- FULL NAME
- William Carlisle Simpson, Jr.
- BORN
- 1934
- DIED
- 1977 (43 years old)
- HOME
- Riverside, CA
- OCCUPATION
- Owner, Simpson's Ready-Mix
- ORGANIZATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS
- Founding Member, Rattlers MC (January 1962)
- Charter Member, Barstow Chapter (Rattlers MC) (January 1962)
- Charter Member, Riverside Chapter (Rattlers MC) (August 1962)
- ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS
- Harry Sutcliffe
- Wayne Conrad
ABOUT
In the early 1960’s Junior Simpson was a young construction worker from Riverside, He was in Barstow, CA, working on the massive highway construction projects that would soon transform the area’s two main highways into Interstate freeways (Routes 66 and 91 would become Insterstates 40 and 15). Out of the hundreds of workers manning the shovels, graders and earth-movers, Junior and four of his co-workers shared a passion for motorcycles and fast living. Their mutual interest would soon take the form of the Rattlers MC and it’s first chapter, Barstow.
But Junior didn’t last long in that small desert town. His activities had brought him to the attention of the local cops too many times, plus he longed to return to the faster life of the bigger city. And he had ambition to start his own company rather than work for the man for the rest of his life. But he loved what he had helped to create in Barstow with the Rattlers, so upon returning to Riverside he looked up a couple of his old riding buddies and chartered a new chapter of the club. Meetings were held in the back yards or garages of whichever member’s ride needed to be worked on most, while the other members stood around drinking beer and telling lies. Within five years of returning to Riverside, Junior had made good on his ambition to start his own company when he founded Simpson Construction in 1967, on a large rented lot in the north section of town.
From the beginning of his company, Junior vowed that his beloved Rattlers MC would always have a home there, a promise that has survived to this day and through several generations of Junior’s heirs. The company was successful enough that Junior soon bought the property it sat on. And the company would eventually grow and morph into Simpson's Ready-Mix. But throughout the years and through all these changes, one thing remained constant: the small concrete-block building at the back of the lot was the enduring home of the Rattlers MC, Riverside Chapter.
The Riverside Chapter soon outgrew Barstow and became the dominant chapter in the club, nuch to the enduring chagrin of Junior and most other Riverside Rattlers over the years. Though he didn’t wear the “No. 1” patch above the rocker on his cut, he still flew the “Bastow Original” threads on the chest of his vest. And Junior continued to be the club’s biggest champion, seeing it grow to 18 chapters spread across the Southwest, in the fifteen short years before his death in 1977, at only forty-three years of age.
Despite his fast, violent alternate life as an outlaw biker, it was a job-site accident that claimed Junior’s life at such a young age. Though the circumstances of his death were unlikely, the incident was ruled an accident. In the ensuing years, Junior Simpson’s sons and grandsons have continued to honor his legacy with the Rattlers MC by continuing the arrangement that gives the club it’s home.
Wayne Conrad of course knew Junior, as he had patched into the club a couple of years before Junior’s passing. But Tillman hadn’t known him. Only old Harry Sutcliffe remains, of the Rattlers who were around back when Junior Simpson was still kicking ass and taking names.
From the pages of Blood Out:
Junior Simpson had been one of the charter members of the Riverside chapter of the Rattlers Motorcycle Club back in the early 60’s, less than a year after the original chapter was chartered up in Barstow. Junior had worked in construction. When he started his own company in 1967, which would eventually become Simpson’s Ready Mix, he carved out a small space on the company property for the Rattlers to use as their headquarters. Junior passed away in 1977, but by then the Rattlers were firmly established in the yard, in a symbiotic relationship that benefited both organizations.
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