A Note on the Bike Gang Summit of 1947

The bike gang summit of 1947. Oh that was a real lollapaloosa. I was riding with the ol’ South Alamo Scorchers at the time. Worst mistake of my life. God, if I could do it over again I would have never picked up that Schwinn Cruiser.

Gangs came from all over – the Rio Grand Valley, Houston, Fort Worth, Jourdantown. And that doesn’t include the carpetbaggers from across the country, like the Boardwalk Bombers from Atlantic City or the Bunkerhill Boys from downtown Los Angeles [1]. There were over a hundred bike gangs at least. Thousands of people cruising the streets like they owned them or something. It was decadent. It was “a roaring good time”. It was disgusting.

The SAPD came out on horseback to restore order but they were no match. For that weekend, the bike gangs ruled the city. After that the Good Government League convinced the City Council to pass some legislation to curb the problem. In a bold new interpretation of the Immigration Act of 1924, as well as the Posse Comitatus Act, the City Council was able to limit the influx of undesirable out of town bike gang elements [2]. Sadly, during the re-emergence of bike gang culture in 1967 (which I will go into later), the ACLU was able to reverse the City Council’s brave ruling.

And so that is the Summit of 1947’s legacy. Forgotten. Times of war often see an increase in bike gang culture. It’s been this way since the Spanish-American War (and the Summit of 1897), WWI (and the Summit of 1917), WWII (the Summit of 1947), Vietnam (the Summit of 1967), and now here with the Iraq War II (the Summit of 2007???)

What will it be San Antonio? Will history repeat itself?


Footnotes

[1] “The Bicycles of Wrath. How a bunch of Jordantown dirt farmers brought the Alamo City to its knees.” Tidmore, Zachariah. San Antonio Light 03/22/47.

[2] “Bicycle Gangs =Communists? The Prosecution of Bicycle Gang Culture.” Smith, Lawrence. University of Texas Press. Austin, 1961.