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The History of Scouting in America
The Scouting movement was started in England in 1908 by General Robert Baden-Powell, a military hero in the Boer War. He published some of his military theories in a book called Aids to Scouting and was surprised to find that the book was used by boys as a guide for outdoor activities. Concerned about the lack of direction for boys at that time, especially working-class boys, Baden-Powell began to think about forming a youth organization.
At about the same time in America, a writer and naturalist named Ernest Thompson Seton was working with boys in the Woodcraft Indians, an organization he founded in 1902. The Woodcraft Indians was formed to give boys in Seton's community of Greenwich, Connecticut something productive to do with their time. The organization gained fame when it was featured in a series of articles published in the Ladies Home Journal, a national magazine. Seton and Baden-Powell met in 1904 and shared their ideas about organizations for boys. Within a few years, Baden-Powell gathered his first group of boys on Brownsea Island, wrote Scouting for Boys, and began the Scouting movement. The program quickly spread throughout the United Kingdom and then to other countries around the world.
In 1910, a Chicago publisher named William Boyce founded Boy Scouts of America. According to legend, Boyce was lost on a foggy street in London and was aided by a Scout who then refused a tip, saying he was just doing his duty. Boyce was so impressed that he decided to form a branch of the Scouting organization in America. He attempted to merge the new BSA organization with many independent Scouting organizations across the U.S., including the Woodcraft Indians. Ernest Thompson Seton was the BSA's first Chief Scout and served from 1910-1915. Seton is responsible for many Native American elements that are found in the BSA program.
The BSA grew rapidly and soon became the largest youth organization in America. In 2010, BSA served 2.5 million boys in its Boy Scout and Cub Scout programs.
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