Chisholm Trail Council No. 561

Abilene, Texas

During the latter part of 1925, Carl W. Barnes, who was an executive at Okmulgee, OK, came into Abilene to expand the territory of the then Abilene Council, which was not doing well financially.. Several surrounding counties were contacted and a meeting was held at the Stamford High School during February of 1926. Interested citizens from ten counties attended the meeting. Of those in attendance, seven of the counties voted to participate in the new council. Being as this was to be an "area council," the name of the council was changed to Chisholm Trail Council. It was made up of Taylor, Shackelford, Haskell, Jones, Callahan, Coleman, and a part of Runnels counties.

They wanted a name that included the new counties so they selected "Chisholm Trail" in honor of the old Chisholm Cattle Trail that ran through the new territory in a north-east and south-westerly direction. Judge C. M Caldwell became the first president and served in this capacity for two years. Carl W. Barnes, who had helped organize the council, became its first Scout Executive. But he served for only a month. Guy N. Quirl became the next Scout Executive in March and served until the end of the year. He moved to Eastland and organized the Oil Belt Council in 1927.

They moved the office from the Parks Office Building to the second floor of City Hall in Abilene. In 1946, another room was added to the office. They stayed here until 1951. The council continued to have problems with finances until after World War II when Robert C. Glew became the Scout Executive and was able to put them on a more stable financial footing.

In 1954 the counties of Nolan, Fisher and Stonewall were transferred to the Chisholm Trail from the Buffalo Trail Council.

On January 1, 2003, Chisholm Trail Council and Comanche Trail Council combined to form the Texas Trails Council made up of 17 counties of the two councils. This was done to put both former councils on a stable financial footing by eliminating one Scout Executive. The new council is being organized under the leadership of Kent Brown, Scout Executive.

| Means by which two great councils were consolidated |

| Consolidation Agreement Between Chisholm Trail Council and Comanche Trail Council |

Other Chisholm Trail Council Pages

The information above came from "History of Region Nine, Boy Scouts of America, 1920-1967," by Minor Huffman and from "A History of Chisholm Trail Council Boy Scouts of America," a thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate School of Hardin-Simons University by Claude Olen Willis, August 1952.

Last Updated: April 1, 2009
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