"Mex The Dog"

[WishBone]

Mex the dog
During Oklahoma football and baseball games from 1915-1928, Mex the Dog wore a red sweater with a big red letter 'O' on the side. One of his main jobs was to keep stray dogs from roaming the field during a game in the days when the football field was more accessible to non-ticketholders.

Before his career as a mascot, Mex was just a helpless 'dog waif.' Then, a U.S. Army field hospital medic found him in Mexico in 1914 during the Mexican Revolution unrest. Mott Keys was stationed along the Mexican border near Laredo, Texas, and found the dog among a litter of abandoned pups one night on the Mexican side.

Mex was adopted by Keys' company, and when Keys finished his duty and moved to Hollis, Okla., he took Mex. He later attended OU and Mex followed him again.

At OU, Mex's experience as an Army medic company mascot landed him the job with the football team and a home in the Kappa Sigma fraternity house. He quickly became Oklahoma's most famous dog. 'A joyous staccato bark cheered Sooner touchdowns' at football games and a 'victory woof' punctuated home runs at baseball games. But Mex began to gain national attention in October of 1924 when the OU football headed north to play Drake.

Mex did not board the train in Arkansas City, Kan., as the OU football team and its boosters switched cars to head for Des Moines, Iowa, and the game. Missing their beloved mascot, the Sooners were shut out by Drake, 28-0. The headline from the Arkansas Daily Traveler on October 28, 1924 left no doubt as to the cause of the humiliating loss: "Crushing Defeat of Bennie Owen's Team is Charged to Loss of Their Mascot Here."

A 50-cent reward was offered. Mex was eventually discovered in Arkansas City pacing the train station platform. OU grads J.D. Hull, Hughes B. Davis and J.C. Henley recovered Mex and the men drove him to the next Sooner game against Oklahoma A&M in Stillwater.

Mex died of old age on April 30, 1928. He was so popular among students and faculty that the university closed for his funeral and procession on May 2, 1928. He was buried in a small casket somewhere under the existing stadium.

[SoonerinLA]

I've heard of Mex but didn't know he was buried under the stadium. Sounds like an aTm kind of thing.

[inconnu]

I knew there was an old mascot, "Mex the Dog", but I don't remember ever hearing the story of how he came to be that mascot before now. As old as I am now, the Mex story still seems like it is almost from semi-ancient times. Three cheers for the record of Bennie Owen, OU's first famous coach! However, there will never likely be a better mascot for OU football than Kirk Kickingbird, OU's "LITTLE RED"! It was tragic that political correctness caused us to cancel his mascotness.

[OU Chinaman]

...sorry to say, don't recall ever hearing the story of "MEX". Thanks for sharing that "Bone!

Would love to see a picture of the pup if anybody can mange.

Like the "chinamen"..."MEX" is another obscure yet genuine piece of SOONER Fan lore.

[AllSooner]

"Mex," the unofficial bulldog mascot for University of Oklahoma athletic teams (Courtesy University of Oklahoma)

[WishBone]

That is my Boy "Mex"