DEADWOOD, South Dakota — There might be no one left who can give an eyewitness account of what the first Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was like 86 years ago except for Hazel Baumberger.
At 108, she’s the oldest living person in South Dakota, and recalls being there for that first event, which was very different from what the rally's grown into.
She was 22 when she said she attended the first rally held in the Black Hills on Aug. 14, 1938. That inaugural event ultimately exploded into the largest annual gathering of motorcyclists in the world, but then it was a race and riding contest called the Black Hills Classic.
The 84th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally kicked off Friday. Baumberger won’t be attending it, but she serves as perhaps the last living witness to the famous event’s origin.
Her senior living center wants to pass on her stories and memories — priceless oral history — to active riders during a special rally held in her honor.
If she can’t get to the rally, they’ve invited bikers to come bring the rally to her.
The Initial 9
The inaugural Sturgis rally was organized by the franchise owner of an Indian Motorcycle dealership and his motorcycle club, the Jackpine Gypsies. The event focused on testing participants’ riding skills and creativity on a dirt track, open fields and during a hill climb.
An official history on the Sturgis rally’s main website says nine racers showed up in 1938. Eight came on Indian bikes and one rode a Harley-Davidson. Today, the rally draws more than 500,000 a year.
Baumberger remembers there being just three motorcycles at the start of the classic with two more rumbling their way into contests later on.
“That was the crowd,” she told Cowboy State Daily from her room at the Peaceful Pines Senior Living at Fort Pierre, South Dakota. “It sure has gotten big now.”
The rally set an attendance record for its 75th anniversary celebration in 2015 with nearly 740,000 people.
While Baumberger’s memory of the event has both faded and intertwined with the “several” Sturgis Rallys she said she has attended, Baumberger does remember getting a fake tattoo with a few of her friends that proved to be nearly too difficult to wash off.
The same holds true for her feelings for the event, which became a favorite place to hear stories from across the country while sitting in a beer garden or watching races or concerts.
“It was fun,” she said. “Sturgis is still fun. We just enjoyed looking at the bikes, and we enjoyed visiting with (riders), too.”
‘Her Harley’
Baumberger these days visits with friends at Peaceful Pines or with her family. She still attends an annual family reunion she founded in the 1930s. When someone joked that it must include every living person in South Dakota by now, she chuckled and said her family is “all scattered around.”
Heather Janes, the executive director of Baumberger’s senior center, said the centenarian remains an independent soul who often tells people proudly that she still owns the farm she raised wheat and corn on for decades.
She moves around with the help of a walker, which nursing home staff call “her Harley.” It carries the motorcycle brand’s sticker on it.
When late summer rolls around each year, Baumberger often wistfully remembers her many rides in the Police Chief’s Ride that kicks off each Sturgis Rally thanks to family members in law enforcement.
She thinks about returning to the Badlands one last time.
“I still would like to …” she said. “No, I can’t go anymore. I’m too old.”
That didn’t sit well with Janes, who decided if Baumberger can’t get to Sturgis, maybe Sturgis can come to her.
Peaceful Pines Senior Living is organizing a personal motorcycle rally for Baumberger called Rally to Hazel on Aug. 12. Their slogan: “You’re never too old to enjoy the ride.”
The senior center is calling all bikers leaving Sturgis to stop by Baumberger’s building in Fort Pierre between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. so she can watch and wave at the chrome ponies like she used to.
The event will be “an opportunity for the community to come together and pay homage to this exceptional South Dakota icon, celebrating her enduring enthusiasm for life and the adventurous spirit that has defined her for more than a century,” a flier for the event states.
In return, the bikers will get a cool glass of lemonade and stories about the rallies of the past, served up by Baumberger.
“That was our county fair,” she said. “We loved it.”
The Peaceful Pines Senior Living in Fort Pierre is located at 1000 Yellowstone St. For more information on the Rally to Hazel, call Peaceful Pines at 605-494-0336.
Contact Justin George at justin@cowboystatedaily.com
Justin George can be reached at justin@cowboystatedaily.com.
