I found a newspaper from 1964 online at
http://news.google.com/newspapers?ni...g=4457,7126600
That indicated that the 1964 Turkey Pull at Beta Theta Pi was the 90th annual. This would put the first one in 1875! (The chapter received its charter in 1873).
I also found the Beta Theta Pi fraternity magazine/Newsletter from 1914 talking about that being the 40th annual.
So, I can't imagine that they've done this cruelty at every Turkey Pull for the last 140ish years, what changed?