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In 1933, a man and six kids went on an 850-mile trek through the Dakotas. Why?
The 27-day journey across the Dakotas mixed hitchhiking, freight trains and foot travel as strangers helped keep the group moving.
- In June 1933, Earl Neller led six children aged 8 to 13 on an 850-mile trek across the Dakotas, traveling on foot and by hitching rides over 27 days during the Great Depression.
- Prior to departing, relatives criticized Neller as "crazy and irresponsible," predicting he would "end up killing the kids," but the 39-year-old World War I veteran insisted the trip was "for the experience we can get out of it."
- Neller carried a 50-pound pack while each child bore about 20 pounds; they toured the Corn Palace, where locals stared at the group, whom Neller noted "did not seem hardened" despite hardship.
- The journey gained wider attention in 2022 after South Dakota archivist Matthew Reitzel recovered Neller's 86-page travelogue and photographs, describing the archival find as a "eureka moment" for historical confirmation.
- Neller's daughter Elaine later called the journey a "trip of a lifetime," writing, "We know that the value of this experience, for the young children, and yes, also Earl, cannot be measured.
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Duluth News Tribune+16 Reposted by 16 other sources
In 1933, a man and six kids went on an 850-mile trek through the Dakotas. Why?
In the depths of the Great Depression, Earl Neller, his three children, and three of their friends headed west on foot, with a camera, diaries ... and a few weapons.
·Cherokee County, United States
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Total News Sources17
Leaning Left0Leaning Right8Center6Last UpdatedBias Distribution57% Right
Bias Distribution
- 57% of the sources lean Right
57% Right
C 43%
R 57%
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