The Savage Gopher

From: Kay Rodrigues, POM PAO Date: Tue Sep 4, 2001 1:07 pm Subject: The Savage Gopher, Anniversary Logo Re the gopher (I quote from our 50th Anniversary edition):
"When soldiers at the Military Intelligence Service Language School at Camp Savage wanted a mascot, MISLS student Chris Ishii was there to accommodate. Before World War II, Ishii had been an artist with Disney Studios in Hollywood. He created the Savage Gopher, beloved crest of MISLS. Camp Savage, Minn., was located in what had originally been Lakota territory. Indian territory and a military camp suggested the war bonnets of the chiefs. the gopher was the state animal of Minnesota. Combining the war bonnet and the gopher, Ishii came up with the Savage Gopher, which Joseph D. Harrington described as, "A gopher that tried its best to look warlike."