THE CAMPBELL 66 EXPRESS STORY
Many stories have been written about the history surrounding the development of the highway
system in the United States but few have created as much interest and romance as that about
what was often called the “ Mother Road”----- Route 66. And few of these stories and books
written about the old road could claim to be complete without telling the story of Campbell “66”
Express. Now just who could is going to be able to tell such a story? After all, Route 66 was
officially given its name by important citizens of the day who lived in Springfield, Missouri in 1926
and Campbell “66” Express first got it start in the same place and the same year and both of
these entities existed over the next period of 60 years. Well it looks like the task has fallen to
me- J. Bruce Crim. I will do my best to tell this story with the highest respect for the many men
and women of this period who toiled night and day to move the goods via truck over our beloved
old road.
Many stories have been written about the history surrounding the development of the highway
system in the United States but few have created as much interest and romance as that about
what was often called the “ Mother Road”----- Route 66. And few of these stories and books
written about the old road could claim to be complete without telling the story of Campbell “66”
Express. Now just who could is going to be able to tell such a story? After all, Route 66 was
officially given its name by important citizens of the day who lived in Springfield, Missouri in 1926
and Campbell “66” Express first got it start in the same place and the same year and both of
these entities existed over the next period of 60 years. Well it looks like the task has fallen to
me- J. Bruce Crim. I will do my best to tell this story with the highest respect for the many men
and women of this period who toiled night and day to move the goods via truck over our beloved
old road.
Many of the photos on this site have been copied from
the Camel Tracks. The Camel Tracks was an in house
monthly magazine that the general office published
each month. Here I am with Mrs. Frank Campbell and
Bill Pitt.
the Camel Tracks. The Camel Tracks was an in house
monthly magazine that the general office published
each month. Here I am with Mrs. Frank Campbell and
Bill Pitt.
One can find a connection between Route 66 and camels. In 1868 a lieutenant in the U. S. Army by the name
of Paul Beall led a unit of camel riding soldiers from New Mexico to the Arizona-California border. In addition to
proving that camels could be used successfully to move men and goods over far distances, he also conducted
a survey of that portion of a road that later would become Route 66. It would be years later that the camel
would appear once again and this time as a logo for a trucking company with the motto of “ Humpin’ to Please”.
Route 66 starts in Chicago, goes South to St. Louis then turns westward through Missouri and Oklahoma
continuing Southwest to Los Angeles. One could hardly make the trip on the portion of the road across Illinois,
Missouri and Oklahoma without seeing a Campbell “66” truck and it’s running camel logo. For many years, an
employee by the name of Bill Boyd, hand painted the camel logo more than 12,000 times. Careful observation
of Bill’s work would reveal that he seemed to give each camel a different personality in its face and one day he
added a puff of white in front of the camel’s nose, stepped back and called him “ Snortin’ Norton”. Many a
traveler upon seeing the familiar logo would either break out with a smile or a sarcastic smirk. A fifth grade girl
attending an elementary school in Birmingham, Alabama once wrote a letter to the Springfield General Office
pointing out that the camel on the trucks was incorrect. She knew that a camel does not run with its legs
stretched out. A camel runs with its front legs together and its back legs at the same time. She was correct but
Bill Boyd, being the true Ozark artist he was, knew how to make a camel logo work.
of Paul Beall led a unit of camel riding soldiers from New Mexico to the Arizona-California border. In addition to
proving that camels could be used successfully to move men and goods over far distances, he also conducted
a survey of that portion of a road that later would become Route 66. It would be years later that the camel
would appear once again and this time as a logo for a trucking company with the motto of “ Humpin’ to Please”.
Route 66 starts in Chicago, goes South to St. Louis then turns westward through Missouri and Oklahoma
continuing Southwest to Los Angeles. One could hardly make the trip on the portion of the road across Illinois,
Missouri and Oklahoma without seeing a Campbell “66” truck and it’s running camel logo. For many years, an
employee by the name of Bill Boyd, hand painted the camel logo more than 12,000 times. Careful observation
of Bill’s work would reveal that he seemed to give each camel a different personality in its face and one day he
added a puff of white in front of the camel’s nose, stepped back and called him “ Snortin’ Norton”. Many a
traveler upon seeing the familiar logo would either break out with a smile or a sarcastic smirk. A fifth grade girl
attending an elementary school in Birmingham, Alabama once wrote a letter to the Springfield General Office
pointing out that the camel on the trucks was incorrect. She knew that a camel does not run with its legs
stretched out. A camel runs with its front legs together and its back legs at the same time. She was correct but
Bill Boyd, being the true Ozark artist he was, knew how to make a camel logo work.
