Webber Borchers, an Illinois student who was interested in Indian lore, initiated a campaign to raise funds for the costume of Chief Illiniwek.The Depression was in full swing when Borcher's fund drive began, so students contributed only $15. The remainder of the needed funds was donated by a Champaign merchant. The costume was then purchased in South Dakota.“In the summer of 1930, I went at my own expense to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota,” he said in a later letter to the university. “l hitchhiked out, called on an Indian agent, and explained my mission. They called in an old Sioux Indian woman along with two young women who made the suit. As I returned home for the fall term after staying for a month, the suit was still unfinished.” He continued: “the regalia was not ready for the first few games, but was ready in time for me to wear in the Army-Illinois game in Yankee Stadium in New York City on November 8, 1930.”