STEP 1 - Subscribe
Select your HomeScouting Adventure Club subscription. Choose a monthly payment option or subscribe for a year to save! NOTE: Your payment will begin in September for the HomeScouting Adventure club in exactly how many days the "free trial" states is left.
STEP 1 - Subscribe
Select your HomeScouting Adventure Club subscription. Choose a monthly payment option or subscribe for a year to save! NOTE: Your payment will begin in September for the HomeScouting Adventure club in exactly how many days the "free trial" states is left.
THE TRAIL
WELCOME TO THE TRAIL
Welcome to The Trail! Each month of the HomeScouting Adventure Club for Scouts BSA will be focused on a merit badge. Below you can complete all of the requirements for the merit badge below. Scouts are encouraged to find a local merit badge counselor to fully complete the merit badge. The HomeScouting Adventure Club will provide a limited number of merit badge counselors to have small group merit badge sessions available.
Looking for last month's merit badge? Click the Link Below!
Need a Merit Badge Counselor?
Click here to sign up for a virtual merit badge counseling sessions
JUNE ADVENTURE:
SCOUTING HERITAGE
BADEN-POWELL, SETON, BEARD, AND THE BIRTH OF SCOUTING
During the early years of the 20th century, growing numbers of people in England and America faced
serious hardships. The divide between rich and poor was widening, and most families were poor
or close to it. As people migrated to dirty, overcrowded cities, they were more likely to become
sick and less likely to be able to enjoy nature or get physical exercise. In fact, when Britain went
to war in 1899, more than half the men who volunteered for the army weren’t fit enough to fight.
Children on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean suffered right along with their parents. Beyond the
YMCA and some church-based programs, few organized activities or sports leagues were
available for them to enjoy. Even worse, at least 1.7 million American children under the age
of 16 worked full time—sometimes working as many as 12 hours a day in factories and on
farms. Many adults grew deeply concerned about the problems of English and American
children. Among them were Robert Baden-Powell, Ernest Thompson Seton, and Daniel
Carter Beard. Although these men grew up in different countries, they had much in
common. They loved the outdoors, they were fascinated by other cultures, and they
came completely by accident to the work of creating programs for boys and teens. First
separately and then together, they laid the foundations for the Scouting movement. Child laborer, circa early 20th century.
Robert S. S. Baden-Powell (1857–1941)
Known to his family as Stephe (pronounced “Stevie”), Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell was born in London, England, in 1857. He and his six siblings were raised by their mother after their father, a priest in the Church of England, died. Baden-Powell attended a boarding school called Charterhouse. During his time there, he spent more time drawing, acting, playing soccer, and exploring the woods around the school than he did studying. Because his grades weren’t good enough for him to attend college, he joined the British Army in 1876. Baden-Powell loved army life and moved quickly through the ranks. By the time Great Britain went to war against the Boers in South Africa in 1899, he was a colonel. That October, he was in charge of a town called Mafeking when the Boers laid siege to it.
For the next 217 days, his force of 800 soldiers held out against several thousand Boers.
Baden-Powell tricked the Boers into thinking he had a much larger force by making fake
cannons out of wood and moving his real guns around town to fire in different directions.
After successfully defending the city in the Siege of Mafeking in May 1900, Baden-Powell
became an instant celebrity back home. Boys throughout England began buying an army
manual he had written, called Aids to Scouting, and started playing soldier in their towns
and neighborhoods.
Baden-Powell also kept up the spirits of soldiers and townspeople with plays and athletic contests. In addition, he turned the boys of the town into a cadet corps to run errands and serve as lookouts. This surprised Baden-Powell when he returned home in 1903, and he began thinking about ways to adapt Aids to Scouting to a younger audience. Over the next few years, he observed youth programs like the Boys’ Brigade (which combined interdenominational Christianity with military training), talked to experts from the YMCA (founded in London in 1844), and even studied codes of conduct used by the ancient Greeks and by the knights of the Middle Ages. In 1906, Baden-Powell put what he’d learned into a paper called “The Boy Scouts—A Suggestion.” The next summer, he held an experimental camp on England’s Brownsea Island to test his ideas. The year after that, he published Scouting for Boys, the first Boy Scout handbook—and Scouting was born.
Scouting quickly spread through England, the British colonies, and beyond. As early as 1908, people in America were buying copies of Scouting for Boys and starting their own troops. A woman in Burnside, Kentucky, started a group she called the “Eagle Troop” that year. In 1909, a missionary from the Church of England founded a troop in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, to serve American Indians. Throughout the country, boys started their own troops and recruited their own adult leaders—or did without. This all happened before there was an official American Scouting organization. There were no Boy Scouts of America, no local councils, no camps, or other facilities. Those things would come later.
Ernest Thompson Seton (1860–1946)
One of the experts Baden-Powell talked with in 1906 was Ernest Thompson Seton, a British-born
Canadian citizen who’d recently founded the Society of Woodcraft Indians in Connecticut. Seton grew
up on his family’s Ontario farm and later worked for his older brothers on a farm they ran in Manitoba.
He didn’t care much for farming, but he loved learning about nature down to the tiniest detail. Once,
for example, he worked by candlelight to count every feather on a grackle’s wing.
Even though farming did not hold Seton’s interest, art did. A talented artist, Seton studied art in London and New York City, and he quickly established himself as a wildlife artist in the 1880s. In 1885, he produced 1,000 mammal drawings for the new Century Dictionary, and soon he began successfully writing about animals—not just drawing them. It was the success of his 1898 book Wild Animals I Have Known, a collection of stories he wrote about animal heroes and villains, that allowed him to build a small estate in Cos Cob, Connecticut. Seton taught this tribe of neighborhood boys everything from identifying birds to swimming and canoeing.
It was there on his Connecticut estate in 1902 that Seton’s journey to Scouting began. It started when he invited a group of neighborhood boys who tore down part of his fence to camp on his property over spring break. Seton, who was fascinated by American Indian culture, declared the boys a tribe, had them elect their own leaders, and taught them all sorts of Scouting skills. Soon that camp evolved into the Woodcraft Indians, which he launched in July 1902. Four years later, Seton published a handbook for the group called The Birch-Bark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians. He sent a copy to Baden-Powell, who used it as inspiration for his own handbook and boys’ program. But that wouldn’t be Seton’s last connection with Scouting—it would be only the start.
