One of the greatest scouting events in Indiana occurred when the founder of Scouting, General Baden-Powell, visited Culver Military Academy in 1926. Parents and scouts of Logansport were invited, as well as scouts from northern Indiana, to this exciting event.
Baden-Powell was born, Feb. 22, 1857, to the Rev. Baden Powell, a professor of geometry at Oxford University. Young Baden Powell received his first introduction to skills for scouting by stalking game in a nearby woods and cooking it. He spent his summers learning canoeing and yachting. His hobbies were playing the piano, violin and acting.
As an adult Baden Powell, Lt. Gen. Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, joined the 13th Hussars in 1876 and became a national hero in the war against the Boers to gain control of South Africa.
Baden-Powell had written a military training manual, “Aide to Scouting,” (army scouts) that had become a best seller. He rewrote the book for young men in 1907. Later that year, he took 22 young
men to an island to test his ideas on influencing them in the right path to adulthood. He published his book, “Scouting for Boys,” in 1908. Scout troops for both boys and girls began forming almost immediately. By 1920, Baden-Powell was proclaimed Chief Scout of the World. In 1929, the King of England honored him as a Baron of the British Empire.
When Gen. Baden-Powell arrived in Culver, the Black Horse Troop met the train and escorted him to the academy where he was presented to a tremendous crowd for a luncheon. The governor, Mr. Marshall, Brig. Gen. McKee who was commander of the National Guard, Bishop Joseph M. Frances of Indianapolis, the president of Notre Dame, the secretary of Studebaker Corporation and Scouts and parents of northern Indiana were present.
After the luncheon, Ge. Baden-Powell gave an address and then the Black Horse Troop presented special riding skills: Mounting and dismounting at a gallop, intricate movements to music, picking up articles from the ground at a gallop, vaulting two or three horses at a gallop and creating pyramids at a gallop. After the presentation, Baden-Powell addressed the group on “Scouting in War and Peace.”
Culver was his only stop in Indiana and his only presentation to a private school other than West Point. After visiting in Culver, Baden-Powell visited in Chicago where several young men from Cass County received their Eagle Scout badges.
Scouting was incorporated in the United States on Feb. 8, 1910. The first scout troop in Indiana was in Danville in 1909. The first troop organized in Logansport was in December 1911. Al and Dan Drompp were two of the early adults associated with Scouting in Logansport.
For further reading, the Cass County Public Library has several books about Baden-Powell and Scouting.
• Richard B. Copeland is a Cass County historian and may be reached at ptnews@pharostribune.com. The material for this article came from the Pharos-Tribune, Mike Richardson and the Internet.
Local Columnists
General Baden-Powell founder of Scouting
- Local Columnists
-
-
de la Bastide: IndyCar had right idea but wrong execution
There’s an old saying “don’t throw the baby out with the bath water” and it fits the ongoing discussion since Saturday night’s twin Firestone races at Texas Motor Speedway for the IZOD IndyCar series.
-
Americans should stand up against proposed mosque
Local Columnist Joe Bowyer writes about the proposed mosque at ground zero.
-
Winamac High School opening doors
Local columnist Dave Kitchell looks back at the last 100 years.
-
A good idea for shrinking the government
Local columnist Joe Bowyer talks politics.
-
General Baden-Powell founder of Scouting
Local columnist Richard Copeland writes about the foudner of Scouting.
-
Hoarding habit not easy to break
I don’t think I’d qualify as a hoarder.
A slob, sure; but a hoarder? No way.
Hoarders are in a league unto themselves. And if you don’t believe me, watch an episode of TLC’s “Hoarders: Buried Alive.” -
Absence says something, even if school board doesn’t
Is she or isn’t she?
That was the line one hair product manufacturer once used to promote a women’s hair color product.
For the past week, that question could be asked in the Logansport Community School Corporation Administration Building. -
Christmas has become too rushed
Local columnist Tony Thomas feels people should remember to enjoy the anticipation of Christmas.
-
Horseshoe champion crowned
Local columnist Dave Kitchel looks back at headlines from the last 100 years.
-
There is always a ‘put’ to make up for every 'take'
Local columnist Joe Bowyer reflects back to his childhood.
- More Local Columnists Headlines
-
de la Bastide: IndyCar had right idea but wrong execution
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Raw Video: Earthquake Shakes Evacuees in Italy
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Pope's Butler Vows to Help Vatican Investigation
Mother of Allegedly Abused Girl Denies Claims
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
