Other Camps Of Chisholm Trail Council

"A local Boy Scout Troop of about twenty-five boys, under leadership of Rev. Willis Gerhart, Carl Hensley, and Joe Hallon, returned Friday from the Concho River, Concho County, where they had been on a camping trip for more than ten days.  Plenty of fish were caught, in spite of the fact that rains were frequent.  Several people from Abilene visited the boys where they were in camp.  Among the visitors were Mr. and Mrs. Dallas Scarborough."

1925 - The first council sponsored summer camp was in 1925.  The Abilene Council, under leadership of Scout Executive John Price, leased the Baptist Encampment grounds at Christoval, TX for a ten-day camp.  Christoval was located about twenty miles south of San Angelo on the Concho River and had been used by Concho Valley Council for a summer camp too.  A highlight of the camp program was the presentation of the first Eagle Scout badge to an Abilene Council Boy Scout, Eugene Surface. Returning home from camp, the Scouts rode a booster train from San Angelo to Abilene.  They formed a parade at every town where they stopped.  There were between seventy and eighty boys that attended this first camp.

1926 - There was no camp in 1926.  John Price took two buses loaded with Boy Scouts to Philadelphia.  This trip did not have as many boys on it as would have attended a summer camp, but the leaders thought it was of more value to the kids.

1927 - The new Chisholm Trail Council leased the Baptist Encampment grounds at Lueders, TX for a two-week period.

1928 -  Mrs. Shumway, the wife of Scout Executive Ed Shumway, tells of an event that happened in the Lueders Camp in 1928 where she served as a nurse.

"I was awakened about mid-night by the screams of some young Boy Scouts sleeping in a near-by tent.  I rushed to the tent but everything seemed to be in order except some frightened boys.  I searched around and found some panther tracks about ten feet from the tent.  By this time most of the campers were disturbed.  I tried to convince everyone that the tracks were definitely those of a panther, but no one would believe me.  The next day a panther was caught, a few miles down the river from camp, by some hunters."

The camp almost did not open that year due to a shortage of water but the camp was able to open on schedule thanks to a fourteen year old Eagle Scout named Ralph Harper.  He came up with the suggestion of borrowing a water tank and wagon from a man at Lueders and hauling water from Abilene to supply the camp.  It worked and they were able to have that year's summer camp.

1929 - This year's summer camp was held at the Presbyterian Encampment Grounds at Buffalo Gap, Texas for ten days starting on Monday, August 23rd.  Cost of the camp for six dollars or eleven dollars for two weeks of camp.  No troop leaders were required to be with the boys during their stay in camp.  This was mass camping with the camp director looking after all the boys.  The camp program consisted of swimming, life saving, first aid, hiking, mountain climbing, scout craft, and group singing.  There were eighty-five boys registered for this camp.

1930 -  The first summer camp held at the new Camp Tonkawa.

Last updated:  January 8, 2003
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