Daniel Carter Beard (1850–1941)
Ten years older than Seton, Daniel Carter Beard grew up in Covington, Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. He loved the outdoors, and he spent long hours exploring the woods and drawing nature sketches. He also loved hearing stories of American frontier life and could remember watching Conestoga wagons rolling west through Cincinnati. After working for awhile as an engineer and surveyor, Beard moved to New York City to attend art school. He provided illustrations for many books and magazines, including the first edition of Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court in 1889. It was there in New York that a chance encounter on a city street pushed Beard toward an interest in young people. One cold winter day, he happened on a group of newsboys—boys who sold newspapers instead of going to school—
sleeping on the pavement beneath a statue of Benjamin Franklin. That sight convinced him to begin what he called his “lifelong crusade for American boyhood.” In 1905, in the pages of Recreation magazine, Beard created a boys’ program called the Sons of Daniel Boone. It taught many of the same camping and nature skills as Seton’s Woodcraft Indians, but Beard used frontier language instead of Indian terms. Members organized themselves in “forts” and “stockades” and took on the names of such heroes as Daniel Boone (president), Kit Carson (treasurer), and Davy Crockett (secretary).
When Beard moved to Pictorial Review magazine after spending some time at Woman’s Home Companion, he renamed the group the Boy Pioneers of America. Then in 1909 he published a handbook, Boy Pioneers and Sons of Daniel Boone. Just like Seton, Beard would soon play a role in the Scouting movement.
BOYCE, THE BIRTH OF THE BSA, AND WEST
In the early 1900s, all sorts of programs were cropping up to serve American boys—including the Boy Scouts, the Woodcraft Indians, and the Sons of Daniel Boone. Soon, a man named William D. Boyce would stumble into the picture and forge these and other groups into the Boy Scouts of America, the country’s largest and most enduring youth organization.
William D. Boyce (1858–1929)
William Dickson Boyce could not have been more different from Baden-
Powell, Seton, and Beard. Although he enjoyed big-game hunting, he was
not much of an outdoorsman. Instead, he was a hardheaded businessman.
After leaving the Pennsylvania farm where he had grown up, Boyce
established himself in business, eventually becoming a successful newspaper
publisher in Chicago. By the early 1900s, his Saturday Blade was the largest weekly
paper in America. He lived in a four-story mansion and earned an estimated $350,000 a year (about $9.4 million in 2012 dollars). Boyce believed in treating his newsboys right and that their job of selling newspapers taught them about responsibility and manners and helped prepare them for the future. One reason for Boyce’s success was the army of up to 30,000 newsboys he employed across the country. He felt responsible for their welfare and saw the work as a way they could gain valuable skills and become self-sufficient.
In 1909, Boyce was in London, preparing for an African safari, when he lost his way in a thick fog. A boy of about 12 walked up and led him to his destination. Boyce offered him a tip, but the boy declined, explaining that he was just doing his daily good turn as a Boy Scout. Boyce was so impressed by the Scout that he decided to investigate further. He picked up a trunkful of publications at Scout headquarters and studied them during his safari. Six months later, on Feb. 8, 1910, he incorporated the Boy Scouts of America. Despite his interest in Scouting, Boyce had no interest in running the BSA. He quickly turned its leadership over to Edgar M. Robinson, the senior boys’ work secretary of the YMCA’s International Committee in New York. Boyce agreed to give the BSA $1,000 per month for operating expenses—provided that boys of all races and religions be included—but that was the extent of his involvement.
THE EARLY DAYS OF THE BSA
As Robinson and other prominent leaders worked to get the BSA organized, they reached out to Seton and Beard, along with two other men who’d started their own Scouting programs. All four agreed to merge their organizations into the BSA. Seton signed on as Chief Scout, while the other three agreed to serve as national commissioners. “Uncle Dan” Beard helped establish the outdoor skills that are still at the heart of Scouting, and Seton wrote a temporary handbook that combined his Birch-Bark Roll with Baden-Powell’s Scouting for Boys. In 1916, the U.S. Congress voted unanimously to give the BSA a federal charter, which would protect the program from such groups as William Randolph Hearst’s United States Boy Scouts. West is credited with persuading the BSA to add “brave, clean, and reverent” to the Scout Law. The organizers’ most important task, however, was to find a permanent leader for the BSA. The man they found had a deep interest in the welfare of young people—and virtually no contact with camping, nature, or other outdoor pursuits. His name was James E. West.
James E. West (1876–1948)
Orphaned at age 6 and crippled by tuberculosis, James Edward West didn’t have much of a childhood. He
had to fight for permission to attend school outside his orphanage—and only then if he kept up his many
chores. He worked hard, graduating from high school with honors and then working his way through law
school. Not surprisingly, West focused on children’s issues. He pushed for the creation of a juvenile court,
worked for organizations like the YMCA and the Washington Playground Association, and convinced
President Theodore Roosevelt to convene a children’s conference at the White House. He even volunteered
to defend a boy in court who had stolen his car! Given his background, West was a natural choice to serve
as the first Chief Scout Executive. He agreed to take the job for up to six months and stayed on for 32 years.
With West in place, the BSA was ready to grow from a scattered collection of independent troops into the
country’s largest and strongest youth organization.
West appeared on the cover of TIME magazine, which did an article about the logistical challenges of the first national Scout jamboree in 1937. This portrait of him, by Albert A. Rose, had been commissioned by the BSA in honor of West’s 25 years as Chief Scout Executive.
A CENTURY OF SCOUTING
It would take many, many pages to trace the history of Scouting from 1910 until today. This chapter will highlight just a few of the key events that happened in each decade since the BSA was founded.
1910s
Scouting’s first decade was a busy one. Boys’ Life and Scouting magazines published their first issues. In addition, the BSA held its first national Good Turn (promoting a safe and sane Fourth of July), and the Order of the Arrow was founded. When World War I started, Scouts sprang into action. In support of the war effort, they accomplished the following:
-
Planted 12,000 victory gardens
-
Collected 100 railroad cars of nut hulls and peach pits for the manufacture of gas-masks
-
Located 21 million board feet of black walnut trees for gunstocks and airplane propeller
-
Distributed more than 300 million pieces of government literature
-
Sold more than $355 million worth of Liberty Loan bonds and war savings stamps (That’s more than $7 billion in 2012 dollars.)
During WWI, Scouts sold more than $355 million worth of Liberty Loan bonds and war savings stamps. In today’s currency, that would be worth more than $7 billion.
What Are War Bonds? Wars are expensive to fight. By 1918, World War I was costing about $10 million an hour. To raise money for the war effort, the United States government borrowed from individual citizens by selling them war bonds and stamps. An advertising poster for Liberty Bonds read: “If you can’t enlist—invest. Buy a Liberty Bond. Defend your country with your dollars.” Scouts sold bonds under the slogan “Every Scout to Save a Soldier.”
