmon passed away, the University and much of Tucson closed down for his funeral. The procession was three miles long.
"If Arizona had become a football power, John "Button" Salmon might approximate the stature of Notre Dame's George Gipp," wrote Ted Miller of ESPN.
Frank Soltys Jr., also a winner of the Homecoming 2008 Bear Down Award, said, "It is the greatest tradition in UA athletics."
The Salmon tragedy happened two years before George Gipp's memorable saying "win one for The Gipper" but holds the same clout among any student that is a University of Arizona Wildcat.
Now more than 80 years later, the University of Arizona motto is displayed in a larger-than-life bronze bust mounted on a five-foot tall marble pedestal displaying the message behind this legend.
The memorial was dedicated on Oct. 18, 1986, on the 60th anniversary of Salmon's untimely death.
The dedication was no small ceremony. There was a week-long schedule of activities that were meant to commemorate the legacy of John "Button" Salmon.
The week started off with the first Bear Down Luncheon featuring U.S. Congressman James F. McNulty as a speaker. McNulty, a UA letter-winner, spoke in front of approximately 300 people that relived UA history through a slideshow. The week continued that Friday evening with the first welcoming reception in honor of John "Button" Salmon and his family. Thirty nine members of his family were present at this reunion in honor of his memory. Then, on Saturday, Oct. 18, 1986, with more than 500 in attendance, the memorial was unveiled and a written proclamation by Gov. Bruce Babbitt declared it John "Button" Salmon Day.
With the lone exception of the name "Wildcats," the University of Arizona has no stronger tradition than that embodied in Button Salmon's last words, according to the Salmon Memorial dedication pamphlet.
But why did it take 60 years to commemorate such a big part of school history?
The money.
Costs to build this memorial were $20,000 and no one had that kind of cash just lying around. So, there was a challenge proposed in both the dedication pamphlet and Bear Down Bulletin to all UA letter-winners, alumni, and friends to join in completing the memorial by making a tax-deductible donation. Miller Brewing Company and Tucson's Finley Distributing Co. had already contributed one half of the cost needed and they challenged others to contribute the rest.
Obviously the challenge in 1986 was met. According to Phoebe Chalk, the assistant athletics director of community relations, it sits right outside the front of McKale and was positioned there for the reason of drawing the attention it deserves.
The symbol cast in bronze and held in marble has strengthened the legacy that will live on through UA athletics forever. The memorial reminds people that you can never give up.
It is such a life-like portrayal of a man that, although not blessed with great size or exceptional talent, worked hard and became the epitome of the student athlete.
"This is important to all Wildcats...past, present, and future," said Schulze.
Ashley Ralston-Alvarez is a journalism senior at UA. She is also a pitcher on the softball team.
