The Bandidos were founded by 36-year-old dockworker Donald Eugene Chambers on March 4, 1966, in San Leon, Texas.[7] He named the club in honor of the Mexican bandits who lived by their own rules and he recruited members from biker bars locally in Houston as well as in Corpus Christi, Galveston, and San Antonio.[7] Like other outlaw motorcycle clubs (Outlaws, the Pagans, and the Hells Angels), they call themselves "One Percenters", a phrase coined by the former president of the American Motorcyclist Association who once stated that 99 percent of motorcyclists were law-abiding citizens and 1 percent "outlaws."[7] By the early 1970s, the club had over one hundred members, including many Vietnam War veterans.[7] The majority of the club consists of Caucasian males and Hispanics, but African Americans are admitted.[7] Their motto, as reported in US chapter website, is "We are the people our parents warned us about."
