“I’ll bet anyone that I can go out next week and get five hundred signatures not to have the Sturgis Rally anymore. Anyone want to take me up on that bet? Because I know damn well I can come up with five hundred signatures to stop the rally cold. That’s what I think of those petitions.” It’s a rather interesting position that Sturgis Councilor Mike Bachand made during a March 2024 City Council Meeting. Yet, knowing a bit about local history may have changed Bachand’s mind.
Over the years, there have been multiple proposals to end the Sturgis Rally as a whole, especially through the 1980s and 1990s. As preparations for the 2024 Rally are already underway, it’s clear that those attempts never made it that far. But before we can dive into the fight to cancel the Rally, we need to travel a bit further into the past; over a decade and a half before the Rally was ever a thing.
Black Hills Auto Classic
Sturgis has long been the home to racing. It began with horse races, shortly after the city was established. As automobiles rose in popularity, it didn’t take long for them to be raced, and Sturgis would become a popular place for just that.
By the 1910s, Sturgis was hosting the largest horse racing events in the Black Hills. Capitalizing on that success, auto races would begin to be added to the round-up by the mid-1910s. It wasn’t until 1921 though that Sturgis really exploded onto the national scene.
The year 1921 would mark the first Black Hills Auto Classic. More than 8,000 people would attend to watch some of the fastest racers in the country. Those racers did not disappoint. It would be those racers who established Sturgis as the home of the nation’s fastest quarter-mile track. This boast would later be one of the big draws for the first Black Hills Motor Classic, the event that would become known as the Sturgis Rally.
As the Auto Classic continued to grow over the next few years, the matter would be brought before the citizens of Sturgis. In March of 1924, almost 100 years to the day that Bachand made his comment, the current Mayor, Harry P. Atwater, made sure the topic was brought up. He would say he did so because “he desired to ascertain the sentiments of the citizens in regards to the matter.” For him, it mattered if the citizens of Sturgis supported a potential gamble. It was their tax dollars, after all, that would be risked.
The response was an overwhelming yes. It wasn’t just a yes to keep the race, but also to cover any losses that the American Legion may have if the races were rained out or harmed due to something outside of the Legion’s control. A committee would be created that night that would seek pledges from local businesses to cover that cost if needed.
A Breakdown
It would be this sort of partnership that would eventually help lead to the success of what would be the Sturgis Rally. The citizens of Sturgis were hooked on the races, and in 1938, when the first Black Hills Motor Classic was held, the Sturgis Weekly Record reported that thousands went out to watch the racers who represented seven states.
This support would continue through the next few decades, but by the beginning of the 1980s, a growing strain was becoming apparent. It wasn’t just the Rally that was an issue, but also the Days of 76 Celebration in Deadwood. Some would even point the finger at Deadwood’s new tourism drive that depicted the city as an open frontier town. For some, it was this new face of Deadwood that was attracting the outlaw element, which was becoming more apparent during the Rally.
Either way, a breakdown was forming. By 1981, there was a growing push to at least change the Rally. The growth of the “outlaw” element was getting to be too much for many. For many, they longed for the days when the event was a “family affair,” and not just for the 1 percenters.
Those fears that were rising manifested in 1982. That year, bikers took over the City Park, wrecked property, set bathrooms on fire, and threatened city workers. During that Rally, Sturgis Drug and Massa Berry Professional Association would also be broken into, with thousands worth of narcotics being stolen.
During the first City Council meeting that addressed that year’s Rally, more than 150 people would attend in order to voice their concerns. Many would support the suggestion that the Rally was canceled. While the City had a much smaller role in the Rally at the time, it was pointed out that they couldn’t stop the event, but they could deter the ability to hold the event.
The 1982 Rally would severely taint the public perception of the event. It would cement the idea that the Rally was just one large party. But the truth was, the Black Hills Motor Classic Board, the City of Sturgis, and Meade County all heard the complaints, and saw what could be. The citizens were up in arms, and if something didn’t change, the Rally would be gone.
Over the next few years, all involved buckled down to preserve the event. Additional law enforcement would be brought in, the party atmosphere was moved outside of town, into local campgrounds, and an attempt to get back to the heart of the Rally was wholly underway.
But with the changes also came the negative. Throughout the 1980s, the Rally became a safe bet for a variety of businesses, which led to the commercialization of the event. For two weeks out of the year, Main Street would boom, but as buildings were bought up for Rally purposes, Main Street would become a virtual ghost town for 50 weeks out of the year. Doing business in Sturgis, for many, was no longer an option.
This death of Main Street, and the growth of the Rally, would lead to another round of community talks suggesting that the event simply be canceled. As some put it, selling the soul of the town wasn’t worth the 30 pieces of silver.
Over the 1990s, this would lead to another round of reforms for the Rally. But this time, there was more pushback. While the City, which would gain more control over the Rally as a whole, would try to promote the Rally as a family-friendly event, as it had been for the vast majority of its history, others, with the Buffalo Chip leading the charge, would promote the party image.
For the City’s part, a new set of standards for vendors would be set out. The complaints about the obscenity that some vendors brought was acknowledged, and the public was given the opportunity to have their voices heard. In large part, that was enough for many. Having their voices heard, and seeing how the Rally was improving in quality, slowed talks about canceling the event as a whole.
New Talks of Cancellation
Talks of canceling the Rally aren’t new. But each time, in the past, the concerns brought up were addressed. That the Rally continued wasn’t a certainty though. Bruce Hubbard, the president of the Black Hills Motor Classic, said in 1989 that if the City Park hadn’t been closed to Rally goers after the fiasco in 1982, the Rally would not have lasted much longer.
Getting rid of that party aspect allowed for a new crowd of people to join in. For Hubbard, he would say it was a better crowd that began to attend.
This process, of those in charge listening to the citizens of Sturgis, instilled somewhat of a sense of trust. While all of the concerns that were raised wouldn’t be addressed, and some of the trust would never be fully regained, the push to cancel the Rally would be placed on a back burner.
The question then is if previous talks of canceling the Rally were able to be dealt with, why is Bachand so convinced he could get 500 signatures? What is now different?
It could be that while in the past, the Rally truly got way out of control, and largely contributed to the dying of Main Street, those in charge were at least willing to listen to the locals about their concerns. It could be that the trust and partnerships that were built at one time are now all but lost.
If Bachand could get those 500 signatures as easily as he proposed, it should raise serious questions with all of us. It would point not to a problem with the petition process, but a problem with a record low amount of trust locals have with those representing them.