East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1912-09-28
has not heard it, caught it up an
banded 1t about
Elks Spread Slogan,

has not heard it, caught it up and
banded 1t about
Elks Spread Slogan.
Even the far-off eastern states have
come to hear of it, so rapid have been
the strides of its march of conquest.
Perhaps the members of the local
lodge of Elks are responsible largely
for its invasion of the land of the ef-
fete by their wild west makeup at
the grand convention of the B. p. o.
T.. in Portland last July. When they
appeared in the parade clad in their
cowboy and Indian costumes and
mingled Let 'er Bucks" with savage
warhoops as they neatly picked a
helmeted copper from his motorcycle
with their lariats, the great throng
which lined the streets took up the
cry and echoed and re-echoed it until
it almost became the slogan of the
conclave. And it was noticeable, too,
that the ones who caught it up most
eagerly and voiced it most vociferous-
| ly were those who claimed the Allan
tic seaboard as their stamping ground.
That they will forget it and refrain
from the use of it hereafter is un-
believable for it would be contrary to
all precedent.
The unexpected popularity of the
Roundup rallying cry has led the
management of other frontier shows
to adopt it and attempted to adapt it.,
and still others weakly to initiate it..
However. the old adage has it that
imitation is the sincerest form of flat
terry so we acknowledge the compli-
ment and LET 'er Buck"
! What is there about the slogan that
makes it so popular and contagious,
do 1 hear you ask? Well, nobody has
ever attempted to analyze the reason
to get it's elemental ingredients, for
the dullest intellect understands with
out being able to explain the why and
the wherefore. However. briefly 1t
can be said that 1t has the cOmbina-
J ton of all the qualities and attributes
necessary for a genuinely good slogan
originality, brevity, novelty, and snap.
Furthermore it is typical of the from
tier and is charged with the essence
of the Roundup. Therefore, 1t Is
appropriate and, was about to say,
popular and contagious. but as 1
started out to explain the 'whyness"
of it's popularity and contagion, that
would prove that my explanation has
been travelling in a circle and l would
be discredited as a literary chemist.
Anyway, it's a darned good slogan
land we all know It,
Who Is the Originator?
| Perhaps some curious person is
bold enough to ask the name of the
author of this unique slogan and, If
so, we are led on to ground where the
tread must be light and delicate, for
the question is a muchly mooted one
and the answer lies not in the human
ken.
! Did you ever hear of some lawyer
advertising for some lost heir and OBJ
serve how many "lost heirs" came to
light? If not maybe you have seen
a bunch of small boys on the scene
Of an accident or crime and have
heard them all laying claim to having
been the first witness? Or perchance
you have heard of some person sud-
denly becoming something of per-
sonage in the state or nation and have
noticed how some Of your neighbors
rise to explain that they were school,
mates with the celebrity? We'll, any
one of the situations are very similar
to the one here over the authorship
of the slogan for they are all based
on the same human frailty.
There are a number, of people who
claim the distinction of being the or
iginator Of LET 'er Buck" but no one
has yet proved a clear title DR..
Cook once made claim that he dis
covered the North Pole but bunch
Of Danish savants cast a cloud upon
his claim However we give him
the benefit of the doubt and say that
we think the honorable doctor be-
lieved he located the top of the world
and that he unwittingly practiced a
deception first upon himself and then
upon the public.
1t is extremely probable that the
persons who claim to have originated
the Roundup warcry believe in al
sincerity that they did. Anyway we
will be charitable enough to hope SC
even while we think them suffering
from a delusion. For, as a matter OF
ascertainable fact, the slogan Let
'er Buck" was not originated con.
temporaneous with the birth of the
Roundup. Its origin antedated some
years the beginning of the great from
tier carnival. There Is plenty of evil
dence procurable to substantlate this
statement, which evidence would
prove tiresome in the recounting.
Before the Roundup, the express
sion Let 'er Buck" did not exist az
slogan for any event and its appli
cation and adoption to the local show
may have been due to any one of tht
claimants. We are willing to give al