Benny Beaver

Benny Beaver
Benny (Patrick H.) with former Oregon State Marching Band director Brad Townsend
University	Oregon State University
Conference	Pac-12
Description	Beaver: Aquatic mammal
Origin of name	Territory's first major industry
First seen	1942
Related mascot(s)	Bernice Beaver

Benny Beaver is the official mascot of Oregon State University and winner of the 2011 Capital One Mascot of the Year write-in campaign. The exact date of when the name was first used as the university's mascot is not known, but photographs in the school's yearbook document its use as early as the 1940s.

The beaver has always been a popular animal in Oregon. In fact, wealthy Westerners were dressing in fashionable beaver fur long before Oregon's territorial days. By the late 1700s, the beaver trade was already a major global industry.

Beaver fur top hats were popular attire for the North American and European upper class. At the turn of the 19th century, the newly explored American Northwest was found to be plentiful with beaver. As a territory, Oregon grew into a global supplier. When Oregon became a state, it coined itself "The Beaver State" due to the beaver's historic importance as an economic catalyst for the region and, similar to the California "Gold Rush", helping to attract thousands of early pioneers and homesteaders. The beaver now appears on the back of the state flag and is recognized as the official state animal.^[1]