Baddest Troop Alive

There was a new gang in the ‘hood, Troop 1135. How did it survive? And did it make a difference? Baddest Troop Alive is the story of inner city black and Hispanic Boy Scouts and their young naïve white scoutmaster. The troop spanned the ten years following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968, a time of civil unrest.

“Get whitey!” they chanted marching toward their Redwoods campsite in the dimming light of dusk, wielding clubs and rocks. They were Troop 1135, mostly African-American inner city Boy Scouts. Whitey was their scoutmaster. Was this for real? It sure looked like it. In 1968, just three years after the Watts Riot, 21-year-old UCLA student Steve Hauser started Troop 1135 in the heart of the riot area of South Central Los Angeles. What began as a ragtag mix of boys with a penchant for disruptive antics and racial distrust, evolved into a cohesive Boy Scout troop – a vehicle for fun and character development. Baddest Troop Alive is the story of inner city Boy Scouts and their young naïve white scoutmaster. Former scouts’ share thoughts about their experiences and what they did with what they learned when they grew up. It is a personal story of growth, both in the boys and in their white leader, within the larger story of the civil rights movement.

Steve Hauser was born and raised in Redlands, California. In his family of four boys, he was the fourth Eagle Scout and senior patrol leader of his church’s scout troop, with his father serving as scoutmaster for many years. He started Troop 1135 in South Central Los Angeles while still a student at UCLA and continued leading the troop for nearly ten years. After graduating from UCLA and Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, he spent seven years as a Los Angeles Deputy Public Defender before opening his own criminal defense, personal injury and civil rights law practice in Santa Monica. As he winds down his practice to pursue writing full time, he and his wife Michele enjoy their six grandchildren, writing, cooking, travel, golf, charity work, church, and music. He continues to counsel and mentor many of his former scouts, but counts most of them as his good friends and extended family.