The Longhorn cattle breed was introduced to Texas by Spanish settlers in the 16th century. The cattle quickly adapted to the Texas environment and became an essential part of the state's economy. So much so that the Longhorn cattle breed became a symbol of Texas in the 19th century; this bovine breed was featured in paintings, photographs, and literature in association with the state. Longhorns were also used in marketing campaigns to promote Texas products.
The website jimnicar.com relays this 1892 alumnus Tom Buffington, who addressed a crowd of UT students in assemblage:
"I have been requested to present to the University of Texas a mascot or protecting spirit that now and in future years will bring good luck to the institution and its teaching. Behold him! The Longhorn of Texas, emblematic as he stands of the fighting spirit of progress … As the great Longhorn was free to roam the wilderness of Texas, so must the University be free to roam the world of thought, unhampered and unafraid."
It was very natural, therefore, in 1893, when the University of Texas adopted the Longhorn as its mascot.
In preparation for the November 30, 1916, holiday parade and game with Texas A&M,
The idea to acquire a live mascot for the University came from 1911 grad Stephen Pinckney. After graduation and passing the bar, the U.S. Attorney General's office employed the former law student. In 1916, Pinckney was assigned to the western plains of Texas to help out with raids on cattle rustlers. In late September near Laredo, one of these stings produced a confiscated steer whose coat was so orange that the Texas Alum immediately knew what he had to do. Pinckney raised the $125 needed to purchase the animal from the state, which included $1 contributions of his own and 124 fellow alumni.
The young attorney arranged to have the steer loaded into a boxcar and sent to UT. The arrival of the Longhorn became a publicity event. As it was unloaded from the rail car, a photographer was present using some flash photography to record the moment of the animal's arrival. From its standstill pose, the beast heard, saw, and smelled the frightening flash and then abruptly charged the photographer, who dodged the stampede and reached safety, camera in hand.
During a February 1917 trip to the Austin campus of Texas, a group of Texas A&M students kidnapped and branded this original Longhorn that Pinckney had worked so hard to obtain for the school. In a boastful prank, the Aggie men branded a big "13-0," which was reflective of the score of a football game won by Texas A&M in 1915.
Enraged and embarrassed that their rival had pulled off the prank on them, the University of Texas students quickly and cleverly altered the unwanted graphitic brand to read "Bevo" by changing the "13" to a "B," the "-" to an "E," and inserting a "V" between the dash and the "0." The nickname for the mascot of BEVO stuck, and throughout the generations, the live mascot at the school is his name.
Image of Bevo XIV by Taylor Ramsey is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
This was not the only occasion that Aggie pranksters targeted Bevo. On November 12, 1963, A&M cadets stole the University of Texas mascot, Bevo, and took the steer back to College Station. According to MyAggieNation.com
A group of conspiring A&M cadets headed to the state hog farm where Bevo was housed. The Aggie students loaded Bevo onto a stock trailer and drove back to College Station. Once home, they showed off their caper as they drove around the Quad, spreading the word across campus. Once the fun was over, the A&M student notified Bevo's caretakers; the UT student group called the Silver Spurs that the steer was located at a farmhouse in Bryan where he would be cared for until the Texas group retrieved him.
The suspicious Silver Spurs leaders called the authorities and were assigned help from the Texas Rangers.
The Rangers were on the trail. They found the rental trailer on the A&M campus, and while the lawmen were busy looking into who rented it, the students moved the beast to another farm some miles away. Eventually, Bevo was found and returned to UT.
Aggies allegedly stole five Southwestern Conference mascots during the 1963 season. In October, the Aggies were accused (although it was never proven or denied) of stealing Texas Tech's quarter horse mare, which was found outside of Lubbock with "AMC" shaved onto her side. The Aggies were also accused of stealing Southern Methodist's mascot Peruno (a photo appeared in The Eagle of vet students pretending to "brand" the horse), and Rice's owl named Sammy. Texas Christian's two horned frogs also went temporarily missing.
According to a Fan Buzz article, Texas students served to get at Texas A&M with a mascot prank of their own.
In 1993, some UT students heard the Aggie faithful's boasting that A&M was one of the only schools not to have had its mascot, a collie named Reveille, taken by rivals. This bragging ignited a conspiracy to meet the challenge. An architectural engineering major at the University of Texas, Neil Andrew Sheffield, devised a scheme to kidnap the Aggie's new mascot, Reveille VI.
Image is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Reveille, mascot of Texas A&M University via Patrick Boyd
The would-be kidnapper brought in some co-conspirators, and the group researched where the canine was kept and even learned much about her and her caretakers' schedules and routines. After careful study, they found a way to get the pup and take her.
The time selected was just before the Aggies would be hosting the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a big game for the 1994 season. When the dog was let outside to conduct her morning business, the UT men grabbed her and sped away.
The kidnappers wrote an Austin newspaper and demanded the ransom of a well-worded statement from A&M that the University of Texas was a superior school to their own.
The victimized school at first used the denial tactic, accusing the kidnappers of nabbing the wrong pooch, but the "Rustlers" from UT would not give in.
Eventually, after the authorities were called in and threats of prosecuting the violators would be charged with a third-degree felony, Reveille VI turned up the following day at her home.
