Troop 121  San Jose, Ca.

Scouting

The word scout comes from the French verb ecouter, which means "to listen." Armies have long used scouts to gather information about the enemy. On the American frontier a scout was someone always on the lookout for danger. He also used outdoor skills and knowledge of nature to help him in his work.

The 20th-century scouting movement began as a series of games and exercises to help men--primarily soldiers--learn to live in the open under difficult conditions. The program was started during the Boer War in South Africa by Robert Baden-Powell. Then a colonel in the British Army, he developed a military textbook called 'Aids to Scouting' as a way of training recruits. When Baden-Powell returned to England in 1903, he began to adapt his program to the training of boys. He conducted his first Boy Scout camp on Brownsea Island in 1907, and his book 'Scouting for Boys' was published in 1908. In England Boy Scouts formally started on Jan. 24, 1908.

In the United States the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) had been running camps for boys since 1884. In 1902 Ernest Thompson Seton founded the Tribe of Woodcraft Indians as a boy's organization. Three years later Daniel Carter Beard started a similar society called the Sons of Daniel Boone. These two groups, along with the YMCA camps, laid the foundation on which the Boy Scout movement developed in the United States in conjunction with Baden-Powell's work in England.

The BSA was started using a very deliberate well executed process. First the founders of the USA Scouting movement formed a coalition of the prominent youth groups in the USA at the time and used the YMCA as the lead orgainzation to lead this coalition. Second it incorporated, which made the organization a legal entity. The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated on Feb. 8, 1910. Then, it lobbied the U. S. Congress to get a Charter granting it exclusive rights to the name Boy Scout, Scout, etc. On June 15, 1916, Congress did this by granting a charter to the organization.

The Scouting program has three phases.

Each Boy Scout, by meeting specific requirements, advances through ranks called Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class. A First Class Scout may earn merit badges to qualify as a Star Scout, Life Scout, and eventually Eagle Scout. There are other awards given for outstanding achievements. Eagle palms are given for merit badges earned beyond the Eagle requirements. The Order of the Arrow is a national brotherhood of Scout campers. The Medal of Merit and the Honor Medal are awarded by Scouting's National Court of Honor. The Medal of Merit is presented for outstanding acts of service. The Medal of Honor, Scouting's highest award, is bestowed upon Scouts who save, or attempt to save, lives at the risk of their own.

Scouts from many nations meet, usually every four years, in a world jamboree. At these gatherings as many as 50,000 Scouts set up camp, demonstrate woodcraft skills, and work for better international understanding. The first world jamboree was held in England in 1920. National jamborees are held between the international events. These attract over 30,000 Scouts.

As of 12/31/97 there were more than 25 million Scouts, young people and adults, male and female, in 217 countries and territories.