Oil Belt Council 1929 - 1932

In September 1928, Stephens County to the north of Eastland County was officially added to the Eastland County Council.   The Council Executive Board met in early February 1929, with P. C. Campbell, Deputy Regional Executive of Dallas, and elected Council officers and board members for the new Council to be named the Oil Belt Council.  They divided the Council into four districts with each district slated to elect their officers later that month.  The Council received its charter as the Oil Belt Council, dated March 22, 1929, and were given the Council Number 89.

Soon after that, the new board set the date for the second summer camp at Camp Martin for July 2 to 14, 1929.

First Six Eagles

The Cisco American reported on June 19, 1930, that four boys would receive the Eagle Award at a Court of Honor in Rising Star. There had been only two previous Eagle Scout awards made in the Oil Belt Council and both of those Scouts were also members of Rising Star Troop 15.  They were Carl Rotramme and Charles Rutherford.  This troop, which was very active at the time, had the honor of having the first six Eagle Scouts in the Council.  The four Scouts receiving their Eagles were Lionell Lee, Weldon Bryant, Russell Day and Charles Bucy.  The paper also noted that Scouts in Cisco and Eastland had almost completed the requirements for Eagle.

Merged

By the fall of 1931, both the Oil Belt Council and the Pecan Valley Council were experiencing financial difficulties as a result of the depression.  When the crunch came in 1929, all of the banks in the towns that held the Oil Belt Council’s money were closed.  So the council struggled to pay its bills. They looked to the Region 9 office in Dallas for some kind of solution to their problems. James P. Fitch, Regional Scout Executive, requested that the  Executive Board members of the two councils meet with him in Cisco, Texas, at the Hilton Hotel (Conrad Hilton's first hotel) to work out a solution.  Members of the two boards met him on February 2, 1932.  Several people from both councils were present.

Fitch told the group that they had a couple of options.  The could go on a mail order basis with the regional office at Dallas and do without an executive, or they could merge into one council and have a local executive and office.

They decided the best plan would be to merge and agreed to do that even though they still had to worry about finances.  Each council would be responsible for working out its own indebtedness. The two current executives would remain active and in charge of their current areas until the financial problems were resolved.  Later, they could decide if one or the other executive would be the Scout Executive or hire someone outside of the two councils.  They met again on February 12 at the Chamber of Commerce in Cisco to further work on the merger.

At the second meeting, February 12, 1932, the representatives were able to finalize the details of the merger. They selected  the name Comanche Trail Council , which was suggested by Oswald Daughety, son of Dr. Jewell Daughety the Council President, for the new council.  Guy N. Quirl, Scout Executive of the Oil Belt Council was selected to serve as the Scout Executive of the new council and Cliff Pouncey, Scout Executive of the Pecan Valley Council, was selected to serve as the Assistant Scout Executive.  Guy Quirl moved his family from Eastland to Brownwood by March 1, 1932.

Pouncey resigned from his position in the fall of 1932.  Will Tolbert of Brownwood was employed for two months to help to refinance the new council.

Brownwood offered to continue to provide free office space in the basement of the Brown County Court House, so the office was located in Brownwood, Texas, where it remains today.

By 1931, both the Oil Belt Council and the Pecan Valley Council were experiences financial difficulties due to the depression.  James P. Fitch, Regional Scout Executive, requested that the two Executive Board members of the two councils to meet with him in Cisco, Texas at the Hilton Hotel (Conrad Hilton's first hotel).  Members of the two boards met and agreed to merge into one council in 1932..  The name selected for the new council was the  Guy N. Quirl, Scout Executive of the Oil Belt Council was selected to serve as the Scout Executive of the new council and Cliff Pouncey, Scout Executive of the Pecan Valley Council, selected to serve as the Assistant Scout Executive.  Brownwood offered free office space in the basement of the Brown County Court House so the office was set up in Brownwood, Texas where it remains today.


Material for this page was taken from the book "The Camp Billy Gibbons Story", by Guy N. Quirl and Eldon Sehnert, April, 1989 and "Ninety Years of Service - A History of Comanche Trail Council 1910 - 1999," by Frank T. Hilton.

Last Updated:  June 13, 2003
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