Ernest Thompson Seton

Infobox Person
name = Ernest Thompson Seton

---

image_size = 200px
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1860|8|14
birth_place = South Shields, England
death_date = death date and age|1946|10|23|1860|8|14
death_place = Seton Village, New Mexico, USA
other_names =
known_for = founder of the Woodcraft Indians and founding pioneer of the Boy Scouts of America
occupation = author, wildlife artistInfobox Awards
box_width=250px
title = Awards and Honors
award1 = Silver Buffalo Award
award2 = John Burroughs Medal

Ernest Thompson Seton (August 14 1860 - October 23 1946) was a Scots-Canadian (and naturalized U.S. citizen) who became a noted author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians, and founding pioneer of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Seton also heavily influenced Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting. His notable books related to Scouting include "The Birch Bark Roll" and "The Boy Scout Handbook". He is responsible for the strong influence of American Indian culture in the BSA.

Early life

He was born Ernest Evan Thompson in South Shields, County Durham (now part of South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear), England of Scottish parents and his family emigrated to Canada in 1866. As a youth, he retreated to the woods to draw and study animals as a way of avoiding his abusive father. He won a scholarship in art to the Royal Academy in London, England. [cite book | last =Rowan | first =Edward L | authorlink = | coauthors = | year =2005 | title =To Do My Best: James E. West and the History of the Boy Scouts of America | publisher =Las Vegas International Scouting Museum | location = | id =ISBN 0-9746479-1-8 ]

He later rejected his father and changed his name to Ernest Thompson Seton. He believed that Seton had been an important name in his paternal line. He developed a fascination with wolves while working as a naturalist for Manitoba. He became successful as a writer, artist and naturalist, later moving to New York City to further his career. Seton later lived at Wyndygoul an estate that he built in Cos Cob, a section of Greenwich, Connecticut. After experiencing vandalism by the local youth, Seton invited them to his estate for a weekend where he told stories of the American Indians and of nature. [cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = | url =http://www.etsetoninstitute.org/WOODCRFT.HTM | title =Woodcraft League Histories | format = | work =Ernest Thompson Seton Institute | publisher = | accessdaymonth =11 July | accessyear =2006 ]

He formed the Woodcraft Indians in 1902 and invited the local youth to join. The stories became a series of articles written for the "Ladies Home Journal" and were eventually collected in the "The Birch Bark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians" in 1906.

He was married twice. The first marriage was to Grace Gallatin in 1896. Their only daughter, Ann, was born in 1904 and died in 1990. Ann, who later changed her first name, became a best-selling author of historical and biographical novels as Anya Seton. According to her introduction to the novel "Green Darkness", both of her parents were practicing Theosophists. Ernest and Grace divorced in 1935, and Ernest soon married Julia M. Buttree. Julia would write works by herself and with Ernest. They did not have any children, but did adopt an infant daughter, Beulah (Dee) Seton (later Dee Seton Barber), in 1938. Dee Seton Barber died in 2006.

couting

Seton met Scouting's founder, Lord Baden-Powell, in 1906. Baden-Powell had read Seton's book, "The Birch Bark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians", and was greatly intrigued by it. The pair met and shared ideas.Baden-Powell went on to found the Scouting movement worldwide, and Seton became vital in the foundation of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and was its first Chief Scout. His "Woodcraft Indians "(a youth organization), combined with the early attempts at Scouting from the YMCA and other organizations, and Daniel Carter Beard's Sons of Daniel Boone, to form the BSA. The work of Seton and Beard is in large part the basis of the Traditional Scouting movement. [cite web | last = | first = | year = | url =http://www.inquiry.net/traditional/index.htm | title =Traditional Scouting | format = | work = | publisher = American Traditional Scouting| accessdate =2007-07-18 ]

Seton was Chief Scout of the BSA from 1910-1915 and his work is in large part responsible for the American Indian influences within the BSA. However, he had significant personality and philosophical clashes with Beard and James E. West.

In addition to disputes about the content of and Seton's contributions to the Boy Scout Handbook, conflicts also arose about the suffrage activities of his wife, Grace, and his British citizenship. The citizenship issue arose partly because of his high position within BSA, and the federal charter West was attempting to obtain for the BSA required its board members to be US citizens. Seton drafted his written resignation on January 29, 1915 but did not send it to BSA until May.cite journal| last=| first=| coauthors=| title=ISCA Journal| journal=International Scouting Collectors Association| volume=6| issue=2| month=June| year=2006| pages=10–16]

Seton was an early pioneer of the modern school of animal fiction writing, his most popular work being "Wild Animals I Have Known" (1898), which contains the story of his killing of the wolf Lobo. This book is still in print.

