SLO County’s first highway patrol officers rode motorcycles and faced down bootleggers
You never know who else is out on the highway.
Self-proclaimed Gonzo and immersive writer Hunter S. Thompson once suggested a Cal Poly audience try “acid and gasoline.”
It was a response to an audience question: “In your opinion, what is the best high?”
Thompson’s life advice was a dose of LSD followed by a drive along the Big Sur coast, preferably in a convertible.
The scenic trip draws people from all over the world to enjoy. An acid trip layered on top of that sounds like insanity on wheels with no guardrails.
When a driver makes a curious maneuver on the freeway, I usually attribute it to someone who has gone full Gonzo.
As early California highways improved from mud trails to roads and the restless population became more mobile, there was a need for mobile law enforcement.
Speeders, bootleggers, accidents and breakdowns called for law enforcement that could travel beyond city limits or county borders.
A photo from the files offers a glimpse of the early days of the California Highway Patrol, and it leaves us with more questions than answers.
The May 15, 1956, Centurama edition of the Telegram-Tribune published a photo showing four motorcycle officers and their boss.
The published photo shows the officers seated on their bikes, but the black and white print in our file folder shows everyone standing.
A scrawled cursive note on the back appears to say “first county patrol.”
The published caption placed the date at 1927, but the CHP’s website says the agency was formed two years later on Aug. 14, 1929.
One of Guy Crabb’s books on “100 Years of Downtown Businesses” shows the Berkemeyer Garage (seen in the background) as being on the corner from 1930-1940. It is where where Mo’s Smokehouse is today.
The photo was made on the grounds of the old courthouse before it was demolished by Alex Madonna in 1940.
The bikes appear to be four different models, with wide tires to navigate the rough roads and wide fenders to deflect mud and rain.
The uniforms look similar to World War I military style.
The officers are from the left: S.J. Lusardi, Roy Alonzo Porter, Chet Fulton, George Donnelly and Capt. Cleon Kyte.
The caption from 1956 said officer Porter had died two years earlier.
Porter had been forced to retire due to injury in 1930 after he was run off the highway near Cambria by bootleggers.
Prohibition ended in 1933, so the widest time window for this photo is 1927-30.
The Aug. 4, 1922, San Luis Obispo Tribune says that Roy A. Porter was appointed as a motor traffic officer with the San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s office, so apparently before the California Highway Patrol, the counties were responsible for highway safety.
The picture caption also said that the last of the motorcycles were replaced by patrol cars only recently — meaning sometime in the mid-1950s.
Today motorcycles are again part of the CHP fleet, as well as airplanes and helicopters.
The helicopter crews perform life-saving rescues and they make it harder for bootleggers to get away.
This story was originally published April 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
