For the second year in a row, the Bisbee Corral of the Westerners has won the prestigious, international Heads Up Award for 2014. The Bisbee Corral is really Cochise County's Corral since it is the only active corral in the county and members come from Sierra Vista, Bisbee, Benson and Douglas.
Awards go to three outstanding corrals in 2014: one to a "large" active corral, one to a "small" active corral, and another to the outstanding overseas corral. Judging is based on programs, membership, publications, activities, and community contributions. Winning corrals receive an Old Joe plaque and certificate. The Corral participated in four outings around the county and provided western history articles to the Buckskin Bulletin, the magazine of the Westerners. Members spoke at the Arizona History Convention, assisted with educational programs and the preservation of Camp Naco and had articles published in True West and Wild West.
This is a club like no other that I know of. Instead of chapters we have "corrals" or "posses." There are no presidents or other such officers. The designated leader of each corral is the Sheriff and the other officers are Deputy Sheriff, Keeper of the Chips, Recorder of the Marks and Brands, Chuck Wrangler, Inkslinger and so on. We begin each gathering with a ritual salute: "Hello Joe, you old buffalo!" addressed to some depiction of a buffalo skull, the origin of which is lost to the mists of time.
Westerners International, which is a foundation, enjoys a symbiotic relationship with the Western History Association, a much more conventional organization of professional historians which sponsors a fairly substantial annual history conference. Westerners traditionally sponsors a reception at the conference where members from across the country get a chance to salute Old Joe together, witness the presenting of our annual awards and bid on donated books on a western theme to help pay for the awards.
Bisbee Corral of the Westerners meets at 7 p.m. first Thursday of each month at the Bisbee Senior Center, 300 Collins Rd., Bisbee (off of Naco Highway near Safeway). There is an optional 5-ish pre-meeting dinner at San Jose Lodge Restaurant on Naco Highway. This is Cochise County's corral and you're welcome to come and visit. For more information contact Sheriff Doug Hocking (doug@doughocking.com) or Christine Rhodes at 432-8350.