Figure 1.--Here the Scouts are at the beginning of their cross-country trip in 1929 with their truck. Put your cursor on the image for a photograph of the boys on the trip.

We notice quite a number of Boy Scout groups taking trips during the 1910s-40s. Some were longer than others. This is a particularly lengthy trip. These are some photographs from an album documenting a 1929 cross-country Boy Scout trip. The album contained more than 200 photos taken by members of the group, plus about 10 or so stock photos of western scenes in addition to newspaper clippings from papers at the start of trip and during the trip. The boys made the trip during July and August 1929, their school vacation. The group included 12 Boy Scouts of different ages and and their Scout leader, the school principal of Pompton Plains, New Jersey. It was a 9,000 mile tent camping trip by truck out West and around the United Strates. They rode in a new Reo Speed Wagon truck and took their mascot--an English bull dog. The Scouts went to Niagara Falls, North Platt, Cheyenne, Denver, Pikes Peak, The Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Yosemite, Salt Lake City, Yellowstone Park, and places in between. This first trip was followed by yearly trips for about 10 years through the 1930s. Also included but not pictured are a couple brochures advertising future trips - "Boys, A 9,000 Mile Trip For $190." The album was a typical black paper album. The photos are mostly accompanied by descriptions written in white ink on the black paper.