Welcome to Troop 1

About Troop 1

First Troop In San Angelo - 1911

San Angelo, Texas is part of the Concho Valley Council, BSA now Scouting America - Texas Southwest Council. The Council was chartered in 1926 and serves 23 1/2 counties in West Texas. Here is the story of it's first Scout troop - Troop 1.

There has been much debate among Scouters and Scout Professionals concerning when the first Scout troop was organized in this area. Everyone could agree on who started the first troop and could even agree on how many Scouts (103) were in the troop. However, they could not agree on when the troop was started.

The date 1910 was perpetuated by news stories that appeared over the years in the San Angelo Standard-Times written by former Scouts, Scouters and Scout Executives starting from 1932 on. Even the story written on September 8, 1942, following the death of the first Scoutmaster here, said "Back about 1910 before the Boy Scouts of America had been organized ..."

A letter received from Samuel H. Crowthers of San Antonio, grandson of Sam Crowthers, to this author dated April 4, 1988, said in part "In all my conversations with members of the family, these things are consistent: 1) Received the Silver Beaver Award, 2) Founded the first Scout troop in Texas, 3) Founded the third Scout troop in the United States." In addition, in a two-page typewritten statement prepared by Reva Terry Crowther about 1970 said "organized a boy Scout troop in 1910. Only two Scout troops existed in the U.S. at that time. San Angelo was the third. These troops were organized under instructions from Lord Baden Powell in England, as the Scout movement in the U.S. had not yet gotten under way."

Many Scouters honestly believed this to be correct, even this author, until research of the San Angelo Standard from 1910 through 1931 revealed another story which is presented here.

Meeting Announced

The first story to appear in the San Angelo Standard regarding Boy Scouts appeared on Friday evening, July 28, 1911, on page 1, under the headline "BOY SCOUTS WILL BE ORGANIZED SUNDAY." The sub-title of the story said "MOVEMENT THAT COVERS 44 STATES HAS REACHED ANGELO" and under that it further said "OBJECT IS TO MAKE USEFUL CITIZENS OF THE BOYS - CROWTHER HEADS MOVEMENT."

The story announced a meeting for the purpose of organizing Boy Scouts to be held at 3:30 o'clock Sunday afternoon at the Chamber of Commerce rooms. The story further said that "Sam Crowther, head of Crowther Hardware Company and president of the public school board, is enthusiastic over the movement and has consented to take the lead, accepting a place as head of the local advisory board." The story also said "Applications for membership and affiliation cover 44 states and territories ..."

No mention is made in that San Angelo story, or those that followed, throughout 1911 and 1912, about a previous Scout troop in San Angelo. However, in a story that appeared in The San Angelo Daily Standard on May 3, 1914, page 6, under the banner "ANGELO BOY SCOUT MOVEMENT TO BE REVIVED FOR ENCAMPMENT" said "In 1911 San Angelo boasted a Boy Scout troop of over 100 enthusiastic members and one encampment, a most successful one, through the courtesy of Lee Brothers, was conducted on the latter's ranch, but following this event, which all Scouts will remember as one of the pleasan'est in years, the movement waned and finally died out."

There were other stories that referred to the 1911 date as being when the first Scout troop was organized in San Angelo.