[2] Truman is best known to Mizzou fans for his "tail-spin" during the "Missouri Waltz", doing push-ups with the ROTC after the Tigers score, and for riding into home football games on a 1950s-vintage Boone County fire truck ("Truman's Taxi"), painted gold and black and outfitted with several Missouri flags.
The mascot makes hundreds of appearances statewide at university functions, sporting events and at private parties, where he can be hired for a small donation.
In 1864, while in the midst of the American Civil War, the board of curators suspended operations of the university.
This name was given because of the group's steadfast readiness to fight against Confederate bushwhackers, hoping to plunder the city and university, under the command of "Bloody Bill" Anderson.
Later, in 1890, an alumnus suggested the university's newly formed football team be called the "Tigers" out of respect for those who fought to defend Columbia.