My hunch was that Mountaineer fans wouldn’t have difficulty telling me what it means to them because they’ve witnessed and felt it, and they value it, too. I was right.
After Mountaineer icon Dale Wolfley passed away unexpectedly a few weeks ago, many admirers used the phrase “A True Mountaineer” to describe their feelings about him. Among them, Jim West wrote on Facebook, “A true Mountaineer will be sadly missed.” Valarie Lee Ater expressed similar feelings, “He was truly the embodiment of a Mountaineer and Mountaineer spirit.” The words also appeared publicly during a football game at Mountaineer Field.
Photo by Dale Sparks taken at Mountaineer Field on 10/21/23
Beyond paying homage to a person (Dale Wolfley, in this case), there is the broader matter of what it means to use the words True Mountaineer. So, I asked a range of Mountaineer fans, several I know and many I do not, What does “True Mountaineer” mean to you? Here’s a sampling of what I found with keywords I selected highlighted in bold.
“When they (True Mountaineers) talk, you can feel their love and commitment.”
“You can see it in the blood-pumping way. full of excitement and all-in commitment. They were born to be Mountaineers.”
“Unconditional support and being committed through thick and thin.”
“You have no choice in the matter.”
” It’s bleeding Old Gold & Blue, being proud to be a Mountaineer. When the high comes, there is no better feeling.”
“It exemplifies the spirit of our state, exhibiting the same qualities that pioneers did.”
“One whose heart never left Morgantown no matter where they live.”
“It’s a lifelong commitment, wanting the best for the university, upholding tradition, and respecting university history.”
“They understand who and what they are representing–grounded in love for the hardworking people of this state today and in the past.”
“Knowing that you are part of something that is much bigger than self.”
“They not only love WVU and West Virginia, and the need for both to succeed is incredibly important to them.”
“True Mountaineers strive to maintain traditions and history.”
“They support the land-grant mission and WVU’s role as a flagship university. They care about West Virginia’s future.”
“The ability to ascend heights under extreme conditions, dedicated to helping our brothers and sisters.”
“Standing up for beliefs. Respect, honesty, responsibility, loyalty (but not blindly), and using your voice constructively.“
“Wrought out of sweat and tears, it grows into an approach to life.”
“Staying connected (bonded) with those who are generations apart.”
“Adapting to new surroundings without sacrificing values and beliefs.”
“It makes my blood boil when I hear people putting down this state and my Mountaineers. I absolutely love my Mountaineers every single day.”
Using the word “true” elevates being a Mountaineer fan to a level of remarkability. The adjective carries with it an attribution of authenticity and genuineness, and it also describes a person whose behavior is consistent and unwavering. Those who carry the mantle are extraordinary, not only because of how they comport themselves but because others accord the badge to them.
After reading the attributions, I could not help but conclude that there is a link between what fans told me and what it means to say, Once a Mountaineer, Always a Mountaineer.
“It has always felt like home. It’s the people, it’s the atmosphere, it’s taking pride in being a Mountaineer,” Brad Barnett
“West Virginia created a sense of belonging to me,” John Pozza
“Even though I have lived in many beautiful places, I still am and will always be a Mountaineer,” Bill Kiger
While different people use different words to describe what being a Mountaineer means to them, West Virginia benefits from having an art form that speaks validly and expressively to the collective, namely, the classic song, Take Me Home, Country Roads.
(John Denver/Mary Catherine Danoff/Taffy Nivert Danoff/William Danoff © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Reservoir Media Management Inc, Roba Music Verlag GMBH)
While it would be a gross misjudgment to underestimate the value and impact of those lyrics, it is also fair to say that West Virginia’s state motto, “Montani Semper Liberi!” (Mountaineers are Always Free), conveyed a similar spirit a century before Country Roads became popular in the 1970s. But there is a notable difference between the song and the motto. Unlike the song, which expresses the feelings that many can relate to, the motto was advanced at a time when West Virginia had no history, only a future.
Expressed concisely, the state motto tells why people of the time made a historic, life-changing, and risky choice. They did so in West Virginia style, that is, with an “edge” that fit the times and continues to this day, something that drew me to the state and has endeared it to me ever since. What is it? It is West Virginia’s initimable “anti-elite, anti-establishment, and iconoclastic spirit.” (Hathway source cited below)
Rachelle Bott Beckner, writing in the Encyclopedia of West Virginia, recounts Joseph H. Diss Debar’s role in selecting West Virginia’s motto and designing the state emblem as captured in the State Seal of West Virginia. Diss Debar, a native of France, migrated to what is now West Virginia, settling in Parkersburg and then Doddridge County. He was a staunch supporter of the movement for the western counties of Virginia to secede from the Commonwealth, establish a separate state, and remain part of the Union.
