March 26, 1947.
Wickenburg in 1947 billed itself as the Dude Ranch Capital of the World. Half a dozen residents thought the town deserved something more — a real, multi-day trail ride for working men who needed, in the language of the era, a few days’ escape from the normal tension and worry of everyday living.
They organized as the Desert Caballeros, drew up a charter, and elected Rush C. Smith as their first president. Fifty-two charter members signed on; fifteen took seats on the board; Gene Francis served as executive secretary. Three of the founders — Smith, Bob White, and Steve Hambough — packed saddlebags and spent weeks mapping a trail through what was, at the time, still Apache country on a hand-drawn map.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, March 26, 1947, seventy-five horsemen left downtown Wickenburg. Among them: actor Leo Carillo, a contingent of Western industrialists, and the men whose names would carry the camps for the next eight decades. They came back five days later and started planning the next ride.
— FROM THE 1951 RIDE BOOK
Eighty years, one trail at a time.
A few of the years that mattered. Not a complete record — the camps keep their own.
- 1947
The first ride leaves Wickenburg.
Seventy-five horsemen ride out on March 26 under President Rush C. Smith. Fifty-two charter members; fifteen board directors. Original camps: Los Cab, Remuda, Colorado, Honkers, Poor Boys, and Cheapskates.
- 1947–1961
The ride does its own cooking.
For the first fifteen years, camps fed themselves on the trail. Dutch ovens, camp stoves, and a lot of stew.
- 1958
Poor Boys breaks from Cheapskates.
A disagreement over camp dues splits the camp. Roy Coxwell stays with Cheapskates; Bill St. Clair leads the new Poor Boys.
- 1961
“No Stew in ’62.”
A food-poisoning incident on the trail produces the campaign slogan that ends the self-catering era.
- 1962
Professional catering takes over.
From this year forward, the ride is fed by a hired kitchen camp-to-camp. The cooks have stayed. The stew has not.
- 1967
Honkers Camp joins the ride.
A new camp settles in, eventually known for the coffin-shaped bar and a guitar player around the fire.
- 1979
Campo de los Californios is established.
Riders from several camps with California roots form a new outfit. Heavy on cops and lawyers in the early years — nicknamed Cops and Robbers — and the source of the camp’s consensus nicknaming tradition.
- Early 1980s
Colorado Camp dissolves.
One of the original six fades out. Its members fold into other camps; Los Californios fills the slot in the lineup.
- 1983
The ride goes north.
Dr. John Gridley of Minneapolis begins sponsoring riders out of Caballeros del Norte and Canada. Poor Boys grows to 55 members on the strength of his network.
- 1988–1989
Dale Joyce, El Presidente.
Poor Boys camp boss serves as president. Pre-ride parties get standardized; Top Hand Award sponsorship is transferred from the dissolved Colorado Camp to Poor Boys, where it lives today.
- 2020
The pandemic year.
Ride logistics adapt around COVID protocols. Los Cab donates $4,400 to Wickenburg businesses shuttered by closures — El Ranchero, Riata Saddles, Rancho Bar 7 — and supports staff directly.
- 2027
Eighty years.
The 80th annual ride, April 12–16. Same trailhead. Different rider.
The country hasn’t changed much.
The route still threads through the high Sonoran Desert north of Wickenburg and into the Bradshaws and Weavers — the two ranges that flank the Hassayampa River. The saguaros and ocotillo are the same ones the founders rode past — slower-growing than any of us — and the canyon descents are no easier than they were in 1947.
What’s changed: a kitchen that doesn’t poison anybody, gear hauled camp-to-camp by a real support crew, a ride doctor and paramedics on hand, and one hundred and fifty riders instead of seventy-five. Everything else — the camps, the parties, the trail boss picking the route the night before — is the way it was.