1957 What Really Happened At Angel's Camp - 2-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article

Description

1957 What Really Happened At Angel's Camp - 2-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article
Original, Vintage Magazine article
Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm)
Condition: Good
NOW THAT the exhaust fumes
have cleared, let’s take a close
look at Angel’s Camp, and see what
really happened.
The small town, nestled in the his-
toric Mother Lode country of northern
California, is the annual scene of the
famed Frog Jumping Contest, and the
former “stompin’ grounds” of well-
known author Mark Twain.
Al Fergoda, BSA & Lambretta Deal-
er in San Francisco, sent us a copy of
the June 5th edition of the “San Fran-
cisco News,” which gave a true picture
of the actual happenings that gave
motorcycling such a black eye over the
Memorial Day weekend. The paper
even reported who won the flat-track
races’ (Al Gunter on his BSA).
Quoting one bar-owner: “They was
as nice a bunch of kids as you could
ask. I’ve seen a dozen loggers make
more trouble than all those three, four
thousand motorcyclists.”
The town showed no signs of violence
at all. There were no broken windows,
no glass in the gutter, etc.”
Four inches of rain kept the frog
jumping crowds away in droves over
the May 19th weekend, and the district
lost ,000 on the annual jubilee.
Townfolk were looking forward to
the AMA Gypsy Tour. They hoped to
recoup some of their losses. Instead
they lost another 0. Promoter Carl
Mills (who has also promoted the frog
jumping contests since their beginning
in 1928) said in disgust, “It is a pure
example of what hysteria can do to
spoil a legitimate event. You can’t do
anything about rain, but I really
thought we’d act like grownups about
the Gypsy Tour.”
On Saturday morning at 6:45 two
groups of cyclists collided on a rise a
quarter of a mile out of Frogtown.
Two were killed outright, a third died
later; another had a foot torn off. Two
others were injured less severely. This
accident took place nearly two miles
from Angel’s Camp.
On Saturday afternoon many riders
came into town. They bought food, ice
cream, gasoline—“It was the second
best day I ever had,” the Chevron deal-
er reported.
Some bought beer.
One boy with his beard and hair died
green, and wearing a derby, rode thru
the town without hands on the bars,
standing up in the saddle, drinking a
bottle of wine. (Ed—Now there’s a
real “hero.”)
continued...
Also on page:
SWEET AND SMOOTH—Would equally apply to either the Triumph Speed Twin, a 5OOcc vertical
twin, or to Miss Niki Dube (pronounced Du-bay) of Altadena, Calif. Photo by the Editor.
11275-5708-02