SCOUTING THE EARLY YEARS!!!!!
Scouting started in the imagination of an English general, Sir Robert Baden-Powell. Early in his army days he wrote a book for soldiers about how to track, stalk and live in the outdoors. He called his book Aids To Scouting. Baden-Powell didn't realize when he wrote his book that the ideas in it would be put to practical use a few years later.
During a war in Africa, Baden-Powell was in charge of the defense of a key town, Mafeking. Badly out-numbered and under constant attack day after day, using every trick in his book, Baden-Powell and his men held out for over 7 months until help arrived.
Baden-Powell returned to England as a great hero. His fame had led boys to read and use the book he had written for soldiers and this bothered him. He believed that boys should read books for boys, not for soldiers, so he decided to rewrite his Aids For Scouting.
After reading material written for youth and sharing ideas with youth leaders, he decided to try out his ideas with a group of boys at Brownsea Island for the first Scout camp. His book, Scouting For Boys, was the result of his experience, imagination, testing, and work with others. It was an instant hit in England and Scout troops sprang up all over the land.
In 1909 an American businessman, William D. Boyce, was helped to find his way in the English fog by a Boy Scout. The boy refused any pay saying he was a Scout, and that Scouts didn't take pay for being helpful.
After meeting Baden-Powell and studying the books that had been given him, he decided to do what he could to get Scouting started right in the U.S. On Feb. 8, 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was legally incorporated in Washington D.C. by W.D. Boyce. This date is celebrated as our Scouting birthday.
Sir Robert Baden-Powell William D. Boyce