In 1968 Steve Hauser started a Boy Scout troop in Willowbrook, between Watts and Compton. For ten years he took the boys of Troop 1135 camping, to Mexico, to the redwoods, and down the middle of Orange Street in Redlands.
Decades later he went back and found them.
Suddenly, Terry shouted, “Troop, chant!”
Troop chant? What’s this?
Seventeen mostly soprano voices (with LeRoy’s basso) shouted out in unison:
“Eleven thirty-five, baddest troop alive!
Eleven thirty-five, baddest troop alive!”
I could hardly believe it. They’d obviously been practicing on their own.
The boys, in their own words
Interviews, 2000 to 2002“Our troop was lousy and unprepared. I was determined not to let that happen again.”
“What would a meeting be if we didn’t act up and make you turn red?”
“I was real excited about going down to Mexico. I’d never even been outside of L.A. before. I was a little afraid, but I trusted you to get us back.”
Baddest Troop Alive
The Story of Inner City Troop 1135Five parts and twenty-one chapters, from the first meeting in 1968 to the day Steve handed the troop to Mr. Durham. The scouts speak for themselves throughout, in interviews given decades later.
The book ends with the men. Steve went back and found sixty-three of them.
“I have taken a stand on my beliefs against the Vietnam War, passed the California State Bar exam, defended murderers in court, and run for public office. But leading ‘the baddest troop alive’ was the hardest thing I have ever done.”
After the troop: the Kimball novels
About the novels →Steve spent his career as a criminal defense lawyer, specializing in death penalty cases. The Kimball novels follow a death penalty defense lawyer through the courts of Los Angeles.
The Baddest Troop Alive!
A musical. Book by Steve Hauser, music and lyrics by Danny and Jimmy Faragher, directed by Laura Stribling.
About the play →Sunday, November 1, 2026
A reading of The Baddest Troop Alive!
The Illusion Magic Lounge, Santa Monica · 7 pm
Steve speaks to bookstores, law schools, community groups and congregations about the troop and about defending people the state means to execute.
Book a talk →