Galloping Goose Motorcycle Club (GGMC) is a motorcycle club that began around a motorcycle racing team and friends based out of Los Angeles, California in the United States in 1942. The group was informal and not chartered until 1946. Soon after, the organization spread out from southern California, establishing chapters in Illinois, Missouri, Montana, Indiana, Wyoming, Kansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida.[1] The Galloping Goose are considered by law enforcement to be among the many second-tier, after the "Big Four", outlaw motorcycle gangs.[2]
 | |
| Abbreviation | GG Bunch |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1942 |
| Founder | Dick Hershberg |
| Founded at | Los Angeles, California |
| Type | Outlaw motorcycle club |
Region | Midwestern USA |
| Website | socalggmc.wixsite.com |
Members of the Galloping Goose MC were at the 1947 Hollister Rally which was the basis for the 1954 film The Wild One.[3][4] This led to the beginning of the highly visible and structured[5] 1% or outlaw motorcycle clubs, along with the Boozefighters MC when the AMA forbade club members to participate in AMA events unless they took off their patches. Original members of the club had a MC shop in Jacksonville and raced in numerous events including the Daytona race when it was still run on the beach.
The club has a close relationship with El Forastero Motorcycle Club.[6]
An expert on outlaw motorcycle gangs from Missouri State Highway Patrol said the Galloping Goose were expanding into territory formerly controlled by the Pharaohs motorcycle club during the 1980s and 1990s. He described them as a "one percenter club", which created their first support club name "Vieux-Doo Dawgs M.C." This was established in Louisiana dated 1998. Once established it took over another club, the Midwest Drifters, and uses them to run errands and provide cash.[7] He said Galloping Goose's rules of behavior sometimes include violent crimes.[7]
References
edit- ^ "GGMC History". Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2011-05-15.
- ^ Mallory, Stephen (2007), Understanding Organized Crime, Jones & Bartlett Learning, p. 160, ISBN 978-0-7637-4108-2
- ^ The Harley-Davidson Reader. Michael Dregni, Hunter S. Thompson, Sonny Barger, Evel Knievel, Jean Davidson, Arlen Ness. MotorBooks International, 7 Feb 2010
- ^ Born to Be Wild: A History of the American Biker and Bikes 1947–2002. Paul Garson, Editors of Easyriders. Simon and Schuster, 24 Aug 2007
- ^ The Original Wild Ones: Tales of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club. Bill Hayes, Jim Quattlebaum, Dave Nichols. MotorBooks International, 15 Feb 2009
- ^ The Assimilation: Rock Machine Become Bandidos – Bikers United Against the Hells Angels. Edward Winterhalder, Wil De Clercq. ECW Press, 1 Jun 2008
- ^ a b Sweeney, Kathy (20 April 2010), "The Gangs of Cape County", KFVS Heartland News, Cape Girardeau County, MO, archived from the original on 5 October 2011, retrieved 15 May 2011
Further reading
edit- "Warrant Out In Oxnard Girl's Death", Oxnard Press-Courier, vol. 58, no. 51, Oxnard, California, p. 2, 21 August 1974, retrieved 2011-06-14
- "Suspect Nabbed in Missouri", The Daily Union Democrat, Sonoma, California, p. 3, 11 July 1980, retrieved 2011-06-11
- "Hit by van", The Southeast Missourian, p. 3, 11 February 1985, retrieved 2011-06-11
- Perlstein, Michael (20 June 1999), "Lengthy Probe Unraveled Drug Network N.O.-Area Bikers' Ties To Meth Operation Found", The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana, p. A.1 – via ProQuest