Diss Debar thought it appropriate to apply to the new state a Latin phrase that, as Bott Beckner writes, “had been long used by Swiss mountaineers to express their independence of spirit.” Diss Bebar also selected symbols that appear on the front of the State Seal, a farmer and a miner, and the words that are etched on the reverse side of the medallion, freedom and loyalty.
Courtesy West Virginia Broadcasting
In between the time of crafting the state motto and the writing of Take Me Home, Country Roads, another art form emerged, namely, the WVU Mascot, The Mountaineer, which first graced campus during the 1934-35 academic year. But unlike many other collegiate mascots, WVU’s mascot stands for something more and deeper than athletics. In researching her book, Mountaineers are Always Free: Heritage, Dissent, and a West Virginia Icon, historian and folklorist Rosemary V. Hathaway found that “West Virginians identify with the Mountaineer in ways that went well beyond sports.”
The Mountaineer statue located on WVU’s downtown campus (photo, West Virginia University
Courtesy West Virginia University Press
Many of the students who have performed the mascot role over the years told Hathaway as much, saying that playing the role was “a symbol of, and a representative for, the entire state.” Hathaway concludes that “The Mountaineer is a mirror for a deep range of intangible values and ideals: it represents pride in one’s history and heritage, and it personifies the rebellious, independent spirit reflected in the state motto.”
The juxtaposition of WVU’s mascot with other mascots is noteworthy because many other mascots play the role in the form of a costumed, ahistorical representation of the school nickname (e.g., Brutus Buckeye, Ohio State; Louie the Cardinal Bird, Louisville; and Albert and Alberta Gator, U. of Florida). At WVU, “The Mountaineer” is a historical figure who is played by a current student and is seen in public view. Because of that (as Hathaway writes), the portrayal is a reminder of times past, where we came from, and, in many ways, who we still are. It “gives people and the institution a chance to revisit core values and restate or modify them, if need be.”
How noteworthy are the ties that bind those who call themselves Mountaineers? My answer: they are powerful and audacious. Just think about the implications associated with how West Virginia came to be a state and what John Denver’s song lyrics convey. Furthermore, it makes sense for so many people to say, “Once a Mountaineer, Always a Mountaineer,” and for the school mascot to be real, abiding, and historical. Then, in its most elevated form–and not just symbolically–you have people attributed to be True Mountaineers.
But here’s the sobering part. All of what I’ve just written is “old school,” with symbolism and practices that don’t align well with modern life. Indeed, modern ways can overwhelm and displace the values expressed here. But the heartening part of writing this piece is this: when I asked fans what True Mountaineer means to them, respondents chose words and expressed sentiments that fit the history, traditions, and aspirations of the state and university.
Also heartening is what I know from personal experience. Being a True Mountaineer doesn’t require stardom, position, influence, or affluence. You don’t need to be an athlete, a media personality, or a big-money donor. You could be, of course, and Dale Wolfley was several of those things, but my point is that you don’t need to be any of them. Every day people can be True Mountaineers, and the wonderful thing is that many of them grace my life. To me, that is SO West Virginia; it mirrors the state’s strong and abiding populist bent.
In truth, it took Dale Wolfley’s passing to get me thinking about what it means to be a True Mountaineer. That tells me that in death Wolf continues to be what he was in life … a True Mountaineer.
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*I drew observations about the meaning of “True Mountaineer” from comments made on the Facebook public group Old Mountaineer Field, 1924-1979. Commentators include Randy Beegle, Carol Wiant Dargan, Joey Foster, Jimmy and Jane Fredlock, Keith Hawkins, Gary Lombard, Matt Marion, Mark Parsons, Polly Plummer, Mickey Plumley, Darryl Prue, Kathy Tallarico Richards, Mike Rollins, Mary Riffle Schubert, Jeremiah Scritchfield, Al Shaw, and Bob Zitelli.
Cover graphic: Jeff Moores’ depiction of Dale Wolfley during his WVU playing days is available for purchase at https://www.findharri.com/shop-prints/dale-wolfley.
Written as only a TRUE MOUNTAINEER could write it!!