HISTORY OF BOYS' LIFE MAGAZINE
In 1911, George S. Barton of Somerville, Massachusetts,
founded, edited, and published the first edition of Boys’
Life, calling it the “Boys’ and Boy Scouts’ Magazine.” He
was not referring to the Scouts we know today, but to the
three major competing Scouting organizations of the time:
the American Boy Scouts, New England Boy Scouts, and
the Boy Scouts of America. Barton’s first issue of Boys’ Life
filled eight pages and was published in January 1911. It
featured articles such as “Things All Scouts Should Know,”
about haversack packing and making a drinking-water
filter. However, very few of the 5,000 printed copies
actually reached the public. The more commonly accepted
first edition was published in March 1911. It featured 48 pages and a two-color cover. In 1912, Barton sold Boys’ Life to the BSA for $6,000 ($1 for each subscriber). The first Boys’ Life magazine edited by James E. West, then Chief Scout Executive, was the July 1912 issue. Barton listed two goals in starting Boys’ Life: first, to give Scouts a publication they could call their own; and second, to place in the hands of all boys a magazine “which they will not be afraid to have their parents see them reading.”
Those goals are reflected in today’s Boys’ Life, with its mix of news, nature, sports, history, fiction, science, comics, and Scouting. The magazine, which turned 100 in 2011, continues to offer entertaining stories and useful information to help its Scout readers achieve rank advancements faster.
1920s
American Scouts started exploring the world during the 1920s. Scouts from every state attended the First World Scout Jamboree in 1920. In 1923, the program that would become the Northern Tier National High Adventure Bases began in Minnesota. In 1928, Sea Scout Paul Siple accompanied Commander Richard E. Byrd on an 18-month voyage to Antarctica, starting a tradition that lives on in the BSA Antarctic Scientific Program.
During the 1920s, the BSA also started reaching out to young people in the African American, Native American, Hispanic, and Japanese communities. The racist Ku Klux Klan attacked the BSA for serving blacks, Catholics, and Jews.
1930s
The 1930s saw new opportunities for younger brothers and older Scouts alike. In 1930, the Cub Scout program began. In 1935, the BSA created Senior Scouting for the older boys. As one of the program options, Senior Scouts in troops were called Explorers. In 1938, Oklahoma oilman Waite Phillips began donating the land that later became the Philmont Scout Ranch.
The Great Depression gripped America through the decade. Scouts responded, helping those in need by collecting 1.8 million items of clothing, household furnishings, foodstuffs, and supplies. The first national Scout jamboree was held in 1937 in the nation’s capital, in the shadow of the Washington Monument. The 27,232 attendees enjoyed historical pageants, tours of Washington, D.C., landmarks, a three-game baseball series between the Washington Senators and the Boston Red Sox, and a review by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1940s
The biggest event of the 1940s was World War II, which affected every American family. Scouts were involved from the very start. Right after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Hawaiian Scouts set up first-aid stations and emergency kitchens, helped evacuate civilians, served as messengers, and manned 58 air-raid sirens around Honolulu. In 1942, Air Scouting, a program for boys 15 and older, was created in cooperation with the United States Army Air Corps. During WWII, Scouts collected nearly 26,000 tons of scrap metal—pots, pans, even old keys—that would be turned into warplanes.
Throughout the war, the BSA responded to 69 government requests for assistance. Scouts collected 210,000 tons of scrap metal, 590,000 tons of wastepaper, and enough milkweed floss to make nearly 2 million lifejackets. They distributed millions of government posters, created 184,000 Victory gardens, and planted nearly 2 million trees to replace those harvested for the war effort.
1950s
Early in the 1950s, Scouting membership reached 3 million for the first time. A few years later, as the first postwar babies reached Cub Scout age, membership began growing by 200,000 or more a year. Many of those new Cub Scouts tried out a new activity called the pinewood derby, which began in 1953. Boy Scouts also had the chance to participate in three national Scout jamborees. Explorers enjoyed an expanded program that let them explore careers and hobbies. The pinewood derby, which was created in 1953 by Cubmaster Don Murphy, remains one of Cub Scouting’s most popular traditions.
During the 1950s, Scouts participated in several national Good Turns. They collected 2 million pounds of clothing for domestic and foreign relief, distributed 1 million posters and 30 million doorknob hangers as part of a get-out-the-vote campaign, and delivered 40 million emergency handbooks and 50,000 posters prepared by the Office of Civil Defense Mobilization.
1960s
The 1960s opened and closed with Scouting firsts. In 1960, John F. Kennedy became the first former Scout to be elected president of the United States. Nine years later, Eagle Scout Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, fulfilling President Kennedy’s dream of sending men into space. Of the 12 men who would eventually walk on the moon, 11 were former Scouts. The BSA responded to changing times in 1965 by creating the Inner-City/Rural program to expand Scouting beyond the suburbs. Scouting officials created storefront Scout centers and worked aggressively to bring Scouting to urban areas—sometimes competing directly with gang leaders to win recruits.
1970s
As the 1970s dawned, BSA officials worried that Scouting was not in tune with the times, so they overhauled the Boy Scout program to put less emphasis on outdoor skills. The experiment didn’t last long. In 1978, the program returned to its roots with revised requirements. National Good Turns in the 1970s focused on the environment. Tens of thousands of Scouting units started recycling programs and planted trees to fight erosion. On one day alone in 1971, Scouts collected more than 1 million tons of litter.
The BSA’s high-adventure programs grew during the 1970s. In 1975, volunteers began a sailing program in Florida that would evolve into the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base. In the 1980s, the BSA began tackling what it called “the five unacceptables”: hunger, drug abuse, child abuse, illiteracy, and unemployment. In 1987, the BSA launched “Drugs: A Deadly Game,” which became the nation’s largest drug-abuse education campaign.
1980s
The 1980s saw the creation of several enduring Scouting traditions. In 1981, the National Scout Jamboree moved to Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, where the next eight jamborees would be held. In 1982, a new Scout uniform created by fashion designer Oscar de la Renta appeared; with minor changes it would remain the official uniform until 2008. Then in 1988, the BSA introduced the Scouting for Food National Good Turn, which collected 65 million containers of food in its first year alone.
Two Scouting programs got their start in the 1980s. Tiger Cubs began in 1982, and Varsity Scouting was officially adopted in 1984.
