In American folklore, the Golden Bear was a large

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

en ''

Ursus arctos The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...

''. Members of the ''Ursus arctos'' (brown bear) species can reach masses of . The

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...

(''

Ursus arctos horribilis The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...

'') and the

Kodiak bear The Kodiak bear (''Ursus arctos middendorffi''), also known as the Kodiak brown bear and sometimes the Alaskan brown bear, inhabits the islands of the Kodiak Archipelago in southwest Alaska. It is one of the largest recognized subspecies or p ...

are North American subspecies of the brown bear. A great ''Golden Bear'' was reported in the area of

Turner, Kansas Turner is a neighborhood within Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas City, Kansas, United States. It was formerly an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community of Wyandotte County, Kansas, Wyandotte County, similar to Piper, Kansas. Turner has its o ...

. According to John Gardiner in 1831, it was feared and admired by the local

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

population. The bear lived south of the river in the hills west of the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Mission. According to legend, it was the largest bear that any of the natives had ever seen. It would raid the settlements in the area and it feasted on the animals owned by the local population (the

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

tribe). Many of the Indians wanted to kill the bear for the pride of such a feat and for the capture of its hide (the fur was most sought after). The ''Golden Bear'' was seen several times by the ferry crew on the Old

Grinter Ferry Grinter Place is a house on the National Register of Historic Places above the Kansas River in the Muncie neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas. History The house was constructed by Moses Grinter where he and his half-Lenape (Delaware) wife liv ...

during the 1830s and 1840s. Both the

and the

Wyandot Wyandot may refer to: Native American ethnography * Wyandot people, who have been called Wyandotte, Huron, Wendat and Quendat * Wyandot language, an Iroquoian language * Wyandot Nation of Kansas, an unrecognized tribe and nonprofit organization ...

tribes gathered a hunting party, but were unsuccessful in tracking the bear down. The "Golden Bear" became the

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

for Turner High School and was adopted by the community in 1886. Two members of the community, Warren Hewitt and Jule Gaignet, submitted the icon and it won the majority of support in a contest. Reportedly, the two youths had heard of the bear from stories told by their grandparents. This icon is based on legends of that golden bear.

Western New England University Western New England University is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts. Academic programs are provided through its College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Engineering, School of Law, and College of Pharmacy a ...

adopted the Golden Bear as its mascot in the early 1950s. Paul C. Schulte High School in Terre Haute, Indiana adopted the Golden Bear as its mascot in 1953. Upper Arlington High School in Columbus, Ohio, was dedicated in 1956 and made the Golden Bear its mascot. Coincidentally, professional golfer Jack "The Golden Bear" Nicklaus graduated from Upper Arlington High School in 1957. His nickname was coined in 1967 by Australian sportswriter Don Lawrence, who thought that Nicklaus looked like a "big, cuddly, golden bear." Jennifer "Mama Bear" D'Orsi (Simcic) is also a graduate of Upper Arlington High School.

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

in Edmonton, Alberta also has the Golden Bear as its mascot. Bartlett High School in Anchorage, Alaska adopted the Golden Bear as its mascot upon opening its doors as Bartlett-Begich Jr/Sr High in 1973. Also, Billings Montana West High.
Sierra Pacific High School
In Hanford, California adopted the Golden Bear as its mascot when it opened in 2009. Stratford District Secondary School adopted the Golden Bear as its mascot when it opened in 2020. Students and sports teams from the University of California at Berkeley call themselves Golden Bears. Their mascot is Oski the Bear.

References

* Gibson, Betty S. ''Pride of the Golden Bear''. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 1981. 645 pp. Illus. American legendary creatures Legendary bears {{Folklore-stub