Scouting in Missouri

Scouting in Missouri has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.

Early history (1910-1950)

According to William D. Murray, who was a charter member of the Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) when it incorporated on February 8, 1910, the first "Troop" to form in Missouri was formed by an Englishman in Sedalia, MO sometime in 1908 or 1909. In his 1937 book "The History of the Boy Scouts of America" he goes on to say that this man had even gone so far as to appoint field representatives in other states as well.

The 1938 National Order of the Arrow Lodge Meeting was held at Irondale, Missouri.

Recent history (1950-1990)

Scouting in Missouri today

There are six Boy Scouts of America local councils in Missouri.

Great Rivers Council

Great Rivers Council (653) is based in Columbia, Missouri and serves Scouts in 33 counties in Mid-Missouri. In 1971 Great Rivers Council merged with Lake of the Ozark Council (314).

Districts

• Black Diamond is located in Schuyler, Sullivan, Putnam, Adair, Scotland, Knox, Linn, Macon, and Western Shelby, counties.

• Boonslick is located in Boone, Cooper and Howard counties

• Chariton Valley is located in Randolph, Chariton, and Western Monroe counties.

• Five Rivers is located in Cole, Osage, Gasconade and Maries counties.

• Grand Prairie is located in Callaway, Audrain and Montgomery counties.

• Kinderhook is located in Morgan, Moniteau and Camden counties.

• Mark Twain is located in Pike, Ralls, Lewis, Monroe, Marion and Eastern Shelby counties.

• Osage Trails is located in Saline, Pettis and Benton counties.

Camps

The Council operates one camp: Hohn Scout Reservation. Boy Scout and Venturing Camps are offered at Hohn. The camp is available for year round use by Scout units for a variety of activities.

Hohn Scout Reservation is home to a 35 ft (11 m) Climbing Tower, the Great Rivers Council C.O.P.E. program, the Sail Master program (utilizing our fleet of boats, 6 over 21 ft) and the Kit Carson Trail an 8-mile (13 km) trail traveling the boundaries of the camp and the bluffs overlooking the Lake of the Ozarks.

Order of the Arrow

The council is served by the Nampa Tsi lodge

In 1971 Metab #216 and Po-E-Mo #426 merged. This merger took place after the Great Rivers Council merged with Lake of the Ozark Council. The name Nampa-Tsi translated means "twin lodges."

There have been different designs for the lodge pocket flap. The original design of our lodge flap, by Vigil Honor James Quick, had an Osage (pronounced Oh-Sog-Eh) Indian with a reservation hat, a coup staff, a flaming arrow, a lake and rivers, and two tepees. Some think that the hat was worn by the Osage Indian because they traded with settlers. This was not the case. The hats were taken as coup from pioneer settlers after they had been scalped.

Sons of Daniel Boone

The Sons of Daniel Boone was reestablished as a summer camp honor society in 2006 at Hohn Scout Reservation and Camp Thunderbird, following some of the original writings of Daniel Carter Beard. The honor society has been gaining attention from Scouts and Scout troops across the state as well as outside of Missouri: Iowa, Arkansas, Nebraska and New York. Since its inception over 300 Scouts have become members.^[1]

• Great Rivers Council
• Sons of Daniel Boone

Greater Saint Louis Area Council

Main article: Greater Saint Louis Area Council

Heart of America Council

Main article: Heart of America Council

Heart of America Council serves Scouts in Missouri and Kansas.

Mississippi Valley Council

Main article: Scouting in Illinois

Mississippi Valley Council is headquartered in Quincy, Illinois, and is served by Black Hawk Lodge #67. This council serves Scouts in Illinois, Missouri and Iowa.

Ozark Trails Council

Ozark Trails Council
Location	Springfield, MO
Country	United States
Scout Executive	Dean Ertel
Website http://www.ozarktrailsbsa.org/
Scouting portal

Ozark Trails Council is based in Springfield, Missouri, and serves Scouts in Missouri and Kansas. Camps in the Ozark Trails Council include:

• Camp Arrowhead offers programs for all Scouts, from first-year Trailblazer to High Adventure. Camp Arrowhead is situated on approximately 650 beautiful wooded acres in the Ozark Mountains near Marshfield in southwest Missouri. The property features a lake, many miles of hiking trails, a stream, caves, a spring, and many examples of native Missouri flora and fauna.

Scouts camping at Camp Arrowhead may enjoy traditional outdoor Scouting activities – backpacking, hiking, fishing, swimming, archery and shooting – as well as more challenging “adventure” and “aquatics” programs. These include: a C.O.P.E. course, mountain biking, rappelling, canoeing, small-boat sailing and snorkeling.

The purpose of Camp Arrowhead is to provide Scouting experiences, which strengthen your troop operation by supporting the efforts of your unit’s leadership – both adult and youth – and by fulfilling the promise of Scouting, in the outdoors.