1990s
The biggest event of the 1990s was the creation of Venturing, a program for young men and young women, which took in the parts of the Exploring program that weren’t career-related. Exploring became the worksite-based part of Learning for Life, which also includes the BSA’s school-based programs. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the BSA began helping to restart the Russian Scouting movement, which had been outlawed after the Russian Revolution in 1917. In 1993, the BSA’s World Friendship Fund helped produce a new Russian Scout handbook. Scouting’s long-standing commitment to the environment took a big step forward in 1998, when the BSA adopted Leave No Trace as its guideline for protecting the environment while conducting outdoor activities.
2000s
The Boy Scouts of America reached a notable milestone in 2000 when the 100-millionth Scout was registered. In 2004, the BSA created the Good Turn for America program, joining forces with the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, and Habitat for Humanity to address the issues of hunger, homelessness/inadequate housing, and poor health. The decade’s biggest service project was ArrowCorps5 (pronounced “arrow core five”). During the summer of 2008, some 3,800 members of the Order of the Arrow contributed more than $5 million worth of labor on behalf of five national forests. It was the BSA’s largest national service project since World War II and the largest such project ever to benefit the U.S. Forest Service. In 2008, Scouts worked long, hard hours on the Order of the Arrow’s monumental service project, ArrowCorps5.
Late in the decade, the BSA began planning for a new permanent location for the national Scout jamboree and a new high-adventure base. Both can now be found at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in West Virginia. In 2016 the BSA published the 13th edition of the Boy Scout Handbook, a book that will inspire the Scouts who will write the story of Scouting’s second century. In June 2009, Anthony Thomas of Lakeville, Minnesota, became the two-millionth Eagle Scout. Anthony, who was adopted from Korea, counseled Korean adoptees at a Korean cultural camp and also assisted with Hurricane Katrina restoration in New Orleans.
_jfif.jpg)
1937 National Scout Jamboree, Washington DC
SCOUTING FOR EVERY AGE
When Scouting began, there was just one program—Boy Scouting—which served boys ages 12 through 17. That soon changed, however, as the BSA began developing programs first for teens and then for younger boys.
BOY SCOUTING
Pick up the 1911 Handbook for Boys, and you will find a program that is pretty similar to today’s Scout program. From its earliest days, Boy Scouting featured the same basic advancement program, troop structure, leadership positions, and focus on outdoor skills. That is not to say that things have stayed exactly the same, however. In fact, many details have changed over the years.
Advancement
Originally, Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class were considered the only
ranks. There was no Scout badge, and Life Scout, Star Scout, and Eagle Scout
(in that order!) were special awards that First Class Scouts could receive for
earning extra merit badges. The list of merit badges has changed many times to
reflect changes in Scout skills, hobbies, and career interests. Early Scouts could
earn merit badges in signaling, stalking (tracking), and taxidermy—in addition to such newfangled topics as automobiling and aviation. Scouts in the 1930s could earn a dozen or so merit badges related to agriculture, including Beef Production, Corn Farming, and Farm Layout and Building Arrangements. In the 1960s, as times changed, Atomic Energy (now Nuclear Science), Computers (now Digital Technology), Electronics, and Space Exploration were introduced.
From time to time, advancement requirements are modified to keep up with changing times. For example, starting in 2014, the Cooking merit badge is required to earn the Eagle Scout rank. Eagle Scout candidates can also now choose between earning the Environmental Science or Sustainability merit badges. Today’s Scouts can select from a wide range of more than 130 merit badge topics. Chess, Game Design, Geocaching, Inventing, Kayaking, Programming, Robotics, Scouting Heritage, Scuba Diving, Search and Rescue, Sustainability, and Welding have all been introduced since 2009.
Joining Requirements
At first, boys had to be 12 years old to join a Boy Scout troop. The minimum age was lowered to 11 in 1949, and in 1972 completion of the fifth grade was added as an option. Today, you must have completed the fifth grade and be at least 10 years old, or be 11 years old, or have earned the Arrow of Light Award in Cub Scouting and be at least 10 years old to join a troop. For most of the BSA’s history, youth had to complete the Tenderfoot rank requirements to become full-fledged Scouts. In 1972, however, a new set of joining requirements appeared. Prospective Scouts now had to understand the Scout Oath, Law, motto, slogan, salute, sign, handclasp, badge, and the Outdoor Code and complete a personal growth agreement conference (what we now call a Scoutmaster conference). Starting in 1978, Scouts who completed the joining requirements received the Boy Scout badge (which was not a rank, by the way). In 2019, girls were able to join the formerly know "Boy Scout" program which was renamed to Scouts BSA.
VARSITY SCOUTING
In 1984, the BSA introduced Varsity Scouting, a variation of Boy Scouting aimed at boys ages 14 but not yet 18 years old. Varsity Scouting uses sports terminology and offers high-adventure activities geared for older Scouts. Varsity Scouts use the same advancement program as Boy Scouts, but they can also earn the Denali Award.
SEA SCOUTS, EXPLORING, VENTURING, AND OTHER YOUNG-ADULT PROGRAMS
The development of Scouting is pretty straightforward, but the development of the BSA’s programs for older Scouts has more twists and turns than a detective novel.
Sea Scouts
The first older-youth program, Sea Scouting, came to the United States in 1912, when Arthur A. Carey of
Massachusetts started a Sea Scout group using his schooner, the Pioneer. The program limped along until
Commander Thomas J. Keane of Chicago took over in 1922. Keane revamped the program, introducing an
advancement program that included four ranks: Apprentice, Ordinary, Able, and Quartermaster. This system
is still in use today. Sea Scouting became known as Sea Exploring in 1949, but the program didn’t change
much. A couple of important things happened in 1971. First, girls were allowed to become Sea Explorers.
Second, the program expanded to include powerboats and other aquatic activities like scuba diving, water-
skiing, and oceanography. In 1998, Sea Exploring became part of the new Venturing program, and the name
was changed again, this time to Sea Scouts. Sea Scout ships (the equivalent of packs and troops) now flourish in
communities across America—even far from oceans or major rivers. Every two years, Sea Scouts from around the country compete in the William I. Koch International Sea Scout Cup, a weeklong sailing event. Sea Scouts also began in England. Baden-Powell’s older brother, Warrington, wrote the first Sea Scout Manual, basing the program on the traditions of the sea.