In 1931 he became a United States citizen. He died in Seton Village, New Mexico in 1946, aged 86. Seton was cremated in Albuquerque. In 1960, in honor of his 100th birthday and the 350th anniversary of Santa Fe, his daughter Dee and his grandson Seton Cottier (son of Anya) scattered the ashes over Seton Village from a plane. [ Pamela Cottier Forcey, daughter of Anya. The Chief: Ernest Thompson Seton and the Changing West, H. Allen Anderson]

The Philmont Scout Ranch houses the Seton Memorial Library and Museum. Seton Castle in Santa Fe, built by Seton and his last residence, housed many other items from him. During renovation work on Seton Castle in 2005, it caught fire and burned down. However, all the artwork, manuscripts, books, etc., had been removed to storage before the work. [cite web | last =Grimm | first = Julie Ann| year = 2005 | url =http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/35086.html | title =Seton Castle destroyed by fire | format = | work = | publisher = Santa Fe New Mexican.com| accessdate =2007-07-18 ]

Works

* Mammals of Manitoba (1886)
* Birds of Manitoba, Foster (1891)
* How to Catch Wolves, Oneida Community (1894)
* Studies in the Art Anatomy of Animals, Macmillan (1896)
* Wild Animals I Have Known, Scribners (1898)
* The Trail of the Sandhill Stag, Scribners (1899)
* Lobo, Rag, and Vixen, Scribners (1899)
* The Wild Animal Play For Children (Musical), Doubleday & Curtis (1900)
* The Biography of a Grizzly, Century (1900)
* Lobo (1900)
* Ragylug (1900)
* American Printing House For The Blind, Wild Animals I have Known (NY point system) (1900)
* Pennsylvania Institution for the Blind Four Books In Braille: Lobo, Redruff, Raggylug, Vixen (1900)
* Lives of the Hunted, Scribners (1901)
* Twelve Pictures of Wild Animals (no text) Scribners (1901)
* Krag and Johnny Bear, Scribners (1902)
* How to Play Indian (1903)
* Two Little Savages, Doubleday (1903)
* How to Make a Real Indian Teepee, Curtis (1903)
* How Boys Can Form a Band of Indians, Curtis (1903)
* The Red Book (1904)
* Monarch, The Big Bear of Tallac, Scribners (1904)
* Woodmyth and Fable, Century (1905)
* Animal Heroes, Scribners (1905)
* The Birch Bark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians (1906)
* The Natural History of the Ten Commandments, Scribners (1907)
* Fauna of Manitoba, British Assoc. Handbook (1909)
* Biography of a Silver Fox, Century (1909)
* Life-Histories of Northern Animals (2 Volumes), Scribners (1909)
* BSA: A Handbook of Woodcraft, Scouting, and Life-craft, Including General Sir Baden-Powell's Scouting for Boys. Doubleday and Page for the Boy Scouts of America (1910)
* The Forester's Manual, Doubleday (1910)
*, Scribners (1911)
* Rolf In The Woods, Doubleday (Dedicated to the Boy Scouts of America). Note: Full text is available on-line, thanks to Ted Soldan and the holders of the copyright. (1911)
* The Book of Woodcraft and Indian Lore (1912)
* The Red Lodge, private printing of 100 copies (1912)
* Wild Animals at Home, Doubleday (1913)
* The Slum Cat, Constable (London) (1915)
* Legend of the White Reindeer, Constable (London) (1915)
* The Manual of the Woodcraft Indians (1915)
* Wild Animal Ways, Doubleday (1916)
* Woodcraft Manual for Girls (1916)
* The Preacher of Cedar Mountain, Doubleday (1917)
* Woodcraft Manual for Boys; the Sixteenth Birch Bark Roll by Ernest Thompson Seton. Published for the Woodcraft League of America, Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Page & Company, 1917. 441 pp., illus. and music. (1917)
* The Woodcraft Manual for Boys; the Seventeenth Birch Bark Roll by Ernest Thompson Seton. Published for the Woodcraft League of America, Inc. Garden City, New York Doubleday, Page & Company, 441 pp. Illus. and music. (1918)
* The Woodcraft Manual for Girls; the Eighteenth Birch Bark Roll, Published for the Woodcraft League of America, Inc. Garden City, New York, Doubleday, Page & Company, 424 pp. Illus. and music. (1918)
* Sign Talk of the Indians, Doubleday (1918)
* The Laws and Honors of the Little Lodge of Woodcraft., 8 vo. Published at Cheyenne, Wyo. August. 4th edition. (1919)
