L.S.A.

Lone Scouts of America

In January of 1915, after William D. Boyce had left the B.S.A., he founded The Lone Scouts of America, aimed at boys on farms and other rural areas where the population was not large enough to support a regular Boy Scout Troop.  He created a special weekly newspaper just for the new group called Lone Scout, and to jump start the effort he gave each of his newsboys around the country free membership.  By 1920 the organization was in financial trouble and the newspaper became a monthly magazine.  Perry Emerson Thompson (P.E.T.) drew illustrations for it, and also executed a series of postcards that were available exclusively through the magazine.  Faced with insurmountable debt, the Lone Scouts merged with the B.S.A. in 1924.