Exploring
In 1935, the BSA created a program called Explorer Scouts as one option in Senior Scouting. It offered to older Boy Scouts a land-based alternative to Sea Scouting. Explorer Scouts initially wore the same uniform as Boy Scouts, although it featured an “Explorer Scout, BSA” strip over the right pocket. In the 1940s, a forest-green uniform was introduced, and Explorer Scout units began to be called posts instead of troops. Explorer Scouts got their own advancement program in 1944. The four ranks—Apprentice, Woodsman, Frontiersman, and Ranger—corresponded to the four ranks in Sea Scouting.
In 1949, Explorer Scouts became simply Explorers, and the program’s focus was expanded to include social activities, service opportunities, and career exploration. In 1959, the four-rank advancement program was dropped, and Exploring began to include six experience areas: citizenship, service, social, vocational, outdoor, and personal fitness. More and more, posts began to specialize in specific careers or hobbies. A couple of important things happened in 1971. First, Exploring became coeducational, with young women eligible for full membership. Second, the upper age was raised from 17 to 20, allowing many college students to remain active. The biggest change to Exploring came in 1998. That year, Exploring divided into two completely separate programs: Exploring and Venturing. Exploring took in the career-oriented programs. At the same time, Venturing took in the posts that focused on the outdoors or that were associated with church youth groups or Scout troops.
Air Scouts
In 1942, the BSA introduced Air Scouts, an aviation-focused alternative to Sea Scouts and Explorer Scouts.
Squadrons of Air Scouts weren’t allowed to actually fly, but they learned all about aircraft, weather, radio
communications, and more. At first, Air Scouts had a four-level advancement program: Apprentice, Observer,
Craftsman, and Ace. In 1947, ratings were added to recognize specialized knowledge. Air Scouts became Air
Explorers in 1949. In 1966, the program became Aviation Exploring and started focusing more on career
exploration than advancement.
Venturing
As mentioned earlier, Venturing was officially created in 1998, although it traces its roots back
to Scouting’s earliest days. In Venturing crews or Sea Scout ships, young adults have
opportunities to advance their skills and knowledge in the areas of high adventure,
sports, arts, hobbies, religious life, and Sea Scouts. In Sea Scouting, the Ordinary rank is
the equivalent of the Bronze Award, the Able rank is the equivalent of the Gold Award, and
the Quartermaster rank is the equivalent of the Silver Award. Venturers may work on three major
awards: the Bronze Award, the Gold Award, and the Silver Award, which is the program’s highest award. Other Venturing awards recognize special achievement in outdoor skills (the Ranger Award), sports (the Quest Award), and religious life (the TRUST Award).
Rover Scouts
Starting around 1928, an imported British program called Rover Scouts appeared in the United States. Designed to serve young people who were too old to be Explorer Scouts, Rover Scouts became an official BSA program in 1933. The program didn’t last very long, in part because many of the young men who were eligible to be Rover Scouts were off at college or—after 1941—fighting in World War II.
Cub Scouts
The last age group the BSA addressed was boys too young to be in Boy Scouting. Introduced in 1930, Cub Scouting would eventually become the biggest segment of Scouting. Wolf Cubs began in England in 1916, when Baden-Powell published The Wolf Cub’s Handbook. Baden-Powell’s program drew heavily on the characters and symbols in The Jungle Book, which his friend Rudyard Kipling had written in 1894. Like Boy Scouting, Wolf Cubs quickly jumped the Atlantic, but unofficially. In 1925, the BSA began planning an official American version, which was launched in 1930. American Cub Scouting retained much of the flavor of Kipling’s Jungle Book. But thanks to Ernest Thompson Seton, who helped to develop Cub Scouting in the United States, it also emphasized American Indian lore. At first, Cub Scouts advanced from Bobcat (for all new members) to Wolf rank (age 9), Bear (age 10), and Lion (age 11), and then joined a Boy Scout troop at age 12. The joining age was dropped by a year in 1949 and again in 1986, and in 1988 the Webelos Scout program was expanded to two years. (That program, which featured a distinctive uniform and a set of 15—later 20—activity badges, had replaced the Lion program in 1967.) The Arrow of Light Award became Cub Scouting’s highest award in 1978. That year, five ranks were established: Bobcat, Wolf, Bear, Webelos, and Arrow of Light Award. In 1982, the Tiger Cub program for 7-year-old boys was introduced. At first, Tiger Cubs functioned separately from the Cub Scout pack. But in 2001 Tiger Cub groups became Tiger Cub dens that were a part of the pack just like other Cub Scout dens.
In 2018 the Lion Program was launched for Kindergarteners to incorporate all elementary-age youth into the Cub Scout program. 2018 was also the first year girls were able to join Cub Scouting.
At first, the term “Webelos” came from the first letters of the Cub Scout ranks (Wolf, Bear, and Lion) and Scout. When the Lion rank was dropped, the meaning was changed to “WE’ll BE LOyal Scouts.”
ULTIMATE SCOUTING ADVENTURES
For many Scouts, a trip to a BSA high-adventure base represents the ultimate Scouting adventure. Others enjoy the chance to meet Scouts from around the country at a national Scout jamboree or Scouts from around the globe at a world jamboree. These high-adventure opportunities are an important part of Scouting’s heritage. Many date back to Scouting’s earliest years.
BSA HIGH-ADVENTURE BASES
Today, the Boy Scouts of America operates high-adventure programs at four locations: the Northern Tier National High Adventure Program in Minnesota, Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico (including the Double H High Adventure Base), the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base in the Florida Keys, and the Paul R. Christen National High Adventure Base at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in West Virginia. Each year, more than 50,000 Scouts and Venturers participate in these programs—with 20,000 more on waiting lists.
Northern Tier National High Adventure Program
In 1923, the Hibbing Area Council in Minnesota began organizing canoe trips into the
Boundary Waters along the U.S.–Canada border. Three years later, the BSA’s Region X took
over the program. It then became known as the Region X Canoe Trails and later the Region X
Wilderness Canoe Trips. At first, the canoe program didn’t have a permanent home. Instead
it started at various locations near the town of Ely. That changed when a lodge was built on
the shore of Moose Lake. Dedicated on May 17, 1942, it was named for Charles L. Sommers, longtime chairman of the Region X Committee, as well as a canoe trip organizer, participant, and avid supporter. Within a few years, the base was renamed the Charles L. Sommers Wilderness Canoe Base. In 1972, it became part of the BSA’s national high-adventure program.
