In 1946, George Bullock took over as Filmont's program director.
He wanted to promote the location of the ranch and emphasize the lore of the Great American
West to attract more scouts.
He was the one that would really do a lot to bring Filmont to the nation.
Through advertising, only a he-man would come out to Filmont.
It was the land of the rugged individual, the true scout.
This is a period of Roy Rogers and kids growing up and watching the Lone Ranger, you know,
the Old West.
In the late 40s, Filmont would begin to offer more specific routes and programs.
The most popular was the 12-day expedition, in which scouts pulled boroughs 81 miles across
the entire ranch between the Ponial and Carson Maxwell base camps.
Another option was Calvacade, six days on horseback that rode to camps where tents were
already prepared.
The big one was the wagon train trek, 25 days that covered the entire ranch and included
hiking, furrow packing and horseback riding, while being followed by an authentic Western
chuck wagon.
You had all of your gear on this wagon.
At the same time, it was also a pain because you had to lug this wagon across the rugged
terrain of Filmont and there were very few trails at that point.
George Bullock's plan had worked.
The number of participants quadrupled in just three years to 8,400 scouts in 1951.
Scouts now had the opportunity to tour the mine at Cypher's Mine Camp and climb the
highest peak on the ranch, Clear Creek Mountain.
At the foot of the Tooth of Time, the stockade was built to serve as the base camp for the
six-day kick Carson backpacking trek.
In the backcountry, several camps such as Porcupine, Black Mountain and Bobien were
being opened.
Just as Wade Phillips had hoped for, Filmont offered opportunities for individual scouts
to participate in junior leader training programs or explore ranch and farming vocations through
work experience at Filmont.
While Filmont became a scouting paradise full of rugged adventure, their leaders learned
that the property also offered extensive adult leadership training.
The Filmont Training Center opened in 1951.
We needed a national training ground and that is what was started over at, what was his
former residence at the Via Femante.
That would be converted into a training center.
It wasn't until much later that that was returned into a museum as it is today.
For many years it was kept as the training center.
The kitchen and the maid quarters were turned into the dining hall and then each of the
rooms were a classroom.
