Baden-Powell
Scouting began in England in 1907-08, created by General Robert
Baden-Powell. B-P, a 50-year old bachelor at the time, was one of
the few heroes to come out of Britain's Boer War. He was known
primarily for his unusual ideas about military scouting, explained
in his book Aids to Scouting. Startled to discover that many boys
were using his military book as a guide to outdoor activities, he
began to think how he could convert his concepts of army scouting
for men to "peace scouting" for boys. Gathering ideas from many
sources (including Ernest Thompson Seton, who had founded a boys
organization in the US), he tested his program on a group of boys
on Brownsea Island in 1907. The island camp was successful, so B-P
rewrote his military book, calling it Scouting for Boys. The
climate was right for a youth program like Scouting, and it spread
quickly around the British commonwealth, then to other countries.
World Scouting Today
Today, Scouting is found in 185 of the world's 192 independent
countries. The United States has a single national Scouting
organization (many countries, especially in Europe, have several
separate Scout organizations, divided by religion or language, with
different uniforms, advancement, and national hierarchies).
Scouting is the world's most successful youth movement.
Scouting in the United States
Boy Scouts of America (BSA)
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was founded by Chicago publisher
William Boyce on February 8, 1910. At that time in the US,
there were several other loosely structured outdoor-oriented youth
organizations, some using the name "Boy Scout" and some using other
names, and there were already a number of troops in existence using
some variation of the British Scout program. Boyce's key
contribution was to organize the BSA as a business. He incorporated
the organization
Scouting in Cleveland, Ohio
February 19, 1912 was the first meeting of the Greater Cleveland
council and was attended by Chief Scout Executive James West, and
Scouting's founder, General Robert S. S. Baden Powell. Samuel
Mather was elected to lead this fledgling youth movement.
Howard T. French became the first Eagle Scout and early visitors
to Greater Cleveland scouting were Presidents Taft, Garfield and
National Scout Commissioner Dan Beard. The first headquarters was
opened in the Williamson building in 1914 and was called the
Cleveland Local Council.
To find this cache
This cache is part of a three cache
series that celebrates the 100 Years of Boy Scouting in the
Cleveland Area. In order to find this cache you must first find
Exploring Cub Scout Day Camp at Mastick Woods and
Exploring Camp Ya'he'ma once you have found these two caches
then you will have everything you need to find this one.