The History of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

Mecca for Motorcycles

Photos Courtesy of Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is a ten-day event, beginning on the first Friday of August every year.  The rally has been around for seventy-nine-years and is a famous gathering for motorcycles, music and raucous fun.  If you ride a Harley, there is one trip that you have to take in your lifetime as a motorcyclist and one fundamental truth that you become aware of when you twist the throttle— All bikers go to Sturgis. 

The Wild West

The town of Sturgis was founded in 1876, two years after the Great Sioux War that was triggered by the Black Hills Gold Rush.  Twelve miles away, the town of Deadwood is a dangerous boomtown.  In the same year, General George Custer met a crushing defeat at Little Big Horn and Wild Bill Hickock was shot from behind during a game of cards in a Deadwood saloon.  As Sturgis began its own history, the town hosted annual pony races that would eventually replace the four-legged mounts with iron horses.  The land is rich with Native American history and small herds of buffalo still roam the countryside. 

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It Started with Indians

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is one of a great many that caters primarily to Harley-Davidson riders.  Most biker rallies host riders with custom bobbers, choppers, trikes and the like based off of Harley-Davidson configurations.  A smaller percentage of attendees will ride in on total custom builds or motorcycles manufactured by other companies, usually American made.  With the resurgence of Indian Motorcycle, there is a multitude of Chiefs and Scouts hitting the old trails too.  Ironically, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was started by an Indian Motorcycle dealer.  J.C. ‘Pappy’ Hoel opened his Indian dealership in 1936.  Although business was booming, there was very little in the way of community activity for motorcyclists in Sturgis and the surrounding area.  Hoel and some of his fellow riders formed the Jackpine Gypsies MC and hosted an American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) sponsored tour through the Black Hills and turned the area behind his dealership into a makeshift campground. 

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As Years Go By

During WWII, motorcycling activity lulled in the United States.  Harley-Davidson was pressed into service for Uncle Sam and Indian Motorcycle saw a swift decline in sales, leading the company to go bankrupt post-war in 1953.  As servicemen came back from fighting, many of them embraced motorcycling and Harley-Davison filled the gap that Indian left behind.  These riders started finding their way back to the Black Hills and by the end of the conflict in Vietnam, a new generation of riders where bringing loud motorcycles back to the peaceful hills. 

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Going Strong at 79

Today the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally takes place in the towns of Sturgis, Spearfish, and Deadwood.  The ten-day event is renowned for hordes of bikers descending on the sleepy settlements and shaking them up with loud pipes, loud music, and loud behavior.  The event is considered by many to have become overcrowded in recent years.  This writer lost a great friend and mentor this year that had made the ride from the southern tip of Texas to the Black Hills several times.  To quote my late friend Ray Carter Jr., the truest biker this writer has ever known, “it’s not just about the destination, it’s the ride getting there.”

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