The Grinnell Pioneers have a long football history and have the distinction of winning the first college football game played west of the Mississippi River beating the Iowa Hawkeyes in 1889.
The Iowa College football team in action at an 1890s contest. In this era, football was a brutal and loosely regulated sport. An account of the Oct. 18, 1890, game reported, “Blood flow[ed] freely.” Source Grinnell College
An 1889 contest between Iowa College (which formally changed its name to Grinnell College in 1909) and the University of Iowa was the first intercollegiate football game played west of the Mississippi River, a game in which the Grinnell team embarrassed the Hawkeyes, 24-0.
The famous 1889 Iowa College football team that defeated the University of Iowa team 24-0 in the first intercollegiate football game played west of the Mississippi River. Source Grinnell College
The following year brought another victory for Iowa College when the rivals played again. Even though the University of Iowa had the home field advantage, the team from Grinnell won the game, 14-6. In this era, football was a brutal and loosely regulated sport. An account of the Oct. 18, 1890, game reported, “Blood flow[ed] freely.” Source Grinnell College ‘Champions of Iowa”
I was surprised to learn that the Grinnell College Harvard of the West Nickname came originally from Sports not the schools very strong academic reputation.
1892 Grinnell Track and Field Team
In the 1890s, Iowa College also fielded winning teams in baseball and track, earning the nickname “Harvard of the West.” This was not in recognition of the College’s academic programs, but rather for its stellar athletic teams. Iowa College played in the Missouri Valley Conference for 20 years, taking on giants such as Iowa State University, Drake University, and Kansas State University. Source Grinnell College
This period of athletic achievement was started by the third president of Iowa College in 1887, George Augustus Gates spoke of the importance of developing a sound body and a disciplined mind as part of a comprehensive education. “I do believe thoroughly in the cultivation and encouragement of college athletics of all sorts.” With these words, Gates launched an era of athletic success at the College we now know as Grinnell that earned it a legitimate claim to the title “Champions of Iowa.”
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