By Robert Stragnell, M.D.

For over 40 years Prescott has been home to an award winning organization dedicated to the preservation of the real history of the American West. The goal of the Prescott Corral of Westerners International is to replace the romanticized picture of Western history often presented as "fact' in motion pictures and other fiction with well-researched, historically accurate presentations and publications.

Founded in 1962 as the 18th Corral of Westerners International, the Prescott Corral has a membership of over two hundred and consequently is one of the largest in the Westerners organization. The members of the Prescott Corral include both professional and amateur historians who do individual research, write articles, present programs, and listen to presentations by invited experts on varied aspects of the factual history of the American West. While, as noted, some of our members are experienced professional historians, teachers or writers, others are simply individuals who grew up in the Southwest and have more than a passing interest in the history of the area. There are also those who have migrated from different parts of the United States and are intrigued by the opportunity of acquiring knowledge about the region that they now call home. 

The international organization to which the Prescott Corral is affiliated was founded in 1944 through the efforts of Leland Case, a Chicagoan, who at the time was the editor of The Rotarian, the monthly publication of Rotary International. Case had grown up in the West and was concerned that that the West was being depicted inaccurately the writers, artists, cartoonists and motion picture producers of his day. In his view, the real story of the West was not be told or preserved. Seeking to rectify the discontinuity between fact and fiction as it related to the history of the West, Case interested other Chicagoans of like mind and established the organization that became Westerners International. From this beginning a crest of interest manifested itself in cities throughout the country. Many inquiring citizens were of much the same mind as Case. Soon Chapters of Westerners International, or as they are called Corrals, sprang up in Denver, St. Louis, Los Angeles, New York City, Tucson and far off Laramie, Wyoming. Within ten years the desire for reality in the story of Western history had crossed the Atlantic and Corrals of the organization were established in several European cities in the mid fifties. There are now over 100 Westerners International Corrals with at least 4500 members in the United States and over twenty others in such countries as England, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Japan, Mexico and Canada, each one dedicated to the exploration of the factual history of Western North America rather than the pervasive created history represented by popular fiction, panoramic cinema and the virtual reality of the world of television. 

Word of this movement reached Prescott in the early sixties. Dr. Charles Franklin Parker, then the minister of the First Congregational Church (and subsequently the founder of Prescott College) arranged for a professor from the University of Arizona to talk about Westerners International to a group of Prescott men he had brought together at the Hassayampa Hotel on November 10, 1961. The ten men present were stimulated by the presentation and intrigued by the challenge of establishing an affiliate of this organization called the Westerners. As a result, in May 1962 the Prescott Corral of Westerners International was formed. The Corral's original membership list included such well-known residents of the area, with a true interest in Western History, as Budge Ruffner, Gail Gardner, Danny Freeman, Bruce Fee, Norman Fain, George Phippen, Bob Kieckhefer and Harold James. Of this initial group the only remaining active member is Bruce Fee who was made Sheriff, or President, in 1966.

In only five years after its founding the Prescott Corral was chosen as having the most outstanding activities serving to enhance the historic awareness of its community of any Westerners International group in the country. Since then this award has been given to this local group on five more occasions. Moreover, local members and speakers have been recognized nationally for presenting the best paper on Western History on several occasions. For example, in 1999 Bill Bork, a 1925 graduate of Prescott High School whose mother was born in Prescott, received this award for a paper he gave on "The Impact of Wild West Culture in Germany". 

During the past forty-two years the Prescott Corral has presented over 500 programs to its members. These programs have included a myriad of subjects, including papers on the early founders of the area; Native Americans; immigrant-explorers; Hispanic control of the Western North America; exploration and development of natural resources; and many other interesting vignettes of the lives of the movers and shakers that created Prescott. 

Frequently Corral members have had the opportunity to hear programs given by those who are descended from the earliest residents of the area or have been a part in the evolution of the community. Nowhere else has this information been presented. These presentations relate to the very foundation of the events their ancestors experienced as they arrived in this raw frontier seeking mineral resources, free land, or, simply, another start in life. The Corral's programs have enabled its members to obtain a better understand of the way in which the Territory of Arizona attained Statehood and how the various components of the economic evolution of this hostile arid environment was accommodated by the hardy pioneers of the past. In addition to this wide variety of monthly programs, members of the organization have had an opportunity to participate in field trips to sites of historic interest and for at least the past fifteen years the Corral has held an annual cook outs at a regional ranch or other site of historic interest. The mission of the Prescott Corral is to promote interest in the history and culture of Yavapai County and Western North America. It is primarily organized for educational purposes. Consistent with that purpose, the Prescott Corral, starting in 1972, has given financial support to history-based projects and organizations within the community, including Prescott Public Library, Smoki Museum, Sharlot Hall Museum, Prescott Valley Historical Society, and Phippen Museum. 

The Corral meets, as a rule, on the first Friday of each month. The meetings include a social hour, dinner and a program. The meetings are open only to members of the Corral and their guests. Any person who has a sincere and dedicated interest in Western history and who would like to learn more about the Prescott Corral or Westerners International generally should contact Sheriff Fred Veil (443-5580 or fveil@cableone.net) or the Westerners International representative Al Bates (771-0358 alandjoy@cableone.net) whose advice and assistance in preparing this article is gratefully acknowledged. 

(Bob Stragnell is a retired medical cardiologist who has been an active member of Westerners International in Los Angeles and Prescott since 1959. He has been a volunteer at Sharlot Hall Museum and was President of the Board of Phippen Museum and founded E Clampus Vitus in Arizona.) 



Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb143f1i1). Reuse only by permission.
The charter group of the Prescott Corral of Westerners International met on November 10, 1961. Over the last 43 years this group has grown to over 200 members, have regular monthly meetings, and donates money to local organizations that promote history.