It’s a mascot that is as tied to the state’s heritage as any in the country.  It’s live, it’s mobile and it has been a part of gameday in Norman, Oklahoma for more than four decades.

It is the Sooner Schooner.

Since 1964, the pioneer-style conestoga wagon has served as an enduring image of Oklahoma football and, for OU fans, when the Schooner is rolling, good things are happening.  During home games at Memorial Stadium, the horse-drawn covered vehicle circles the field after the Sooners score and it is yet another example of why college football is so special.

The Sooner Schooner is pulled by two white ponies appropriately named Boomer and Sooner and was introduced in the mid-60s.  However, it wasn’t named the official school mascot until 1980.

OU’s Ruf/Neks, which is the oldest male spirit group of its kind, are the caretakers and drivers of the Schooner.  The Ruf/Neks draft one of its members to be the Schooner Driver each year and he is joined in the driver’s seat by the Ruf/Nek Queen.  The cherry on top is the younger Ruf/Nek member that hangs upside down out the back of the Schooner and waves an OU flag.

Both the wagon and ponies find their home during the week at Bartlett Ranch in Sapulpa, Okla., and is funded by the Doc and Buzz Foundation.  The foundation started in 1964 by F. “Buzz” Bartlett and his brother Dr. M. S. Bartlett with the intention of presenting scholarships to deserving students.  But, it has become the biggest supporter of the OU mascot.

The Sooner Schooner got its inspiration from those who braved the West in search of land – making the mascot truly “Sooner born and Sooner bred.”  As time has marched on, the covered wagon has become synoymous with Oklahoma football and the Autumn Spectacle.

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