The First California State Fast Draw Championship?
The First California State
Fast Draw Championship?
By Bob Crismon
The year was 1958 …. The fledging single action gun sport of Fast Draw (aka “Quick Draw”) was really booming! Most of the major TV shows were westerns. New clubs were springing up all over the USA. This phenomenal growth was remarkable when considering US mail was the primary method of communication. Even printing was expensive in relation to what a one page flyer costs today when printed on your home printer connected to your PC.
The state of California was going through an amusing identity discourse. The news media fanned the idea fire of separating California into two states. Although not actually taken seriously by the general public, the rancor encouraged competitiveness between the Northern and Southern areas. And folks actively interested in Fast Draw were asking the question who was the “Fastest Gun in California”.
No associations existed that could promote a State Fast Draw Championship Contest. Several clubs in the San Jose area decided a state championship event was desired. They spoke with a few shooters from the South but couldn’t come to an agreement as to where the event should take place – North or South? (No Lester, Barstow wasn’t even considered!) The Northern clubs came up with a plan. California was known as the “Golden State”, how about if they hosted a contest and name it the “Golden Challenge”? They knew who the top shooters are in Southern California and will invite them to a contest held at the Town & Country Village in Palo Alto. While they won’t claim the contest to be the State Championship, it would certainly be implied. They will use a home made timer designed by several Stanford students (a modified 78 RPM phonograph turntable). Percussion blanks only, each shooter will get three shots starting off the button and three shots starting from a reaction light. Total the inverse order scores and come up with a Winner. The discussion then turned to awards. The entry fee of ten bucks would be used to cover promotion costs. Incidentally, general liability insurance was not even a consideration back then. Oh, for the innocent days of yesteryear! It was suggested by the Northern hosts that some hot shot Hollywood Actor or Stuntman would most likely win all of the marbles – so let’s not spend too much on a trophy.
Here is a photo of the trophy won by Ralph “Mack” McKensey. Notice the Fast Draw figure was not available at the time. According to legend a young boy took the trophy to school “Show & Tell.” Whoops, when it fell out of his bicycle basket the gun was broken off. That’s OK, the trophy survived (misspelling and all) and so has the wonderful sport of Fast Draw.