STP Family ft. Deputy Dawg 1970 Boulder, CO. Medicine Ball Caravan
Deputy Dawg was a member of the STP family, a notorious group of hippie extremists who settled in Boulder, CO., in the late 1960s. These flower children were known less for peace and love and more for drugs and mayhem.
They quickly made a name for themselves in the town of Nederland, CO., where they were known to terrorize the locals, aggressively panhandle and cause mayhem in public places.
One member named Deputy Dawg (real name: Guy Howard Goughnor) had been arrested at least a dozen times in the area by the time he vanished on July 17 1971.
His body wouldn't turn up for weeks. When it finally did, it would kick off a decades-long investigation that would finally end with a near death bed confession by the former Marshal.
But the plot doesn't end there, one of Deputy Dawg's former STP family members never forgot his murder and would wait 45 years to try and get revenge.
David Michael Ansberry, a former member of the STP family and friend of Deputy Dawgs, attempted to bomb the Nederland police station in 2016.
He pleaded guilty of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against a person or property, according to CBS News.
https://www.twosleuthspodcast.com/post/the...
The STP Family: I remember the STP Family well! And it truly seems like only yesterday.
In the summer of 1970 in Boulder, Colorado this pack of ebullient, edgy, in-your-face hippies perfected the art of living on the outskirts of society. They were a hard-doping, hard-drinking, dumpster-diving, wheeling-and-dealing street theatre circus unto themselves. Talk about living close to the ground: The STP family brought the ground up to meet us.
Foolish to some, courageous to many, The STP Family lives in counterculture infamy. I was proud to have met many of them, particularly Deputy Dawg, RIP.
But don't take my word for it. Do your own research. The STP Family lives!
https://outdoorhome.blogspot.com/2004/11/s...
Dr. Bob McFarland - a local activist who created the first free clinic for hippies in Boulder - talks about the tensions between conservative residents and transients in the late 60's / early 70's. He says it was known in town that gangs of "hippy hunters" were killing people in the mountains. The Daily Camera archives back this up and also mention gangs of "hippy hunters" in town consisting largely of Boulder High students.
We also hear from Ted Tedesco, who was the city manager at the time. He recalls that there was a particular group of hippies creating chaos on the Hill. Threatening to shoot people, urinating on storefronts, defecating on the sidewalk, etc. He says hundreds of people showed up to a council meeting demanding that the police beat up the hippies and throw them in jail. He was hesitant to order the police to do such things and told the public that there is only so much city government can do about individual behavior.
Father James McKeown, a local activist, talks about how the hippies "took over" Central Park. People were sleeping on the grass, defecating, and having sex next to the creek. A church group tried to put bathrooms and BBQ pits in but council shut them down due to public outcry.
I post this partially because I am fascinated by local history, but also to give some context to the situation we are facing today. Boulder has a dark history when it comes to tensions between "outsiders" and residents and we could do well to learn from it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/boulder/comments/...
VICE: The Filthiest People Alive https://www.vice.com/en/article/qbzbx5/the...
NOTE: This is an excerpt from Medicine Ball Caravan