After the Washington State football team triumphed over the undefeated California Bears in 1919, a sportswriter praised them by saying they "played like cougars!" Three days after that game, the school officially adopted the nickname Cougars. In 1927, Governor Roland Hartley presented a cougar cub to the students of Washington State. This first cougar mascot was named Butch in honor of Herbert "Butch" Meeker of Spokane, who was WSU's gridiron football star at the time. After 51 years and six live Butch mascots, Washington State decided that a student dressed in a cougar suit should be the mascot, so the spirit of Butch could live on and on.