• Frank Childress Scout Reservation, located 4 miles (6 km) south of I-44 and west of Diamond, MO on V Highway. FCSR is home to our Cub World Cub Scout Resident Camp. The camp includes a large swimming pool designed specifically for Cubs, dining hall, Pirate Ship, Old West Fort, Gold Mine Indian Village and a stocked trout pond for fishing.

The Camp is also complete with a C.O.P.E. Course for older Scouts and a year-round multipurpose building that can be utilized by Scouts and Scouters for training and fellowship

• Cow Creek located on Table Rock Lake just south of Branson, Missouri. Cow Creek is available for unit camping. The property is winterized October 1 through April 15; during this time utility water will not be available.

The Ozark Trails Council also includes Wah-Sha-She Lodge 42 of the Order of the Arrow http://wahshashe.org/lodge/index.htm.

• Blazing Trails District
• Frontier District
• Mo-Kan District
• Nih-Ka-Ga-Hah District
• Osage Hills District
• Pathfinder District
• River Trails District

Camp Arrowhead

Camp Arrowhead is in Marshfield, Missouri located in Southwest Missouri as well as a part of Eastern Kansas.

The camp was started in 1924, and is the oldest continually operating Boy Scout Camp west of the Mississippi River.

Camp Arrowhead offers programs for all Scouts, from first-year Trailblazer to High Adventure. Camp Arrowhead is situated on approximately 650 beautiful wooded acres in the Ozark Mountains near Marshfield in southwest Missouri. The property features a lake, many miles of hiking trails, a stream, caves, a spring, and many examples of native Missouri flora and fauna.

Scouts camping at Camp Arrowhead may enjoy traditional outdoor Scouting activities – backpacking, hiking, fishing, swimming, archery and shooting – as well as more challenging “adventure” and “aquatics” programs. These include: a C.O.P.E. course, mountain biking, rappelling, canoeing, small-boat sailing and snorkeling. In 2001, an honorary organization was started at Camp Arrowhead called the Tribe of Lone Bear to recognize scouts that return to camp each summer.

The purpose of Camp Arrowhead is to provide Scouting experiences, which strengthen your troop operation by supporting the efforts of your unit’s leadership – both adult and youth – and by fulfilling the promise of Scouting, in the outdoors.

Pony Express Council

The Pony Express Council is based in Saint Joseph, Missouri, and also serves Scouts in Kansas. The Council's summer camp is Camp Geiger, which is one of only two camps in the United States to offer Mic-O-Say rather than Order of the Arrow as the Scout honorary society. In the late 1970s, Pony Express Executive Parvin Bishop started the first Project C.O.P.E. program in the United States at the camp. After Bishop became Director of Program at the National Office, he expanded the program so that it became national.[1]

• Crossed Arrows District
• Kanza District
• Ma-Has-Kah District
• Otoe District
• Robidoux District

Camp Geiger

Camp Geiger

Location:	St. Joseph, Missouri
Type:	Boy Scout Summer Camp
Built:	1930
Used:	1930–present
Controlled By:	Boy Scouts of America

Camp Geiger is a Boy Scout camp on the bluffs above the Missouri River two miles (3 km) northwest of St. Joseph, Missouri in Andrew County, Missouri at 39°50′07″N 94°52′27″W / 39.835272°N 94.874134°W / 39.835272; -94.874134 used by the Pony Express Council. It is one of the only two scout camps in the United States to use Mic-O-Say rather Order of the Arrow exclusively as its Scout honor society. It was first camp in the United States to offer Project C.O.P.E..

The camp is named for Charles Geiger, a St. Joseph physician, who donated land from his boyhood home in 1930. It replaced Camp Brinton at Agency, Missouri (named for W.E. Brinton who had loaned 30 acres (120,000 m²) for the camp) which had been the Scout council's main summer camp since 1918. Scouting executive H. Roe Bartle founded the Mic-O-Say organization at Camp Brinton in 1925 while serving as head of the Pony Express council. Bartle was to found a Mic-O-Say chapter in Kansas City, Missouri when he was transferred to being head of the Heart of America chapter in Kansas City there in 1929. However the Kansas City chapter also includes Order of the Arrow in its offering at its Camp Naish while having Mic-O-Say exclusively at its other camp—Camp Bartle.^[2]

In 1930 Geiger announced the donation and in 1935 it opened with a Dining Hall made of native limestone. In the 1950s, the council bought land higher on the bluffs and further to the north and a "new Camp Geiger" was begun with the bulk of the camp moved to the higher land in 1952. The original swimming pool lower on the bluff was replaced in 1971 with a new pool on top of the bluff.^[3]

In the late 1970s the Pony Express Council began Project COPE which is aimed at encouraging teamwork, self confidence, trust, leadership, communication, decision-making, and problem-solving. It was championed by Pony Express Council Executive Parvin Bishop who expanded the program when he became Director of Program at the National Office.^[4]

A new Dining Hall and Headquarters/Health Lodge buildings were built in 1992 after land was purchased on the road entering the camp.

