BOY SCOUTS

Commemorative envelope issued October 9, 2010 celebrating 100 years of scouting in the Northeast Council.

Commemorative envelope

BOY SCOUTS. Dubuque's first two troops of Scouts were organized soon after the arrival of a representative from the national office in August 1910. Due to lack of cooperation and interest, these troops gradually disbanded. (1)

The next troop was organized in 1912 by SUMMIT CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST. One of the boys who joined that troop was Milt Blosch who, in 1997, was honored for his 75 year involvement with scouting with a pin from the national organization. At the time, he was one of only 84 people in the country to have had that many years in the organization. (2)

Interest was revived in 1916 when local businessmen organized by Henry WILBERDING and a Scout executive, Walter Gunn was hired. Fired with enthusiasm, Gunn organized troop after troop so that by 1919 Dubuque had 525 registered Scouts. (3) In 1928 Boy Scout troops were found at AUDUBON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (Troop 9), HOLY TRINITY CATHOLIC CHURCH (Troop 16). (4) In 1928 there were eleven active troops: SUMMIT CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST (Troop 1), WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (Troop 4), ST. PATRICK'S CATHOLIC CHURCH (Troop 6), FIRST CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST (Troop 7), YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (Y.M.C.A.) (Troop 12), [[IMMANUEL CONGREGATION UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST (Troop (3), THIRD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (Troop 9), HOLY GHOST CATHOLIC CHURCH (Troop 20), ST. LUKE'S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH (Troop 5), ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH (Troop 8), WASHINGTON JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL (Troop 19), UNIVERSITY OF DUBUQUE (Troop 15), ST. MARY'S ORPHANS' HOME (TROOP 11), NATIVITY CATHOLIC CHURCH (Troop 10), and FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, (Troop 13). (5)

In 1930 financial security came to scouting when it became part of the Community Chest collection. Local scouts also benefited by the donation of a rugged and heavily wooded campsite south of Durango from the Wallis family. (6)

A lasting memorial to his [John Burton's] name was created in 1929, when Camp John Burton was dedicated as a Scout Camp. The land for this purpose, some 26 acres, was given by James Harold Wallis and John Rider Wallis, both grandsons of John Burton, whose daughter [Mary Burton] had married a Wallis [John William Wallis]. (7)

The ruins of Burton's furnace in Durango. Photo courtesy: Andrea Wallis Aven

               The smelting furnace was located just south of the 
               present [in 1973] red bridge at Durango- immediately 
               behind the stone structure was a very steep hill. As 
               a young boy my great uncle, Jos. Herod, showed me the 
               remains of a stone flume or chimney built on the hill 
               side and connected with the chimney of the smelter - 
               an ingenious way of increasing the draft to carry the 
               smoke and fumes without building a high vertical chimney. (8)

In 1921 Lynn Osborne became the first Dubuque Council scout to earn the Eagle Scout designation, the highest rank a Scout can earn. (9) Janet VANCE later became the first woman in Iowa to be inducted into the Brotherhood of the Arrow.

In 1928 with a financial debt lingering from the year before, Harold H. Baker, the new scout executive locally, and A. C. Buettell, the head of the Boy Scout Council Finance Committee and and chairman of the Budget Fund Campaign took an appeal to the city. Their efforts were focused on raising $6,500. (10) Locally, a new scout council was chosen from members of civic, fraternal and patriotic organizations. Plans were made for establishing a permanent scout camp with permanent shelter and equipment. (11)

In 1960 the Junior Chamber of Commerce and Scoutmaster Don Hesseling and two assistants organized Troop 67 exclusively for the handicapped. It was the first troop of its kind in the Northeast Iowa Council. (12)

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Source:

1. "How Scouts Grew in Dubuque," Telegraph Herald, January 31, 1960, p. 5

2. Bragg, Mary Rae. "Boyhood Funs Becomes a Scout's Honor," Telegraph Herald, May 13, 1997, p. 1. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=aEyKTaVlRPYC&dat=19970513&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

3. "How Scouts Grew..."

4. "Scout Executive Inspects Troops," Telegraph Herald, April 6, 1921, p. 3

5. "Eleven Troops of Scouts Active Now," Telegraph Herald, April 22, 1928, p. 22

6. "How Scouts Grew..."

7. Wallis, John Rider. Platt Smith 1813-1882 A Brief Biography; Notes From the Bonson Diary 1840-1854; Rambles Thru Linwood, History in a Graveyard, 1973

8. Ibid.

9. Ibid.

10. "Scout Movement on New Basis Here," Telegraph Herald, April 22, 1928, p. 22

11. "Loizeaux is Head of Scout Council," Telegraph Herald, April 22, 1928, p. 22

12. "Form Special Scout Troop for Physically Handicapped," Telegraph Herald, March 27, 1960, p. 28

Special appreciation to Andrea Wallis Aven.