Scouting in Missouri

Early history (1910-1950)

According to William D. Murray, who was a charter member of the Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) when it incorporated on February 8, 1910, the first "Troop" to form in Missouri was formed by an Englishman in Sedalia, MO sometime in 1908 or 1909. In his 1937 book "The History of the Boy Scouts of America" he goes on to say that this man had even gone so far as to appoint field representatives in other states as well.

The 1938 National Order of the Arrow Lodge Meeting was held at Irondale, Missouri.

Scouting in Missouri today

There are six Boy Scouts of America local councils in Missouri.

Great Rivers Council

Great Rivers Council (653) is based in Columbia, Missouri and serves Scouts in 33 counties in Mid-Missouri. In 1971 Great Rivers Council merged with Lake of the Ozark Council (314).

Districts

Camps

The Council operates Lake of the Ozarks Scout Reservation. Boy Scout and Venturing Camps are offered at Hohn. The camp is available for year-round use by Scout units for a variety of activities.

Lake of the Ozarks Scout Reservation is located on the Lake of the Ozarks Osage Arm at mile marker 44 near Laurie, Missouri, amid spectacular natural beauty and extreme rocky terrain, the Lake of the Ozarks Scout Reservation boasts 450 acres and a mile and one-half of shoreline. Just one hour south of Jefferson City, Missouri,the Lake of the Ozarks Scout Reservation is the camping home of the Great Rivers Council, featuring CampHohn - our nearly 50-year-old Boy Scout camp, and a Cub Scout camping facility that is under development and has yet to be named. Hohn plays host to our Boy Scout Summer Camp program, Project C.O.P.E., Climbing, and Sail Master programs and offers thirteen scenic campsites for year-round use. The Cub facility will host our Cub Resident camping programs and offer campsites, program facilities, aquatics activities, lodges, a dining hall and more.

The Lake of the Ozarks Scout Reservation offers facilities and equipment available for unit use and the Kit Carson Trail, an eight mile long perimeter trail which winds through the rolling hills and along the bluff overlooking the Lake. Each summer sees over a thousand Scouts and Scouters participate in our summer camp programs; fall and winter bring district camporees and spring welcomes more camporees, Cub camping weekends, our Sons of Daniel Boone Rendezvous and our Nampa-Tsi Lodge fellowship weekends.

The future is very bright at the Lake of the Ozarks Scout Reservation, with plans for a swimming pool, training center, significant waterfront improvements, enhanced shooting sports and high-adventure facilities and major program and facility renovations....not to mention all the great plans for the Cub Camp! Stay tuned to see all of the changes coming your way at the Lake of the Ozarks Scout Reservation.

Order of the Arrow

The council is served by the Nampa Tsi lodge

In 1971 Metab #216 and Po-E-Mo #426 merged. This merger took place after the Great Rivers Council merged with Lake of the Ozark Council. The name Nampa-Tsi translated means "twin lodges."

There have been different designs for the lodge pocket flap. The original design of our lodge flap, by Vigil Honor James Quick, had an Osage (pronounced Oh-Sog-Eh) Indian with a reservation hat, a coup staff, a flaming arrow, a lake and rivers, and two tepees. Some think that the hat was worn by the Osage Indian because they traded with settlers. This was not the case. The hats were taken as coup from pioneer settlers after they had been scalped.

Sons of Daniel Boone

The Sons of Daniel Boone was reestablished as a summer camp honor society in 2006 at Hohn Scout Reservation and Camp Thunderbird, following some of the original writings of Daniel Carter Beard. The honor society has been gaining attention from Scouts and Scout troops across the state as well as outside of Missouri: Iowa, Arkansas, Nebraska and New York. Since its inception over 300 Scouts have become members.

Heart of America Council

Heart of America Council has its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, and serves Scouts in both Missouri and Kansas. The Council has two sponsored camps, H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation and Theodore Naish Scout Reservation. Bartle offers Mic-O-Say as an honor society, and Naish is home to the Tamegonit Lodge of the Order of the Arrow.

Mississippi Valley Council

Mississippi Valley Council is headquartered in Quincy, Illinois, and is served by Black Hawk Lodge #67. This council serves Scouts in Illinois, Missouri and Iowa.

Ozark Trails Council

Ozark Trails Council is based in Springfield, Missouri, and serves Scouts in Missouri and Kansas. Camps in the Ozark Trails Council include:

Scouts camping at Camp Arrowhead may enjoy traditional outdoor Scouting activities – backpacking, hiking, fishing, swimming, archery and shooting – as well as more challenging “adventure” and “aquatics” programs. These include: a C.O.P.E. course, mountain biking, rappelling, canoeing, small-boat sailing and snorkeling.

The purpose of Camp Arrowhead is to provide Scouting experiences, which strengthen your troop operation by supporting the efforts of your unit’s leadership – both adult and youth – and by fulfilling the promise of Scouting, in the outdoors.

The Camp is also complete with a C.O.P.E. Course for older Scouts and a year-round multipurpose building that can be utilized by Scouts and Scouters for training and fellowship

The Ozark Trails Council also includes Wah-Sha-She Lodge 42 of the Order of the Arrow.

