Growing up in White Lake in the 1940s, Jerry Miller started to drink in the state's history.
At 71, his thirst for it remains unquenched.
Not only does Miller, now of Sioux Falls, study South Dakota history, he needs to experience it. He has been to nearly every town in his home state, and many towns that no longer exist.
In 1951 he began clipping statewide high school scores from the Mitchell Daily Republic and compiling them into a scrapbook. This process piqued Miller's interest in all the South Dakota small towns. He got a map and found them.
Then he got curious about each of these town's mascots. That mystery, which began for Miller as a 10 year old, remains a strong source of curiosity today.
Just a couple of months ago, I found a school near Hot Springs," Miller said. "It was the Brainerd Indian Training School. Their mascot? The Chieftains. I don't know if I will ever run out of schools or mascots to chase."
Miller has created lists of school mascots he has either discovered or is still missing, such as Dalesburg, Iron Nation and Cascade. "One thing always seems to lead to another," Miller said. "One day we were touring the railroad museum in Redfield. That's where I found out that Redfield was the Reds before they became the Pheasants. That's because the woman there had an old Redfield yearbook."
Miller, who enjoys traveling the state to see where old high schools once stood, has collected numerous historical documents over the years - yearbooks, obscure South Dakota sports books, family albums and histories and statewide sports memorabilia. "When I go searching for a school I can't find, I stop and ask people," said Miller, who likes taking his friends along on his hunts. "I have met some wonderful people across the state that way."
He also has met less trusting types. Once, a farmer who had been having some of his pigs stolen sped up in a pickup with a loaded shotgun while Miller was searching for foundational evidence of a school near the farmer's land. "He felt pretty sheepish about the whole deal coming up on us with a gun," Miller said with a laugh. "But by the time we were done, he sat down and had a beer with us."
Miller made education his lifetime career. As a student, teacher, coach and administrator, he has been affiliated with 16 South Dakota high schools and colleges. He coached for 52 consecutive years, until this year when he retired for a second time. "That's why I have chased these mascots," he said. "I have been involved in the coaches association all these years on the state and national level, and I have a lot of friends who share the same things I love."
Miller is a former president of the national high school coaches association, and a member of its hall of fame (one of many halls of fame to which he belongs). He has attended the national convention every year since 1976, including its convention earlier this summer. This week, Miller is in Aberdeen for the South Dakota High School Coaches Association annual convention.
Naturally, Miller has a list of favorite mascots, towns and stories. He carries them in his big, black leather bag of South Dakota history essentials. Miller has such a wide range of oral South Dakota history that he should be a required visiting professor at every college and high school.
Some of Miller's favorites:
The Rapid City St. Martin's Kenmars were named for John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King.
Bradley High School changed its name from the Orioles to the Bombers in the 1940s after some community members were killed in World War II.
The Provo High School Rattlers were not located in the town of Provo, but in Igloo 4 miles away. "That just blew me away when I found that out," Miller said.
Edgemont has held two unique mascot names: The athletes first went by the Cactus, then in 1948 changed to the Moguls.
According to Miller's research, some schools went without nicknames, including Houghton, Esmond, Hopper and Redfield Plainville Academy.
The Mitchell Kernels got their nickname when the school couldn't afford uniforms. Money was eventually donated by a man named Kernel.
The new school in Egan decided it would be known as the Bluebirds. When they ordered their athletic uniforms, they came back as the Bluejays. The uniform company refused to correct its mistake, and because the school had no money for different uniforms, they chose to accept Bluejays.
Euclid "Euc" Cobb taught and coached at Rapid City Central for 41 years (1920-61), and the Cobblers are named after him.
In the 1980s, Dennis Deninger of ESPN proposed a hall of fame for the most unusual high school mascots. Miller knew Deninger, and as a result, the Monroe Wooden Shoed Canaries and Gregory Gorillas of South Dakota made the list.
Among Miller's other favorites are the Keystone Dynamiters, the Brookings Zephyrs (before they became the Bobcats) and the Sioux Falls St. Rose Academy Roses.
Miller is quick to point out that his list of mascots is a shared venture. "These are not just mine. I have had help from many, many different people across the state. Especially from guys like George Kiner, Terry 'Hawk' Mayer, Duane Knebel and Deny Lather."
The Jerry Miller File
Jerry Miller had a 52-year career in coaching, teaching and administration.
He is a former multi-sport high school and college standout, was well-known as the long-time football coach at Sioux Falls Lincoln, and helped start the South Dakota high school football playoffs in 1981. Here's an overview of Jerry Miller's service:
1960: Coached baseball in hometown of White Lake.
1961: Coached youth baseball in Mitchell while attending Dakota Wesleyan (he graduated in 1963).
1962: Coached Teener baseball in Mitchell.
1963: Coached the DWU junior varsity basketball team.
1963-65: Coached and taught at Chamberlain; started the school's wrestling program.
1965-66: Got his master's degree and helped coach at South Dakota State, learning under legends Ralph Ginn, Warren Williamson and Jim Marking.
1966-70: Taught at Mitchell; also served as head wrestling coach, as well as assistant football coach under Wayne Haensel (who would later become the SDSU head coach).
1970-90: Coached and taught at Sioux Falls Lincoln; became head football coach in 1973; was assistant to long-time coach and track legend Rich Greeno.
1990-91: Coached and taught at Sioux Falls Washington.
1991-93: Coached and taught at Sioux Falls Lincoln.
1993-2000: Served as track assistant and athletic director at Sioux Falls Roosevelt.
2000-02: Retired, only to un-retire and become the athletic director at Spearfish.
2002-04: Became director of corporate relations at Mount Marty College, helping to raise money for the college in Yankton.
2004-06: Coached, taught and served as athletic director at Waverly-South Shore.
2006-08: Served as head football coach at Montrose, but did not teach.
2008-10: Co-head coached football at De Smet-Iroquois with long-time De Smet coach Marv McCune - one of the few head coaches to win state championships in football and basketball.
2009-12: Assisted with the track program at Sioux Valley.
2013: Retired.
John Papendick is the managing news-sports editor for the American News: jpapendick@aberdeennews.com.
Twitter: @jpapendick