Girl Scouting in Missouri

Missouri has three Girl Scout councils.

Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri

Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri serves more than 64,000 girls and has 17,000 adult volunteers.

It was formed by merging Girl Scouts of The Becky Thatcher Area and The Girl Scout Council of Greater Saint Louis in 2007.

Headquarters: St. Louis, Missouri
Website: http://www.girlscoutsem.org/

Service Center:

• Hannibal, Missouri

Camps:

• Camp Cedarledge is nearly 700 acres (2.8 km²) near Pevely, Missouri. Originally an old farm acquired by the Girl Scouts in 1927 and later expanded.[2]
• Camp Fiddlecreek is 83 acres (340,000 m²) near Gray Summit, Missouri.
• Camp Tuckaho is 521 acres (2.11 km²) near Troy, Missouri.

Girl Scouts of Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri

Headquarters: Kansas City, Missouri
Website: http://www.girlscoutsksmo.org/

It was formed by a merger of Northeast Girl Scouts of Mid-Continent Council, Girl Scouts of Kaw Valley Council (Kansas), and Girl Scouts of the Midland Empire in 2007.

Camps:[3][4]

• Camp Daisy Hindman, founded in 1929, is 160 acres (0.65 km²) in Dover, Kansas near Topeka
• Camp Cutteru is near Junction City, Kansas
• Camp Timberlake is 72 acres (290,000 m²) near Stilwell, Kansas and started in 1959.
• Tongawood Program center is 80 acres (320,000 m²) near Tonganoxie, Kansas
• Camp Oakledge is 410 acres (1.7 km²) near Warsaw, Missouri. It specializes in aquatic activities and started in 1945.
• Camp Prairie Schooner is over 170 acres (0.69 km²) near Kansas City, Missouri acquired in 1945.
• Winding River Camp is an equestrian camp of over 400 acres (1.6 km²) near Dearborn, Missouri. It started in 1965.
• Camp Woodland is near Albany, Missouri. It became a Girl Scout camp in 1948.
• Warrensburg Little House is in Warrensburg, Missouri
• Camp ToKaVaCa is 80 acres (320,000 m²) in Topeka, Kansas

Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland

Girl Scouts Missouri Heartland includes 68 counties in Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. It serves over 21,000 girls and has over 6,000 adult volunteers.

It was formed by a merger of Girl Scouts — Cotton Boll Area Council, Girl Scouts of Dogwood Trails Council, Girl Scouts — Heart of Missouri Council, Girl Scouts of Otahki Council, and Girl Scout Council of The Ozark Area on October 1, 2008.

Headquarters: Springfield, Missouri
Website: http://www.girlscoutsmoheartland.org/

Service Centers:

• Cape Girardeau, Missouri
• Dexter, Missouri
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Joplin, Missouri

Camps:

• Camp Bachimtal is 5 acres (20,000 m²) near historic Hermann, Missouri
• Camp Cherokee Ridge is 1,100 acres (4.5 km²) in Wayne County, Missouri
• Camp Friendship Fields is 53 acres (210,000 m²) north of Pittsburg, Kansas (Crawford County, Kansas)
• Camp Latonka is on the shores of Lake Wappapello in Wayne County, Missouri
• Camp Mintahama is 180 acres (0.73 km²) just south of Joplin, Missouri (Newton County). It was opened in 1946.
• Camp Sacajawea—West is 130 acres (0.53 km²) near Sedalia, Missouri (Pettis County)
• Camp Sacajawea—East is 42 acres (170,000 m²) north of Cape Girardeau, Missouri (Cape Girardeau County)
• Camp Suzanne is 750 acres (3.0 km²) near Diamond, Missouri (Newton County). It is named for Susie Childress whose family made the camp possible.
• Finbrooke Outdoor Center is 285 acres (1.15 km²) near Rogersville, Missouri (Christian County)[5]
• Green Berry Acres is 4 acres (16,000 m²) near the state capital, Jefferson City, Missouri (Cole County)
• Silver Meadows is 130 acres (0.53 km²) near Columbia, Missouri (Boone County)

See also

Scouting portal

• Tribe of Mic-O-Say

External links

• Northstar Boy Scouts
• Sons of Daniel Boone and Great Rivers Council, BSA
• Pony Express Council

References

1. ^ http://www.grc-bsa.org/camping/sdb/sdb.html
2. ^ History of Camp Geiger - ponyexpressbsa.org - Retrieved August 31, 2009
3. ^ History of Camp Geiger - ponyexpressbsa.org - Retrieved August 31, 2009
4. ^ C.O.P.E. - uscouts.org - Retrieved August 31, 2009