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Current Council's Web Sites
CouncilsIn the early
days of Scouting there were no councils for troops
to charter with. They had to correspond with
the National office for all their needs including
chartering. Troops were active in this West
Texas area since 1910. They had difficulty
staying alive as there was no one to come help them
when they lost their leader. They had to
organize their own summer camps and had to order
their books, badges and uniforms from the National
office.
But help was on
the way. By January 1, 1920, an office was set
up in Dallas and designated as Region 9 with Jim
Fitch as its Regional Executive, a job he held for
twenty-six years. There were three states in
Region 9, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico with
fifteen councils and fifteen executives, 853 Boy
Scout troops and 19,126 Boy Scouts. Over half
of the troops were located in rural communities not
covered by the fifteen councils that existed at that
time. The job of organizing councils in West Texas
was begun now that there was a person with the
knowledge of the Scouting organization and the
ability to get the job done..
At that time
there were only two short paved roads in the three
states, all the rest were dirt roads. During
rainy weather it was almost impossible to travel on
these roads by car so the train was the means of
travel in those early days. Most hotels,
except in the largest cities, still had a pitcher
and bowl in each room for washing and still had
outdoor plumbing. The trains in the area ran
only once a day each way. Local towns were not
interested in the communities around them, only in
their own community. So town, county and
district councils were organized.
In the early
twenties, the second class council, run entirely by
volunteers, was organized along with first
class councils, run by a paid executive. There
were town councils, county councils and district
councils. Area Councils, which encompassed
more than one county, came into being also.
Councils, of any form, were not organized in West
Texas until the twenties except for a brief council
in Midland, Texas in 1913. This is the story
of those councils and when they got started.
Some did not survive the depression and merged to
form larger Councils.
Former Council's Histories
Current Council's Histories
Last Updated: November 1, 2017 Return to Home Page |