My grandparents had a lot of the Sugar Creek Gang books and the bookshelf was always the first thing I went to when we visited for the weekend. There seemed to be a never-ending supply of the books. But in all actuality there were only 36 of these wonderful adventure books. Much time was spent finding treasures, solving mysteries, and just hanging out with the Sugar Creek Gang.
The books were written by Paul Hutchens. The Gang consisted of Bill who narrates, Poetry who recites poems no matter what, Dragonfly as the nerdy kid who is allergic to everything, Little Jim as the youngest member, Big Jim who is the leader, Circus, and GeekyTexan. OK, not really. But I could’ve been! Should’ve been!
Here’s the list of books. Some were re-printed with new titles. Amazon has them individually or in sets (affiliate link). Let me know if you need to know which ones I already have so you know which ones to send me as a gift! Mr. Hutchens also wrote books for adults and I have been borrowing one for something like two years from my grandmother and haven’t read it yet (sorry Grandma!).
| # | Original Title | Reprint Title | Published |
| 1 | The Sugar Creek Gang | The Swamp Robber | 1940 |
| 2 | We Killed A Bear | The Killer Bear | 1940 |
| 3 | Further Adventures of the Sugar Creek Gang | The Winter Rescue | 1940 |
| 4 | The Sugar Creek Gang Goes Camping | The Lost Campers | 1941 |
| 5 | The Sugar Creek Gang in Chicago | The Chicago Adventure | 1941 |
| 6 | The Sugar Creek Gang in School | The Secret Hideout | 1942 |
| 7 | Mystery at Sugar Creek | The Mystery Cave | 1943 |
| 8 | The Sugar Creek Gang Flies to Cuba, On Palm Tree Island | The Palm Tree Manhunt | 1944 |
| 9 | One Stormy Day at Sugar Creek | One Stormy Day | 1946 |
| 10 | The New Sugar Creek Mystery | The Mystery Thief | 1946 |
| 11 | Shenanigans at Sugar Creek | Teacher Trouble | 1947 |
| 12 | The Sugar Creek Gang Goes North | Screams in the Night | 1947 |
| 13 | Adventure in an Indian Cemetery | The Indian Cemetery | 1947 |
| 14 | The Sugar Creek Gang Digs for Treasure | The Treasure Hunt | 1948 |
| 15 | North Woods Manhunt | The Thousand Dollar Fish | 1948 |
| 16 | The Haunted House at Sugar Creek | The Haunted House | 1949 |
| 17 | Lost in a Sugar Creek Blizzard | Lost in the Blizzard | 1950 |
| 18 | The Sugar Creek Gang on the Mexican Border | On the Mexican Border | 1950 |
| 19 | The Green Tent Mystery at Sugar Creek | The Green Tent Mystery | 1950 |
| 20 | 10,000 Minutes at Sugar Creek | The Bull Fighter | 1952 |
| 21 | Trap Line Thief at Sugar Creek | The Trapline Thief | 1953 |
| 22 | Blue Cow at Sugar Creek | The Blue Cow | 1953 |
| 23 | Watermelon Mystery at Sugar Creek | The Watermelon Mystery | 1955 |
| 24 | Old Stranger’s Secret at Sugar Creek | The Tree House Mystery | 1957 |
| 25 | The Sugar Creek Gang at Snow Goose Lodge | The Timber Wolf | 1957 |
| 26 | Sugar Creek Gang Goes Western | Western Adventure | 1957 |
| 27 | We Killed a Wildcat at Sugar Creek | The Killer Cat | 1958 |
| 28 | Down a Sugar Creek Chimney | Locked in the Attic | 1959 |
| 29 | Wild Horse Canyon Mystery | The Colorado Kidnapping | 1959 |
| 30 | Runaway Rescue at Sugar Creek | The Runaway Rescue | 1960 |
| 31 | The Worm Turns at Sugar Creek | The Cemetery Vandals | 1961 |
| 32 | Sleeping Beauty at Sugar Creek | The Battle of the Bees | 1962 |
| 33 | The Case of the Missing Calf | 1964 | |
| 34 | Howling Dog in the Sugar Creek Swamp | The Ghost Dog | 1968 |
| 35 | White Boat Rescue at Sugar Creek | The White Boat Rescue | 1969 |
| 36 | The Brown Box Mystery | 1970 |
So you’ll know what you’re missing, here’s how The Swamp Robber (affiliate link) described some of the gang members (remember, Bill is narrator):
“Say, Big Jim was strong, almost as strong as my Dad, I reckon. He used almost perfect English. He knew exactly what to do in case anybody fainted.”
“Well, Poetry was always acting mysterious and was going to be a detective someday he said.”
“And then there was Circus Browne whose real name was Daniel August Browne. Whyever his parents wanted to give him such a long-legged name for, I don’t know. We called him Circus because he was so acrobatic.”
“There was Little Jimmy Foote, who was the littlest one of us and who always obeyed his parents. He was sort of mascot for us ’cause he was so good.”
In 2001, we saw the revitalization of the Sugar Creek Gang with an additional six books (affiliate link) written by Mr. Hutchens’ daughter, Pauline Hutchens Wilson. I don’t know if they didn’t take off with today’s audience or what. The Sugar Creek Gang represented a simpler time, where games and adventures were imaginary and the only requirement would be the willingness to hang outside with your friends until you were called in because it was getting dark. Now, if they made a Sugar Creek Gang video game…..
And what I did not know (yes, the list of what I don’t know is huge and unwieldy) until I was starting to write this post about the warm fuzzy happiness that is Sugar Creek, is that there are five adventures on DVD (affiliate link). I kid you not. So check out the links and I’ll share with your kids, or that kid you still are at heart, the greatness of the Sugar Creek Gang.