The Westerners movement was started in Chicago in 1944 by Leland D. Case, editor of “The Rotarian Magazine,” and Elmo Scott Watson, newspaperman and educator. Slowly, the Westerners movement grew.
The Denver Posse was organized in January 1945 followed by Corrals in St. Louis and Los Angeles in 1946; New York City in 1952; Tucson, Laramie, and the Black Hills Corrals in 1953. In 1954, the Potomac Corral was founded in Washington, D.C., and the first overseas Corral was established in England.
The year 1955 saw Corrals or Posses established in Spokane, Wash., Kansas City, Mo., and in Paris, France. Since then, more than 138 Corrals and Posses --- some cities have more than one -- have been organized throughout the United States and overseas.
The Westerners and the Western History Association
In 1961, Westerners played a significant role in helping to organize the Western History Association. Westerner John A. Carrol, then a history professor in Arizona, sent out the call to historians and buffs alike to gather in Santa Fe, N.M. Other Westerners including historian Ray Billington, Chicago newspaperman Don Russell, and historians John Porter Bloom and Robert M. Utley of Washington, D.C. joined in the successful drive that organized the Western History Association and established close informal ties between WHA and The Westerners, many of whom remain members of WHA.
WI sponsors a breakfast for Westerners each year at the annual WHA conference. WI uses the occasion to present awards to:
- the most outstanding Corrals and Posses
- the best non-fiction Western book written by a Westerner and published the previous year
- the best presentations or programs delivered to a Corral or Posse during the previous year
- the best published monograph or article dealing with the history of the American West.
Another tradition at the annual WHA Westerners breakfast is an auction of Western items, including books donated by Westerners and book publishers.