Life, 1920-02-05 · page 15 of 52
Life — February 5, 1920 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a poem celebrating the Boy Scout movement, illustrated with period wilderness imagery. The text praises scouts for embodying ideals like loyalty, cleanliness, moral strength, and pioneering spirit—referencing historical figures (Washington, Carson, Crockett, Boone) who blazed trails westward. The decorative border features scouts in various outdoor activities: hiking, paddling canoes, and woodcraft. A central medallion shows a scout in uniform. The poem's message is straightforward rather than satirical: scouts represent American virtue and will "tread it plain for the millions to come." This reflects early-20th-century enthusiasm for the Boy Scout organization as character-building and patriotic. The artwork romanticizes wilderness exploration and American frontier mythology as models for youth development.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Che Scout Grail \WAsHINcTON blazed it through wilderness snows, Wearing the hunting-shirt, bearing the pack, Braving the winter and treacherous foes, Out to the turbid Ohio and back. Carson and Crockett and Boone and the rest, Hunter and fighter and bold pioneer, Carried it southward and carried it west— Follow their moccasins, treading it clear! Over the mountains they furthered the way; Still in the distance new ranges were blue. Sure with the rifle and hatchet were they, Deft with the paddle and buoyant canoe. Guarding the hamlet that rose in the glen, Guarding the train from the savages’ wrath, Living free-hearted and dying like men— What must they be who would follow their path? Cleanly in body and cleanly in mind, Loyal in all things and patient and strong, Cheerful and resolute, gentle and kind, Stalwart in shielding the weaker from wrong. Whether it lead through the peace of the vale, Whether through cities that bustle and hum, Scouts of America, follow that trail, Treading it plain for the millions to come! Arthur Guiterman, ie PeeZZz comicbooks.com