Today, the Sommers Canoe Base is just one of three bases that are part of the Northern Tier National High Adventure Program. Northern Tier also includes the Donald Rogert Canoe Base in Atikokan, Ontario, and the Northern Expeditions Canoe Base in Bissett, Manitoba—a site best reached by float plane. Although names and locations have changed over the years, Northern Tier offers today’s Scouts a wilderness experience much like that enjoyed by the Scouts of the 1920s. With the support of an Interpreter (sometimes called a “Charlie Guide”), crews paddle and portage through miles of unspoiled wilderness, enjoying fresh fish, succulent blueberries, and great fellowship. Northern Tier canoeists often hail each other by shouting “Holy-Ry”—the name of a rye cracker popular with crews in the 1950s and 1960s. The proper response to “Holy-Ry” is “Red-eye,” which crews call their lunchtime drinks after a term used by early loggers in the area.
Philmont Scout Ranch
Early in 1938, BSA president Walter W. Head received a surprising letter. It
was written by an Oklahoma oilman named Waite Phillips, who owned a
300,000-acre ranch near Cimarron, New Mexico. The successful businessman
wanted to give a large piece of this ranch to the Boy Scouts of America. Scout
officials—including Mr. Head and Chief Scout Executive James E. West—
visited Phillips’ Philmont Ranch and were quickly captivated by the land and
its potential. On Oct. 20, 1938, the National Executive Board formally accepted
Phillips’ gift of 35,857 acres of land, along with $50,000 for use in building a
camp. They decided to call the new camp Philturn Rockymountain Scoutcamp, a name that would memorialize Phillips’ good turn to Scouting.
Phillips retained the rest of his ranch, which included his palatial summer home, the Villa Philmonte. He often rode his favorite horse, Gus, up to the new Scout camp to watch the Scouts in action, and he liked what he saw. In fact, he liked it so much that in 1941, he gave the BSA another 91,538 acres of land, including the Villa Philmonte, four lodges in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and the buildings and facilities at ranch headquarters. With the new gift, Philturn Rockymountain Scoutcamp became Philmont Scout Ranch. Early programs at Philmont involved long-term camping at sites like Ponil, Philturn’s original headquarters. Those sites served as starting points for hiking and horseback riding, along with more than 200 miles of trails. By 1956, however, Philmont was specializing in 12-day backpacking treks. For more than a decade, crews could plan their own itineraries. Then in 1969 a system of preplanned itineraries was introduced. With some changes, it is still in use today. Waite Phillips also donated the 23-story Philtower Building in Tulsa, Oklahoma, so that the rental income from the building could help pay for camp improvements. Much of what Phillips earned he gave away—and not just to the BSA. His 72-room mansion in Tulsa is now the Philbrook Museum of Art, and he left millions of dollars to charities and colleges in both Oklahoma and California.
Florida National High Adventure Sea Base
In 1975, a group of volunteers from Miami and Atlanta developed a sailing program in the waters around the Florida Keys. For the first few years, Sam Wampler, who was the South Florida Council’s camping director, ran the program in his spare time—using his station wagon and a warehouse as the headquarters. In 1979, Wampler became the first full-time director of what was then called the Florida Gateway to High Adventure. A grant of $1.3 million from the Fleischmann Foundation funded the 1979 purchase of the old Tollgate Inn motel and marina on Lower Matecumbe Key, about halfway between Miami and Key West. In 1980, the facility opened with a new name: the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base.
In 1982, the BSA was given an untouched, uninhabited island off Big Pine
Key called Big Munson Island. The addition of the Brinton Environmental
Center on Summerland Key in 2001 offered improved access to the
island and gave the base a second jumping-off point for activities. Today,
the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base offers 11 different
programs in the Florida Keys and the Bahamas. Each year, thousands of
visitors enjoy sailing, scuba diving, fishing, swimming, snorkeling, and
camping.
Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve
The BSA’s newest high-adventure base is the result of another donation. Through his charitable foundation, Distinguished Eagle Scout Stephen D. Bechtel Jr. donated $50 million to the BSA to create a huge Scouting paradise in the mountains of West Virginia. The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve opened in 2013, becoming
home to the Paul R. Christen National High Adventure Base, the James C.
Justice National Scout Camp, and the permanent home of the national Scout
jamboree, as well as providing facilities for cutting-edge youth and adult
leadership training. Located on 10,600 acres adjacent to the New River
Gorge National River area, the Summit offers access to incredible outdoor
terrain in the Appalachian Mountains that provides a home for some of the
world’s best whitewater rafting, rock climbing, and mountain biking. In
addition to its outdoor adventure, the Summit offers lessons in sustainability.
The BSA has pledged to work toward a “net zero” property, meaning the
Summit will produce as much energy as it uses, use minimal water, treat wastewater without chemicals, and recycle and compost waste. The goal is for the Summit to be the most environmentally friendly BSA camp on Earth.
NATIONAL AND WORLD JAMBOREES
Some Scouts seek high-adventure opportunities in the solitude of the Boundary Waters, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the Gulf of Mexico, or the New River Gorge. For others, the ultimate Scouting adventure is spending 10 days with thousands of other Scouts at a national or world jamboree. To find out how you can attend a future national jamboree, contact your local council. You can learn more about national upcoming world jamborees at www.scout.org/jamboree.
World Scout Jamborees
Once Scouting began to spread throughout the British Empire and beyond,
Baden-Powell saw how it could foster understanding between people of
different countries. In 1917—three years into World War I—he wrote, “It
is not too much to hope that in the years to come, with increasing numbers
joining this fraternity in the coming generation, they will unite in personal
friendship and mutual understanding such as never before and thus find a
solution to these horrendous international conflicts.” Baden-Powell started
planning for an international gathering of Scouts as early as 1913. He
wanted it to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Brownsea Island
encampment, but the event had to wait until 1920—two years after the
end of World War I. That summer, 8,000 Scouts from 21 countries and 12 British dependencies arrived in London for the first jamboree (an American slang term Baden-Powell chose that means “noisy celebration or merrymaking”). The Scouts, including 301 Americans, enjoyed eight days of Scouting games, exhibitions, and parades. The jamboree’s highlight came during an August 6 gathering of the participants. When Baden-Powell rose to speak, a Scout in the audience shouted, “Long live the Chief Scout of the World!” Thousands of other Scouts took up the call, and Baden-Powell was officially crowned the first—and only—Chief Scout of the World.
The world Scout jamboree returned to the United States in 2019 with the Scout organizations of Canada and Mexico joining the BSA as co-hosts. Since the 1920 event, world jamborees have been held roughly every four years in locations around the globe (including the United States in 1967). Jamborees were suspended during World War II, however, and the 1979 jamboree in Iran was canceled due to the revolution in that country. In 2011, the 22nd World Scout Jamboree was held in Sweden. It was the largest world jamboree yet, with 40,061 Scouts and leaders from 146 countries attending. Japan hosted the 23rd World Scout Jamboree in 2015.