Camp Arrowhead

Camp Arrowhead is in Marshfield, Missouri located in Southwest Missouri.

The camp was started in 1924, and is the oldest continually operating Boy Scout Camp west of the Mississippi River.

Camp Arrowhead offers programs for all Scouts, from first-year Trailblazer to High Adventure. Camp Arrowhead is situated on approximately 650 beautiful wooded acres in the Ozark Mountains near Marshfield in southwest Missouri. The property features a lake, many miles of hiking trails, a stream, caves, a spring, and many examples of native Missouri flora and fauna.

Scouts camping at Camp Arrowhead may enjoy traditional outdoor Scouting activities – backpacking, hiking, fishing, swimming, archery and shooting – as well as more challenging “adventure” and “aquatics” programs. These include: a C.O.P.E. course, mountain biking, rappelling, canoeing, small-boat sailing and snorkeling. In 2001, a Mic-O-Say inspired honorary organization was started at Camp Arrowhead called the Tribe of Lone Bear to recognize scouts that return to camp each summer.

The purpose of Camp Arrowhead is to provide Scouting experiences, which strengthen your troop operation by supporting the efforts of your unit’s leadership – both adult and youth – and by fulfilling the promise of Scouting, in the outdoors.

Pony Express Council

The Pony Express Council is based in Saint Joseph, Missouri, and also serves Scouts in Kansas. The Council's summer camp is Camp Geiger, which is one of only two camps in the United States to offer Mic-O-Say rather than Order of the Arrow as the Scout honorary society. In the late 1970s, Pony Express Executive Parvin Bishop started the first Project C.O.P.E. program in the United States at the camp. After Bishop became Director of Program at the National Office, he expanded the program so that it became national.[2]

Camp Geiger

Camp Geiger is a Boy Scout camp on the bluffs above the Missouri River two miles (3 km) northwest of St. Joseph, Missouri in Andrew County, Missouri at 39.835272°N 94.874134°W / 39.835272; -94.874134 used by the Pony Express Council. It is one of the only two scout camps including H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation in the United States to use Mic-O-Say rather than Order of the Arrow exclusively as its Scout honor society. It was first camp in the United States to offer Project C.O.P.E..

The camp is named for Charles Geiger, a St. Joseph physician, who donated land from his boyhood home in 1930. It replaced Camp Brinton at Agency, Missouri (named for W.E. Brinton who had loaned 30 acres (120,000 m²) for the camp) which had been the Scout council's main summer camp since 1918. Scouting executive H. Roe Bartle founded the Mic-O-Say organization at Camp Brinton in 1925 while serving as head of the Pony Express council. Bartle was to found a Mic-O-Say chapter in Kansas City, Missouri when he was transferred to being head of the Heart of America chapter in Kansas City there in 1929. However the Kansas City chapter also includes Order of the Arrow in its offering at its Camp Naish while having Mic-O-Say exclusively at its other camp—Camp Bartle.

In 1930 Geiger announced the donation and in 1935 it opened with a Dining Hall made of native limestone. In the 1950s, the council bought land higher on the bluffs and further to the north and a "new Camp Geiger" was begun with the bulk of the camp moved to the higher land in 1952. The original swimming pool lower on the bluff was replaced in 1971 with a new pool on top of the bluff.

In the late 1970s the Pony Express Council began Project COPE which is aimed at encouraging teamwork, self-confidence, trust, leadership, communication, decision-making, and problem-solving. It was championed by Pony Express Council Executive Parvin Bishop who expanded the program when he became Director of Program at the National Office.

A new Dining Hall and Headquarters/Health Lodge buildings were built in 1992 after land was purchased on the road entering the camp.

Girl Scouting in Missouri

Missouri has three Girl Scout councils.

Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri

Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri serves more than 43,000 girls and has over 15,000 adult volunteers.

It was formed by merging Girl Scouts of The Becky Thatcher Area and The Girl Scout Council of Greater Saint Louis in 2007.

Headquarters: St. Louis, Missouri
Website: http://www.girlscoutsem.org/

Camps:

Girl Scouts of Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri

Headquarters: Kansas City, Missouri
Website: http://www.girlscoutsksmo.org/

It was formed by a merger of Northeast Girl Scouts of Mid-Continent Council, Girl Scouts of Kaw Valley Council (Kansas), and Girl Scouts of the Midland Empire in 2007. It serves about 23,000 girls and has about 8,000 adult volunteers.

Camps:[3][4]

Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland

Girl Scouts Missouri Heartland includes 68 counties in Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. It serves over 14,500 girls and has over 5,000 adult volunteers.

It was formed by a merger of Girl Scouts — Cotton Boll Area Council, Girl Scouts of Dogwood Trails Council, Girl Scouts — Heart of Missouri Council, Girl Scouts of Otahki Council, and Girl Scout Council of The Ozark Area on October 1, 2008.

Headquarters: Springfield, Missouri
Website: http://www.girlscoutsmoheartland.org/

Service Centers:

Camps: