Robert Baden-Powell &
The Birth of Scouting
The year was 1907. It was a cool,
summer day. The sun was shining, and
the future looked bright. Robert Baden-
Powell had just finished a life long dream.
A dream where the youthful boys of
England could grow into strong young men
with the skills of leadership, teamwork,
respect and reverence, along with fire
starting, first aid, orienteering, survival and
love to the outdoors. Boy Scout Troop 1
had just returned from their very first trip.
It was a camping trip on Brownsea
Island, the United Kingdom. The date was
August of 1907 and Robert Baden-Powell
would have been very proud. How couldn't
he be? For the past several years of his life
he had been working on the idea of a perfect
youth-club for boys. Recently, he had
published a book of his findings, "Scouting for
Boys". It combined many parts of Baden-
Powell's life along with what he saw in current
youth organizations such as 4-H and the YMCA.
According to Robert Baden-Powell the Boy Scouts started with a Non-Combatinant Boy's Brigade assisting in British India in the Siege of Mafeking and the Second Boer War. This was all resulting from Baden-Powell's long line of books before the writing of "Scouting for Boys". In fact, you would have to start to look as far back as February of 1857 to truly understand the history of Scouting. It was in that year that Robert Baden-Powell, himself, was born. In 1876, at the age of 19, he started his predestined military career. After 8 years of high military achievement he published his first book, "Reconnaissance and Scouting". For all of those wondering, this book was not a part of the 'Scouting for Boys' campaign. This was actually about real military scouting, reconnaissance, and espionage.
However, after writing the book it gave him the idea of having military and faith values, along with military, scouting, and survival skills to be instituted among young boys to make them into young men. After this idea, Baden-Powell wrote a number of books focussing in on youth boys and what was called "Scouting Values". Later, messages such as the "Patrol Method" and "Scout Spirit" were coined. Some of his books published over the next few years included "Aids to Scouting", "Birchbark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians", and (later in 1908) "The Boy Scout Handbook".
By the time that Robert Baden-Powell published "The Boy Scout Handbook" other members had joined the Scouting movement. People such as Fredrick Russel Burnham, Ernest Thompson Seton, and William Alexander Smith were helping to spread the Scouting movement across the world. Soon, Scouting as a whole would become united, and the Boy Scouts of America would be founded. As for the rest of what happened to the Boy Scouts and Baden-Powell, it was all history!
Boy Scout Troop 234:
Scouting's Promise,
100 Years Later
Troop 234 continues to live by the values that Troop 1 of England did in the early days. In fact, we continue every part of Robert Baden-Powell's legacy of what Scouting for Boys should be like. You will never see the Scout Slogan (Do A Good Turn Daily) or Scout Motto (Be Prepared) be forgotten by the boys of this Troop. Nor will you see them neglect the Outdoor Code wile taking part in an outdoor adventure. Troop 234 is a long established troop, being in existence since 19??. We will never forget our Troop's history, or Scouting's for that matter. The military's values stand strong within our Troop, as do Scouting. Please, read the Scout Oath and the Scout Law, and ask yourself if you see how Baden-Powell incorporated the values of his Military Career into them.
The Scout Oath is:
"On My Honor, I Will Do My Best, To Do My Duty, To God And My Country,
To Obey The Scout Law, To Help Other People At All Times,
And To Keep Myself Physically Strong, Mentally Awake, And Morally Straight."
The Scout Law is:
"A Scout is, Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous,
Kind, Obedient, Cheerful Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent."
Of those principles in the Scout Oath and the Scout Law, reverence is one of high importance. In fact, on top of all military programs, Scouting values, and lifelong skills, our troop lives by the ideals of reverence. We hold the following quote closest to our hearts, as it greatly symbolizes everything that our troop stands for: 2 Samuel – 23:4 :
"He who rules over men must
be just, Ruling in the fear of
God. And he shall be like the
light of the morning when the
sun rises, A morning without
clouds, Like the tender grass
springing out of the earth, By
clear shining after rain."
This gentle quote is uttered every Scout's Own Ceremony, for it combines everything in Scouting's meaning. It sums up, in poetic form, everything that Scouting teaches, leadership, reverence, skills of survival, and love to the wonderful outdoors and world that God has created. It shows true beauty, and elegance, yet reinforces the brute strength and strong skills of scouting. 2 Samuel – 23:4 is like our Troop, using gentleness and caring thought to teach the strong and important skills of leadership, respect, teamwork, and reverence. It asks that every man who were to rule over other men must be rightfully just, they must fear God; accept reverence, and be like the gentle morning, a morning carrying no clouds, with tender grass springing out of this gifted earth, by the clear, shining after rain. This is what the true meaning of Scouting is, and it stands strong and proud here at Troop 234.