National Scout Jamborees
Based on the success of early world jamborees, the BSA began planning its own jamboree. This first national jamboree was to be held in Washington, D.C., in 1935 to mark the 25th anniversary of American Scouting. Unfortunately, just two weeks before the event, an outbreak of polio—for which there was not yet a vaccine—forced the event’s cancellation. Two years later in 1937, the jamboree was finally held, bringing together 27,232 Scouts and leaders from every state and 24 foreign countries. The jamboree was headquartered near the Washington Monument with campsites spread around the Tidal Basin and on nearby Columbia Island. World War II delayed the next national jamboree until 1950, when 47,163 Scouts and leaders descended on Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Since then, national jamborees have been held roughly every four years at locations around the country. From 1981 through 2010, Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, served as the jamboree’s home. With the 2013 National Scout Jamboree, the event moved to its new home at the Summit in West Virginia. In 1973, for the first and only time, the national jamboree was held in two locations: Farragut State Park in Idaho and Moraine State Park in Pennsylvania. The combined attendance was 73,610.
.jpg)
PRESERVING SCOUTING HERITAGE
In the past century, the Boy Scouts of America has produced countless handbooks, uniforms, patches, pins, coins, calendars, statuettes, pocketknives, backpacks, canteens, and other items. Scouts have appeared on T-shirts and coffee mugs, in comic strips and feature films, and as action figures and bobblehead dolls. Collecting items related to Scouting history can be an enjoyable hobby. So can hearing the stories of people who were involved in Scouting before you were born—whether they are members of your own family or part of your Scout unit or community.
If you enjoy the monthly Pee Wee Harris comics in Boys’ Life magazine, you might like to collect the originals. Pee Wee began life in the 1920s as the hero of a series of novels by Percy Keese Fitzhugh, one of many writers who churned out Scout novels in the early 20th century. Fitzhugh’s novels were approved by the Boy Scouts of America, unlike the many novels that put Scout characters in dangerous situations and had “no moral purpose,” according to Chief Scout Librarian Franklin K. Mathiews. For more information on Fitzhugh, visit www.bridgeboro.com. The International Scouting Collectors Association offers a series of free articles on getting started in collecting at www.scouttrader.org/collecting/.
WHAT MAKES SCOUTING MEMORABILIA VALUABLE
People who collect things sometimes focus on how much their collections are worth. But things can be valuable for many reasons—most of which have nothing to do with money. Some Scouting memorabilia is valuable because it is rare. For example, a patch from the canceled 1935 National Scout Jamboree or a letter signed by Lord Baden-Powell would be a treasure to own. Other memorabilia is valuable because it shows what Scouting was like during an earlier time. An old Scout handbook, for example, can tell you what the Scout uniform once looked like, how rank requirements have changed (or stayed the same), and what sorts of activities Scouts used to enjoy.
Still other memorabilia is valuable because you have a personal connection to it, such as your own merit badge sash. If you are lucky enough to have your grandfather’s merit badge sash, for example, then you have quite a treasure indeed—one that you will want to take very good care of and keep. You may have already started your own Scouting memorabilia collection without realizing it. Do you have a drawer full of Scout T-shirts or a shoebox full of camp or Order of the Arrow patches? Those items are important because each has a story to tell. As time goes on, these items may represent special memories that money cannot buy—priceless moments that you will treasure for years to come.
To keep these memories intact, consider jotting down a sentence or two to go with each item just to refresh your memory about the experiences that went along with them. Be sure the protective sleeves you use are made of polyester film and are advertised as “acid free,” because acid and other chemicals can be harmful to your collectibles over time.
TAKING CARE OF SCOUTING MEMORABILIA
When you own a piece of Scouting memorabilia, you have a responsibility to take care of it. That means protecting it from things that can damage and destroy it—including your own hands. Human hands produce oils that are acidic and can damage paper and cloth collectibles, so it’s a good idea to always wash your hands before handling the items in your collection. You may even want to wear white cotton gloves, especially when handling very fragile items. And be sure to keep your collection away from food and drinks. The environment where you store or display your collection can also cause damage. Try to avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight, which can quickly cause colors to fade. Also, don’t store your collection in a place where the temperature and humidity level frequently change, such as your basement, attic, or garage, or near chemicals. One good way to store your collection is to keep it in one or more stackable plastic bins in an interior closet. These bins, which don’t need to be airtight, can be found at most discount stores. Lay items flat inside, and put heavier items on the bottom.
Of course, you won’t want to always keep your collection tucked away in your closet. When you get ready to display it, do so in a way that doesn’t cause damage. Rather than glue patches to the pages of an album, for example, purchase vinyl album pages with separate pockets for the patches (similar to what baseball-card collectors use). You can also keep items in separate zip-top bags. Then slip a card inside each bag with details about the item. If possible, only use collecting supplies that are labeled acid- and PVC-free or “archival quality.” And never apply tape, glue, labels, or staples directly to your collectibles. F
THE NATIONAL SCOUTING MUSEUM
The experts on collecting, storing, and displaying Scouting memorabilia work are at the National Scouting Museum at Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. The museum, then called the Johnson Historical Museum, opened in North Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1959. It moved to Murray, Kentucky, in 1986, and in 2002 it was relocated to Irving, Texas, next to the BSA’s national office. The museum moved to its present location at Philmont in 2018.
The museum houses more than 600,000 Scouting artifacts—from tiny lapel pins to a red convertible Geo Storm MTV pace car that was built by a Michigan Explorer post. Among its most significant holdings are papers from Scouting founders Robert Baden-Powell, James E. West, and Ernest Thompson Seton, the first Eagle Scout badge ever awarded, and dozens of oil paintings by Norman Rockwell and Joseph Csatari. There’s more to the museum than static exhibits, however. Visitors can meet an animatronic version of Lord Baden-Powell; race pinewood derby cars; see typical campsites from the early 1900s, the 1950s, and today; and participate in a simulated mountain rescue adventure.
OTHER SCOUTING MUSEUMS
There’s only one National Scouting Museum, but many local councils and other groups have created Scouting museums across the country and around the globe. Some fit into small rooms in council service centers, while others house hundreds of thousands of items.
COLLECTING SCOUTING MEMORIES
Requirements 5 and 8 for the Scouting Heritage merit badge ask you to interview several people who were involved in Scouting in the past. Talking with these people can open a window into Scouting heritage in ways an old Scout handbook or a patch collection never could.
