Sons of Daniel Boone

The Sons of Daniel Boone (sometimes called the Society of the Sons of Daniel Boone) was a youth program developed by Daniel Carter Beard in 1905 based on the American Frontiersman. When Dan Beard joined the Boy Scouts of America in 1910 as one of their National Scout Commissioners, he merged his group into the fledging BSA.

Boys were organized into "Forts". The officers of the Fort took on names of frontiersman and had specific insignia:
*Daniel Boone's (President) is a powder-horn
*Simon Kenton's (Vice-president) is a tomahawk
*Kit Carson's (Treasurer) is a flint arrowhead
*John James Audubon's (Librarian) is a bird
*Johnny Appleseed (Forester) has a tree
*David Crockett (Secretary) has a coonskin
*George Catlin, the totem painter, wears a buffalo head on sleeve

The "uniform" of the boys was based on the fringed buckskin outfit of the frontiersman.

There were no ranks or advancement, but boys could earn notches and top notches for achievements in different areas.

Beard first promoted the program in his column in "Recreation Magazine" starting in March, 1905. Due to issues, he then moved over to "Womans' Home Companion" in April, 1906. When he left that magazine in 1909 and moved to "Pictorial Review", he was apparently forced to rename the program Boy Pioneers of America because WHC felt they owned the name. Most Scouting historians ignore this fact, and refer to the group as "Sons of Daniel Boone".

A handbook for the program wasn't published until 1909, as "Boy Pioneers: Sons of Daniel Boone".

In 2006 Great Rivers Council in Missouri established a summer camp honor society at Hohn Scout Reservation and Camp Thunderbird named Sons of Daniel Boone, following some of the original writings of Daniel Carter Beard. The honor society has been gaining attention from Scout troops outside of Missouri from Iowa, Arkansas, Illinois and Texas. Since its inception over 400 Scouts have become honor members. [http://www.grc-bsa.org/camping/sdb/sdb.html]

External links

* [http://www.inquiry.net/traditional/beard/pioneers/ Boy Pioneers] on-line copy of the SDB's handbook, published in 1909.
* [http://www.inquiry.net/uniforms/costume.htm The Sons of Daniel Boone/Boy Pioneers Uniforms]
* [http://www.bartleby.com/65/be/Beard-Da.html Columbia Encyclopedia entry on Dan Beard]
* [http://www.sonsofdanielboone.org/ Great Rivers Council Sons of Daniel Boone Society]