A Brief History of Scouting

Robert Baden-Powell

The man who started the Scouting movement, Robert Baden-Powell, spent much of his life serving in the British cavalry. At the turn of the century he was an officer in the war between Britain and the descendants of Dutch settlers, the Boers, in South Africa. He gained world fame during the war by defending the town of Mafeking against a force of Boer soldiers. He stood fast for 217 days until another British army group broke through the enemy lines and lifted the siege.

Baden-Powell came home to England as the best-known hero of the Boer War. He decided to use his fame to help British boys become better men. He based his ideas for a boys' organization on his own experiences as a youngster in England and as a soldier in India and Africa. In 1907 he invited a group of boys to attend the world's first Boy Scout camp on the English island of Brownsea. The success of the camp led him to write a book he called Scouting for Boys. It was an instant best-seller. Boys by the thousands bought it and decided to become Scouts. Scouting spread like wildfire throughout England and, before long, around the world.


 		 



William D. Boyce

One day in 1909 in London, England, an American visitor, William D. Boyce, lost his way in a dense fog. He stopped under a street lamp and tried to figure out where he was. A boy approached him and asked if he could be of help. "You certainly can," said Boyce. He told the boy that he wanted to find a certain business office in the center of the city. "I'll take you there," said the boy. When they got to the destination, Mr. Boyce reached into his pocket for a tip. But the boy stopped him. "No thank you, sir. I am a Scout. I won't take anything for helping." "A Scout? And what might that be?" asked Boyce. The boy told the American about himself and his brother Scouts. Boyce became very interested.

After finishing his errand, he had the boy take him to the British Scouting office. At the office, Boyce met Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the famous British general who had founded the Scouting movement in Great Britain. Boyce was so impressed with what he learned that he decided to bring Scouting home with him. On February 8, 1910, Boyce and a group of outstanding leaders founded the Boy Scouts of America. From that day forth, Scouts have celebrated February 8 as the birthday of Scouting in the United States.

What happened to the boy who helped Mr. Boyce find his way in the fog? No one knows. He had neither asked for money nor given his name, but he will never be forgotten. His Good Turn helped bring the Scouting movement to our country. In the British Scout Training Center at Gilwell Park, England, Scouts from the United States erected a statue of an American buffalo in honor of this unknown Scout. One Good Turn to one man became a Good Turn to millions of American boys. Such is the power of a Good Turn.