Preparing for Interviews
For your interviews to be effective, you need to be prepared. Before you meet with a subject, develop a list of questions that you want to ask. Newspaper reporters learn to ask questions in six categories—who, what, when, where, why, and how—and it’s a good idea to cover all of those areas. Start your list with basic factual questions: What troop were you in? When did you join? Where did it meet? What rank did you achieve? Then, move on to questions like these:
-
Why did you join Scouting?
-
What is your favorite memory of your time in Scouting?
-
What was your best camping trip? Your worst?
-
Did you ever go to a jamboree or on a high-adventure trip? Please describe it.
-
Did you participate in any major service projects in Scouting? Tell me about them.
-
What was the hardest thing you ever did in Scouting?
-
Tell me about your Scoutmaster (or other Scout leader).
-
What fun traditions did your troop have or places you liked to go every year?
-
What lessons did you learn in Scouting that are still important to you?
-
How has Scouting changed since you were a Scout?
-
What else about Scouting would you like to tell me about?
Based on your knowledge of Scouting history, you will be able to come up with more specific questions. For example, if you are going to interview someone who was a Scout during World War II, ask him if he participated in projects to support the war effort, as described earlier in this pamphlet. Be sure to write questions that are open-ended and that will encourage your subject to tell stories. Avoid questions (like “Did you enjoy Scouting?”) that don’t yield any interesting information and leave you with only a yes, no, or one-word answers.
Holding a Successful Interview
When you are ready, make appointments for your interviews and tell each person what you want to talk about. Invite them to bring mementos they might like to show you, like a Scout handbook they used. If possible, record the interview. That way, you can focus more on the conversation and less on taking notes. Be sure your recording device has fresh batteries, and test it at the beginning of the interview to make sure it’s working properly. Once you begin the interview, allow your subject plenty of time to think about responses to your questions. Sometimes simply being quiet and attentive is the best thing you can do.
After the Interview
Write down at least one point that you think is important and that you want to remember. Your notes will come in handy when you and your buddy meet with your counselor about requirement 8. TIP: Say Thank You With a Handwritten Note. Send a handwritten thank-you note in the mail to each person you have interviewed, thanking them for taking the time to meet with you and for sharing their memories. This takes more effort than an email, but it shows more respect. Mail your note no more than one week after the interview. Adults and elders will be impressed with your good manners.
RELIVING SCOUTING HISTORY
Perhaps you have visited a museum where interpreters pretended to be famous historical figures like George Washington or Thomas Jefferson. Perhaps you have watched Civil War reenactors relive the battle of Gettysburg or Chickamauga. Maybe you have completed a backcountry trek at Philmont and encountered staff members portraying homesteaders, mountain men, or Waite Phillips and his family. If so, you have caught a glimpse of the power of living history. When you move from reading about history to reliving it, you begin to truly understand how people lived long ago.
A fun way to relive Scouting history is to plan a Brownsea Island weekend, where you and your fellow Scouts camp, cook, and play games like the first Scouts did 100 years ago. In addition to this merit badge pamphlet, good sources of information are reprints of Scouting for Boys and the 1911 Handbook for Boys, both of which you can find online at www.scoutshop.org.
Here is a suggested daily schedule for your Brownsea Island weekend—straight out of Scouting for Boys:
-
7 a.m. Turn out, air bed, wash, etc.
-
8 a.m. Flag raising; prayers.
-
8:15 a.m. Breakfast.
-
10 a.m. Inspection.
-
10:15 a.m.–noon. Scouting activities.
-
1 p.m. Dinner.
-
1:30–2:30 p.m. Quiet hour.
-
2:30–5 p.m. Wide games.
-
5 p.m. Tea and biscuits.
-
5:30–8 p.m. Recreation and camp games.
-
8 p.m. Cocoa.
-
8:30–9:30 p.m. Campfire.
-
10 p.m. Lights out.
Why no “supper” in this schedule? The British working class traditionally had “tea” (meaning their evening meal) at about 5 p.m., after workers’ shifts ended in the factories, mines, and rail yards. People ate early and went to bed early because they had to be up before dawn. They ate “dinner,” the main meal of the day, around 1 p.m., as in the Brownsea Island example.
Old Scouting books suggest some techniques that are no longer acceptable, such as digging trenches around tents to prevent flooding. First aid and lifesaving techniques have also changed significantly in the past hundred years. When in doubt, talk with your Scout leader before trying questionable techniques.
CAMPING EQUIPMENT
Early Scouts didn’t have the high-tech gear we enjoy today. They made do with surplus military equipment and items found around their homes. Here are some suggestions for your Brownsea Island weekend:
-
Borrow canvas wall tents from your local Scout camp or make lean-tos using tarps and cord.
-
Instead of using a sleeping bag, make a bedroll out of an old blanket.
-
Instead of using an air mattress, make a soft camp bed out of leaves.
-
Use large tin cans as cooking pots.
-
Leave your mess kit at home and make do with a metal plate, cup, and utensils.
COOKING
Early Scouts cooked over open fires. While that’s not always possible today due to fire restrictions and Leave No Trace principles, you can still cook like early Scouts did. To do so, limit yourself to fresh foods and things you can make from scratch—no ready-to-eat or just-add-water meals. As Baden-Powell said in Scouting for Boys, “Every Scout must, of course, know how to cook his own meat and vegetables and to make bread for himself without regular cooking utensils.”
Here are some things early Scouts ate on campouts: kabobs, beef stew, potatoes roasted in hot coals, canned salmon on toast, oatmeal, twist bread (strips of bread dough wrapped around a stick and cooked over the fire), bacon and eggs.
GAMES AND ACTIVITIES
Like today’s Scouts, Scouts of the past enjoyed a wide variety of games and activities. Some of these tested Scout skills, while others were purely for fun. The highlight of your Brownsea Island weekend could be a series of games like those Baden-Powell taught the first Scouts back in 1907.
Kim’s Game
-
Equipment: 20 or 30 small objects (pencils, patches, photos, coins, etc.), a large sheet, and a pencil and paper for each player
-
Instructions: Place the objects on the ground and cover them with the sheet. Have the players gather in a circle. Remove the sheet for 60 seconds to let the players study the assortment of objects. Replace the sheet, and ask the players to write down all the objects they saw. The player who remembers the most objects wins.
-
Variation: Use items that have a distinctive scent, like cinnamon or cedar. Put the items in paper bags and have players smell them and guess what they are.
