Pecan Valley Council 1928 - 1932

An editorial appeared in the Brownwood Bulletin on January 5, 1926 that asked the community to get behind Scouting in Brownwood, Texas.  It said in part "Brownwood has made several half-hearted efforts to establish and maintain Scouting here.  For a time the work was carried on in a fairly satisfactory manner, but it had to be discontinued because of lack of financial support.  The Bulletin believes that every boy in the city is entitled to such training as is given through Scouting, and that by refusing to finance a Scout program Brownwood has deliberately robbed its boys of a privilege which rightfully belongs to them."  It concluded the editorial by saying, "It is Brownwood's shame that it is so, for Brownwood is a good town."

By October of that same year, the work of the Boy Scouts of America was discussed by James P. Fitch, Regional Scout Executive, at the local Kiwanis Club meeting.  He told of the steps necessary to organize a "First Class Council."  The Kiwanis Club gave enthusiastic endorsement to the plan and under the leadership of W. P. Woodruff, appointed a committee to consult with similar committees from the Rotary and Lions Clubs to find out if it was practical to organize a council in Brownwood.

It was not until December of 1927 that J. C. Campbell came to Brownwood to help a group of thirty-seven men to get the council organized to include Brown, Comanche Erath, Lampasas, Mills and San Saba counties.  By January 6, 1928, Jack Brunberg came to Brownwood to direct the organizational work, raise money and start the council.  A meeting was held on January 6, 1928 in the Chamber of Commerce office with J. C. Campbell of Dallas, Deputy Regional Executive and Jack Brunberg with a group of men to explain in detail the methods to be followed in setting up the Council organization.  Brunberg, six feet tall, with brown hair, came to Brownwood from Laredo, Texas where he was employed in Scouting.

The Council was named the Pecan Valley Council, a common name used for many organizations in and around Brownwood.  Dr. Jewel D. Daughety, M.C. of Brownwood was elected as President.  An application for a charter for the new Pecan Valley Council was sent to the Boy Scout National office in New York in March 1928.  Office space was provided in the old American Legion Hall in the basement of the Brown County courthouse.

There were four active troops in Brownwood at the time.   They were Troop 1, 5, 7 and 8.   A Scout Leadership Course was held on April 20, 1928 and 33 men showed up.  By the next meeting some fifty-three men had enrolled in the course.

Scouting grew rapidly that first year.   By June 30, 1928 they had troops 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21.  We know that Troop 17 was in Goldthwaite, Texas and Troop 14 was in San Saba, Texas.  By October there were thrity-five troops in the council including Troop 28 at Lometa and Troop 31 at Richland Springs, Texas..

The summer of 1928 they had their first summer camp at Camp Ellis on the San Saba river with over 271 Scouts in attendance.   The following year, 1929,  they were invited to attend summer camp at Camp Fawcett by the Southwest Texas Council Executive so went there instead of trying to have camp of their own.   By 1930, they were in a financial bind, they again went to Camp Fawcett.  The depression was on and Jack Brunberg left the council's employment.  Cliff Pouncey, a local Scoutmaster, was selected by the Council's board to act as Scout Executive until one could be named.   Things did not get any better and by 1931 a meeting was set up with the Oil Belt Council board members at the Hilton Hotel in Cisco to talk about merging the two councils. In 1932, the two councils merged and became the Comanche Trail Council with headquarters in Brownwood..  In 2003 the Comanche Trail Council consolidated with the Chisholm Trail Council to form the Texas Trails Council with headquarters in Abilene, TX