Scouting, Volume 38, Number 5, May 1950 Page: 5
32 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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and the Scoutmaster
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National Scout Commissioner
★ The name of Daniel Carter
Beard is synonymous with
the outdoors, with camping,
woodcraft, and handicraft. The
song of his life was in praise of
the sturdy pioneers. He was a
symbol of the early American
pioneer. He typified in his own
personality the virile, masculine,
outspoken, strongly individual-
istic early settler. He adored Na-
ture and talked and wrote more
on outdoor life than any other
subject.
Yet . . . Uncle Dan never lived
on farm or range. He lived in
the city.
On the tenth of June the Scout
Movement will celebrate the
centenary of Uncle Dan's birth.
The story of his life will be told in Boys' Life and
elsewhere. Therefore, this page will deal specific-
ally with the possible influence of his life upon
the present leaders of boys in Scouting.
Where did city-bred "Uncle Dan" secure his out-
door flavor? It seems he gained his philosophy —
Through his interest and curiosity.
Through his sketching. He had a native genius
in this respect, and was accustomed to drawing and
sketching what he did and saw.
Through his belief in his country, especially
the spirit that marked the early period of it. He
admired the courage of the Pioneers. He didn't
know them personally, but indirectly, and became
like them in spirit so that truly he became one.
So Uncle Dan has set the example of how the
Scoutmaster, lacking early outdoor background,
may find his way to the material and the spiritual
values of true Scouting. If he approaches his task
with faith; if he believes in the Scouting way of
life; if he surrounds himself with those who have
natural capacity, he can absorb much and develop
the spirit that the world needs, and what Dan
Beard emphasized.
The Scout Leader can, by following Uncle Dan's
example and by allowing his spirit to fuse into his
methods be a good and effective leader.
Dan lived in a generation that became industrial-
ized, mechanized, and urbanized. It was rapidly
losing much of the virile outdoors emphasis. He
himself as a boy, hemmed in a home with a very
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small yard, still grew up with the spirit of the
open road. He carried on his love for nature. He
held alof! the pioneers as examples of fortitude.
He had imagination, enthusiasm, rugged original-
ity, and he was picturesque. He called upon boys
to express individuality and stand on their own
feet, to be upright and honorable, and to earn their
own way.
Dan Beard loved boys. He was never so happy
as when sitting in the midst of a group of boys,
unfolding tales of the outdoors and of the Pioneers
of America's early days.
He liked what boys liked. He wore his badges,
his buckskin suit. I seldom saw him in complete
civvies. His hat or coat or shoes or badges had the
marks of Scouting.
As he grew up, Dan Beard seemed to retain a
vivid recollection of his boyhood, and as Ted
Roosevelt said to me, "and the farther back he
went, the clearer it became." This gave him a
peculiar grip on boys who love reality and are
stirred by real adventure.
I was amazed recently, in conversing with the
members of Troop 1, of Flushing, N. Y. — the
present Dan Beard Troop — that not a boy in the
Troop had ever seen Uncle Dan. But his spirit
dominated the Troop. So, in the Movement while
the present generation of Scouts never saw or
heard of him, the spirit of Uncle Dan and the
things for which he stood continue to enrich their
lives.
FOR ALL SCOUTERS
MAY. 1950
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 38, Number 5, May 1950, periodical, May 1950; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth313164/m1/7/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.