Disregard for a moment what catches your eye intentionally and look at that beautiful clock in the background of this 1960 photograph taken at Neale Stadium before the annual Battle of the Palouse. Before all of these high definition instant replays and electronic clocks, teams would often play with a wind-up clock keeping game time, score, down and distance. Does the backdrop look familiar? It should, as it’s the hill directly behind the Kibbie Dome, the one that leads up to the golf course. The Dome now sits exactly where Neale once did. One cannot help but wonder if there really are the remains of a cougar inside what seems to be a coffin that these young Vandals sarcastically salute to as a pre-game intimidation tactic. Now, the rarely-balanced matchup is not nearly controversial or heated in comparison to this. I suppose students about six decades ago were much more hardline as fans, unafraid of the consequences for metaphorically murdering their neighbors to the west. They may have lost this game, 18-7, and finished the year at a dismal 1-9, but kudos to these wool overcoat-sporting Idaho crusaders.
Taken just four years after the founding of the university, and only three years after the state of Idaho’s inauguration, this 1893 treasure depicts the championship UI relay team from a regional meet, Intercollegiate Field Day. The first names of the participants were excluded when the photographer scribbled down the denotations, but their last names We eligible enough to record. Pictured, from left to right, are Kirtley, Nifong, Thomas and Hoagland. The Old Administration Building was perched alone, surrounded by the hills of the Palouse, and of course, the never ending range of tawny grass. MacLean Field’s only purposes were a track and field; football wouldn’t begin to be played there for another 21 years. Considering MacLean was the only place that resembled a runners’ venue back then, it was likely where this event was held. Imagine it — no swim center, no Memorial Gym, no education building. Only the rough outline of a track, presumably featuring handmade wooden crossbars for hurdlers.
Many Idaho fans may not be aware an Idaho wrestling team ever even existed.
According to Erin Passehl-Stoddart and Katherine G. Aiken’s book, “University of Idaho”, wrestling was discontinued collegiately, along with fencing and rifle marksmanship in the post-World War II period. This 1936 capture, featuring a faceoff between grapplers from Idaho and Washington State College, is particularly eye-catching. Not entirely because of the wrestling, but because of the background. It is obviously the Memorial Gymnasium, but it’s a perfect perspective of what the gym looked like before its renovation in the early ‘50s, which added a stage for the band and other performances outside of sport.
This season isn’t even on the Vandal football reference page — it’s just too early. Idaho sports wouldn’t be designated “Vandals” for another 14 years. Pay attention to the goalpost, inexpertly constructed with rickety boards, and the somehow standing fence in the background, straddled by cross-legged men fittingly sporting boiler hats. This 1903 photograph depicting an Idaho rushing touchdown against Washington State College wasn’t even taken on campus, or anywhere in the vicinity of the university. Before MacLean Field opened in 1914 for football, Idaho played on the north end of town, where East and Main Streets now meet. The equipment and the field are equally lackluster. Players wear loose-fitting sweaters, hardly protective leather helmets and plastic cups over their noses. According to ESPN, back in the early-20th Century, a concussion was treated about as seriously as a stubbed toe, so while this photograph is particularly enjoyable to examine, it brings to light issues which have been present — though not observed early — since the dawn of the sport.