John Salmon's Accomplishments

University of Arizona is such one of the greatest school through the whole US nation, there were lots of famous and great people came out from this spectacular school. Besides those illustrious people, most of them had some really interesting stories behind them, such as John Salmon, the “creator” of the most famous slogan in Arizona, the “bear down”. The slogan “bear down” came from John Salmon, who was famous for his football skill and his nickname “button”. He was one of the greatest student body president and quarter back in the history of University of Arizona. He was one of the most popular kids in the college, he was not only good in sports but also expert at school works. Salmon was a member of note of many of the school’s

On the way back to Tucson, Salmon and his two friends got into a huge automobile accident, the accident not only changed the life of Salmon but also many of the wildcats. Although luckily his two other friends were completely cured after few days, but poor Salmon suffered a lot of spinal cord injuries. While he was in the hospital, many people came and visited him every day, especially his coach Pop McKale. Pop McKale was Salmon’s football coach, the bond between his Salmon was really tight. After the accident, Coach Pop McKale went and visited Salmon every single day. During his last visit, Salmon said those words which made the “legend of bear down”: “Tell them…tell the team to bear down." Coach Pop McKale passed his words after he passed away on October 18, 1926. Although it was clear what Salmon meant specifically about this “bear down” phase, but after the coach passed down his will to the team, they beat down the Aggies of New Mexico State in the football game. It was clear this phase had a great magic to gather the sprite of every single wildcats in the University of

In the same year, a junior honorary organization at the University of Arizona named Chain Gang held a fundraising to raise the money for paint the new slogan on the roof of the new school gymnasium. A year after, the most famous “Bear Down Gym” came out, and it soon became the National Register of Historic Places as Men's Gymnasium in year of 1990. In 1939, the Arizona state legislature officially issued the slogan “Bear Down” the exclusive property of the University of Arizona, it was such a significant step for all the wildcats, because after that, whenever you heard somebody said “bear down!” You will know he is in your side, he is the part of the wildcat