[philmont] philmont 1959

Reading John's post about Philmont in 1959 leads me to share my own 50's Philmont recollection. As my tag line indicates, my youthful Philmont expeditions were in 1970 and 1972. By that time, the twelve day backpacking expeditions were preplanned and selected from a TREKS book.

I have a specific recollection of my grandfather (who passed away in 1967) showing me a Philmont brochure and asking me if I was interested in attending. What is unusual about this recollection is that I very clearly remember the brochure and its descriptions of the various Philmont "schedules". I now know that those programs were pioneered by Director of Camping George Bullock, who served in that position from 1947 to 1954.

If you have a copy of the excellent book Philmont, A Brief History of the New Mexico Scout Ranch, by Stephen Zimmer and Larry Walker, you can turn to page 68 and follow along:

     As Philmont's Director of Camping...George Bullock introduced an even wider range of backcountry
     camping experiences....[H]e projected each program as a "he-man" Western adventure in "the
     land of the mountain men". He referred to the programs as "schedules" and gave them names
     like Wagon Train, Cavalcade, and Kit Carson trek, filling them with horseback riding, burro
     packing, dutch oven cooking, and training in mountain camping, pioneering, and hiking.

According to Zimmer and Walker, Bullock's "schedules" continued until Jack Rhea introduced a new system for the 1956 season, where the backpacking program was standardized into 12 day expeditions, with each crew selecting its own route at logistics upon arrival at Camping Headquarters.

Getting back to my memory, on page 71 of Philmont, A Brief History, the authors print the 1951 brochure, which describes Bullock's "schedules" This is the brochure I remember my grandfather showing me, or one very similar.

As I was not born until 1954, and did not join Scouts until 1965, and as Bullock's "schedules" spanned 1947 through 1955, it is clear that the Philmont brochure caught my grandfather's attention long before the idea that I would be a Boy Scout was a gleam in anyone's eye, and that he carefully set this promotional material aside to show me at a very much later date.

Such is the power of the Ranch to stir the imagination.

Well, all for now.

Bill Sheehan, ASM
Troop 55, Pitman, N.J.
Philmont '70,'72, Autumn Adventure '01,'03,'05

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Received on Thu May 10 21:14:15 2007