* The Brownie Wigwam; The Rules of the Brownies. Fun outdoors for boys and girls under 11 years of age. Woodcraft League of America, N. Y. 8 vo., 7 pp. 5th edition, the first being part of the Birch Bark Roll for 1906 (1921)
* The Buffalo Wind (1921)
* Woodland Tales (1921)
* The Book of Woodcraft (1921)
* The Book of Woodcraft and Indian Lore; Doubleday, Page & Co., 590 pp. More than 500 drawings by the author; 3rd edition of the 1912 issue, enlarged by the inclusion of "The Foresters Manual." (1922)
* Bannertail: The Story of A Grey Squirrel, Scribners (1922)
* Manual of the Brownies; Manual of the Brownies, the Little Lodge of the Woodcraft League of America. 6th edition. A pamphlet of 10 pp. Oct., New York. (1922)
* The Ten Commandments in the Animal World, Doubleday (1923)
* Animals, The Nature Library, Doubleday (Color Plates) (1926)
* Lobo, Rag, and Vixen (The Scribner Series of School Reading), Scribners, 147 pp. (1927)
* Old Silver Grizzly, Hodder (London) (ca. 1927)
* Raggylug and Other Stories, Hodder (London) (ca. 1927)
* Chink and Other Stories, Hodder (London) (ca. 1927)
* Foam The Razorback, Hodder (London) (ca. 1927)
* Johnny Bear and Other Stories, Hodder (London) (ca. 1927)
* Lobo and Other Stories, Hodder (London) (ca. 1927)
* Animals Worth Knowing, (As Above), The Little Nature Library, Doubleday (No Color Plates) (1928)
* 1925-1928 Lives of Game Animals (4 Volumes), Doubleday
* Blazes on The Trail, Little Peegno Press (3 Pamphlets): Life Craft or Woodcraft; Rise of the Woodcraft Indians; Spartans of the West (1928)
* Krag, The Kootenay Ram and Other Stories, University of London Press (1929)
* Billy the Dog That Made Good, Hodder (London) (1930)
* Cute Coyote and Other Stories, Hodder (London) (1930)
* Lobo, Bingo, The Pacing Mustang (1930)
* Famous Animal Stories (1932)
* Animals Worth Knowing (1934)
* Johnny Bear, Lobo and Other Stories, (Modern Standard Authors) Scribners (1935)
* The Gospel of the Redman, with Julia Seton, Doubleday (1936)
* Biography of An Arctic Fox, Appleton-Century (1937)
* Great Historic Animals, Scribners (1937)
* Mainly About Wolves (Same as above), Methuen (London) (1937)
* Pictographs of the Old Southwest, with other authors, Cedar Rapids (1937)
* Buffalo Wind, Private printing of 200 (1938)
* Trail and Camp-Fire Stories (1940)
* Trail of an Artist-Naturalist: The Autobiography of Ernest Thompson Seton, Scribners (1940)
* Santanna, The Hero Dog of France, Limited printing of 500 copies with 300 autographed, Phoenix Press (1945)
* The Best of Ernest Thompson Seton (1949)
* Ernest Thompson Seton's America; Selections of the writings of the artist-naturalist. New York: Devin-Adair Co. 413 pages Edited with an intro by Farida A. Wiley (1954)
* Animal Tracks and Hunter Signs (1958)
* The Gospel of the Redman; with Julia M. Seton, Santa Fe NM; Seton Village (1958)
* The Worlds of Ernest Thompson Seton. (Edited, with introduction and commentary, by John G. Samson). New York: Knopf. 204 pp. (1976)

ee also

*The Kibbo Kift
*Lobo (The King of Currumpaw)
*Philmont Scout Ranch
*Roving Outdoor Conservation Schools (RO/CS)
*Scouting memorials

Further reading

* Morris, Brian (Goldsmiths College), "Ernest Thompson Seton, Founder of the Woodcraft Movement 1860-1946". Edwin Mellen Press, 2008.

References

External links

*
* [http://www.inquiry.net/traditional/seton/birch/index.htm Full text of The Birchbark Roll]
* [http://www.etsetoninstitute.org/ Ernest Thompson Seton Institute]
* [http://www.etsetoninstitute.org/PHILMONT.HTM Seton's scientific collections at Philmont]
* [http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=350&ResourceType=District Seton Village site at the NPS]
* [http://www.aloveoflearning.org/ On-line Seton art exhibition and collections]

Persondata
NAME= Ernest Thompson Seton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Author, founder of the Woodcraft Indians, and founding pioneer of the Boy Scouts of America
DATE OF BIRTH= August 14 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH= South Shields, County Durham, England
DATE OF DEATH= October 23 1946
PLACE OF DEATH= Seton Village, New Mexico