The Sturgis Rally Started With Just Nine Riders

Every August, a South Dakota town of about 7,000 people fills with more motorcycles than most cities have residents. It's called the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, and in its biggest year it drew a record 739,000 riders. It started in 1938 as a single afternoon of racing watched by 175 people.

A Dealer, a Club, and a Dirt Track

Clarence "Pappy" Hoel bought an Indian Motorcycle dealership in Sturgis in 1936. He was also a competitive motorcycle racer himself.

In January 1938, Hoel and about 20 fellow riders formally organized a motorcycle club. They called themselves the Jackpine Gypsies. The American Motorcyclist Association sanctioned the club's races, and national publicity followed.

Hoel wanted a reason to bring riders to town. So the club built a half-mile dirt track on the edge of Sturgis and put together a single day of racing.

Nine Racers, a Crowd Under 200

On August 14, 1938, the Jackpine Gypsies held their first "Black Hills Motor Classic." Nine riders lined up to race: eight on Indians, one on a Harley.

Hoel himself competed, riding an Indian Scout numbered 56. Johnny Spiegelhoff won the day's championship.

The whole event drew a crowd of fewer than 200 people, and the total prize purse came to $750 - roughly $13,500 today.

A parade, a street carnival, and a dance at the city auditorium filled out the rest of the weekend.

The Kitchen That Fed the Rally

Hoel's wife, Pearl, ran her own tradition alongside the races. Starting in 1938, she organized a Gypsy Tour ride through Custer State Park and cooked a picnic lunch for everyone who rode along.

The night before the ride, Pearl and a couple of the other club wives would walk downtown, count the parked motorcycles, and estimate how many riders to expect. Then they'd buy the food themselves: baked beans, potato salad, hot dogs, watermelon for dessert.

They often finished cooking at midnight. Pearl kept making that picnic by hand every year until the 1950s, when the crowds finally grew too large for one kitchen to feed.

From Fewer Than 200 to Hundreds of Thousands

The rally grew steadily for decades, pausing only in 1942 during World War II. By 1980, an estimated 40,000 people were showing up.

The rally's 75th anniversary in 2015 set the all-time attendance record: 739,000 riders, according to official counts.

Modern rallies are measured differently. South Dakota's Department of Transportation counts vehicles crossing into Sturgis rather than people, and recent years have ranged from roughly 450,000 to over 600,000 vehicles.

The Jackpine Gypsies never stopped racing, either. The club still owns and runs the track it built in the 1930s, and still puts on races during rally week every year.

The dealership Pappy Hoel opened to sell a few motorcycles turned Sturgis into the biggest motorcycle gathering on the planet. It all started with nine riders, a $750 purse, and a picnic Pearl Hoel cooked herself.